Science Fun (part 1)

It's not every day that the human gets a day off from work, and definitely not every day that the science lab is set up for business.  And, if you haven't met me yet (don't worry, the human has been really really slow about introducing me to the world), I'm Vega.  Jaime Luciana Vega.

And we (meaning Shep, myself, and the human), have been planning space adventures.  Hence Shep's new stash of space toys, and my stash of activity books.  Now for the human to get logistics under control.  Maybe start the Space Tourism Bureau?

I'm not the only new inhabitant of (well, I want to call it the SR2 Normandy.  Raise your hand if you get the reference), but I'll go with 'The Presidium' because it sounds better than 'The Madhouse with a giant cat'.  Meet Liz, the lizard, current perching on Nora.  Next thing you know, there'll be an octopus in the neighborhood.

My new activity books are mostly made from official NASA printables, shrunk down to 1/3 scale.  All except the 'My First Outer Space' coloring book.  That one was made from Dover free samples.  We've got a nifty little 'Space Tech' activity pad, and a little 'What we need to colonize Mars' activity book.  And then we've got some color books on the latest and greatest NASA gear:  the Space Launch System and ORION.

Doll Sized:

Outer Space coloring book

NASA activity books and Assembly instructions

Orion and Space Launch System coloring books

Human Sized:

NASA Space Tech Fun Pad

NASA Surviving and Thriving on Mars

and other coloring books from NASA

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

The cookie and cake party spread

Lily frosting cakes with some unwanted help

Samantha and Nellie with books and cookies

A holiday cookie platter with milk

Cauth and Anora in a heated game of Set

Z and Shep at the dessert buffet

Kana and Lily enjoying the roll cake

and someone trying to steal a cookie or two

Setting up a new bakery

Kana here.  I'm still not sure whose idea this was to set up a bakery.  We don't really have enough of anything, which means I'm the one baking.  Because after the last three incidents with food, potions, and the swapping of some vital ingredients, Lily has been banned from the kitchen.

Not that it stops her...

"Where do you want these cookies?"

"Wait, those aren't done yet!  They need something extra!"
"NO THEY DON'T!"

"Now they're magical snacks.  They'll turn whatever you're wearing
into a ball gown!"
"Lily, not actually helping here..."

"I am not actually involved in any of this.
This is so above my pay grade."

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

The human didn't have time to sew us all brand new Christmas outfits this year, so we went through the trunks of old clothing.  Cauthrien and Anora are wearing the blue leather, brocade, and velvet ensembles from Christmas 2015.  Lily is wearing a silk brocade gown made from Felicity's Christmas dress pattern the human made in early 2015 (details here).

Kana's dress of silver satin with rose and black lace trim was made roughly the same time from a free pattern offered by the United Federation of Doll Clubs (pattern here, older pictures here).  Shep is wearing the mix-and-match suit set from spring 2016.

Sam's red velvet dress never got properly documented before, but it was made in fall 2014, and features glass buttons and pearl trim.  Nellie gets the one new dress of this season, with a one-shoulder black and silver cherry brocade bodice and a black velvet skirt studded with rhinestones.

Guess who helped decorate?

It's meeeeow.

The Science Library

A science classroom/laboratory

Kana here.  By now you must be wondering what we did with all those science books.

Lily generally behaved like a normal person and used the books for her research projects.  Even if she does complain on a daily basis that there's not enough magical theory in science books.

Shep and I, on the other hand, only have so much patience.  There's the obligatory science fair projects, to be sure.  And making fancy models...

But we have so many of these books...

Lily:  Guys, whatever you're planning, stop it.

And that is what we do with 101 science books.  Dominos.

As an aside, the human's husband walked in while this was being set up.  He stared at us and walked back out without saying anything.

You have to admit, it's pretty impressive.

Utter chaos

Not even caused by the furry menace this time.

A typical morning

Lily:  Don't read the comments.
Kana:  WHAT IS THIS EVEN
Shep:  You read the comments on instagram again, didn't you?

 Kana here.  The new apartment does not actually make anyone behave any better.  But it does make us seem marginally more civilized.  You can barely see it, but Shep has a mug of tea and giant cupcake for breakfast.  I have fruit, a danish, and coffee.  Lily probably ate something she hid in her lab.  It's really hard to actually pull her out of the lab.

A peaceful breakfast at the counter...

Meanwhile, Cauth and Nora are being super domestic.  Cauth might be the only one of us who can actually cook.  I know Shep and I can't really.  And Lily brews potions.  Which is not the same thing as cooking, no matter what she claims.  The cat is a stray that's been hanging around us for ages now.  I guess it's adopted us or something.

until someone steals the bacon...

And as usual, Sam and Nellie would like to pretend that the rest of us don't exist...at least in the mornings.  It does get a little hectic around here.

Samantha:  We are going to sit at the table like proper ladies...

Late summer in Vermont

This is Shepard.  In late August, the humans took me up to Vermont for a weekend of sightseeing and general relaxation.  We stayed in Montpelier, at the Capitol Plaza hotel across the street from the statehouse.

It was an amazingly nice weekend, though we got there too late to visit the museum.  We did get to wander the streets and do a bit of shopping.  I did not come home with a quidditch set, much as I wanted one.

 We also visited Bragg Farm while on our way to the Caledonia Distillery.  The human was too busy eating her maple creamie to take pictures of it.  I, on the other hand, enjoyed the rural Vermont scenery.

For this trip, I did get the new button down shirt with real buttons with a resized pattern from Jenwrenne (original here).  The shirt has a nice loose fit for layering over tshirts.  There's no instructions but it makes up like a human shirt would.

AG Buttondown Shirt Pattern