Dear Elle,
Your Mimi left on Monday and it was so hard to say good-bye (even though
we will see her back east in just a few weeks). We had such a great last few days with her…
going to a
princess tea party,
hanging out at the indoor park (as it was incredibly hot
outside),
eating a fabulous dinner at Brio,
and finally taking you to your very
first movie called Brave!
Now it’s time to firm up Kyle’s 5k Walk/Run plans to make sure
everything is in order. Your Aunt
Ally (who runs the registration table) has set our yearly goal to be
$10,000. I thought she was way too
optimistic but as it turns out with pre-registration forms, we just might break
that record! Can you tell I am
getting so excited to honor your brother in such a positive way?
And I always feel so blessed Bean that
you get to take part in it.
If you remember from last week, your Mimi had such an incredibly
busy but extremely fun visit that your Mimi didn’t get a chance to write her
chapter of the blog (as you were attached to her hip!). So this week’s blog will only be your
Mimi’s chapter to read. Next week,
we will return to our normal routine and both write to conclude our ant
story.
And now here is our yearlong bedtime story/stories (with
many chapters to write!) for you.
Our goal Ellie is to have a beloved bedtime tale for you and future
generations.
And so we will continue our second story.
Ellie and the Magic
Teapot: Off to the Park Part 11 (Mimi’s chapter)
Skeeter's body
tensed as he relived how his team found their last scavenged item and tried to
figure out where he could have cut time to win. Searching through his memory he decided to
start with the moment his team walked off The Hill in search of the Band-Aid. At that precise time, they were so far
ahead of The Pink Team that it should have been a sure win for The Red Team or
so he thought…
“Skeeter, look to
the left. Luck is with us again as
we search for the last scavenged item on the list!” Slyguy yelled out as he
jumped up and down with sheer excitement.
With a sore behind
and a slightly embarrassed ego, Skeeter stole a look. And that look was enough to revive his spirit. No more than ten marching steps away
from where the group stood sat a little girl and her mommy who were rolling a
ball back and forth over the smooth velvety grass. “Holy cow!” Skeeter breathed with surprise while blinking
twice to make sure what he saw was actually real. “The Hill is right behind us and the last item to be found,
the Band-Aid, is right in front of us!” he continued.
“Actually four Band-Aids
Skeeter!” Slugger smiled. “And they’re all on that little girl’s
right shin. It should be easy for
us to grab one and run it back to The Hill before the Pink Team returns, don’t
you think?”
“Yeah, I do think
that Slugger. Winning this game is
going to be way too easy! Somebody
pinch me so that I know this is real and I’m not dreaming it!” Skeeter
arrogantly replied.
“Uh-ok,” Shortstop
responded while giving Skeeter’s upper left arm a good hard pinch.
“Ow! Have you gone crazy Shortstop? Why did you pinch me?” scolded Skeeter.
“Duh… because you
said to,” Shortstop answered tersely.
Speedy
interrupted, “OK you two, stop it.
Let’s concentrate on getting one of those Band-Aids off that little
girls leg, laying it on our pile and claiming the win!”
“Yeah, and then we
can finally be done with this game,” Shortstop mumbled under his breath.
Skeeter glared at
him.
Slyguy broke the
tense moment by whispering to the group to fall into place and tiptoe towards
the little girl. As they neared
her ankle, one by one they hopped on Slyguy’s shoulders and attached themselves
to her leg. Crawling towards the
first Band-Aid, a cartoon Giraffe, the five ants moved very slowly as they
didn’t want to tickle her skin. But when they went to grab it, it stayed stuck to her leg.
“You’ve got to be
kidding,” Skeeter said frustratingly.
“This Band-Aid has so much sticky gummy substance on it that I don’t
think we can pull it off… not today or any day for that matter.”
“Not to worry
Skeeter,” encouraged Speedy.
“Lucky for us there are more Band-Aids to try. Let’s crawl to the next one, the cartoon monkey, which is
only an inch above this one and work on removing it quickly.”
So they did. Again the five ants came upon the same
problem. That Band-Aid was also
stuck to the little girls leg like cement.
“Urghhhh!” Skeeter
seethed.
“Easy
Skeeter. Take a breath. There are still two Band-Aids we
haven’t tried so let’s just move to the next one, the cartoon peacock. Hopefully it peels right off, as it’s
only about eight ant-steps above this one. ” Speedy encouraged calmly.
So they did. And again the five ants came upon the
same problem. That Band-Aid too
was stuck to the little girls leg like cement.
Skeeter was so mad
that he didn’t wait for the rest of the group and stomped off towards the
fourth and last Band-Aid, the cartoon bunny rabbit, by himself. One of its curved corners where the
sticky gummy substance had worn off was slightly curled up so Skeeter edged himself
into it further trying to roll it like a bulldozer pushing a boulder! But all his stomping and nudging
apparently tickled the little girl and she started to rub the Band-Aid with the
palm of her hand. Slyguy, Speedy,
Slugger and Shortsop watched on in horror, fascination and shock as the little
girl rubbed and rubbed the Band-Aid and continued rubbing it until it had
molded into the shape of a tiny ball with a crazed Skeeter stuck in its
middle. As the last edge of the
Band-Aid detached itself from her shin, gravity took hold of the weighted mass
and pulled it towards the earth.
The befuddled four ants watched Skeeter’s bugged out eyes roll from side
to side, around and around while his shrieking wail grew louder and louder only
to be silenced quickly when the Band-Aid hit the grassy ground with a hard thump.
“Uh-oh, here we go
again,” said Speedy.
“GET… ME... OUT...
OF… HERE!” garbled Skeeter.
“ We will Skeeter,
but not yet. It’s going to take
some time to free you from the inside of this sticky, gummy Band-Aid. So our plan is to take it as it is and
march it back to our pile as fast as we can to claim the Red Team’s Victory!”
finished Speedy. And before anyone
could respond, Speedy directed Slyguy, Slugger, and Shortstop to circle the
Band-Aid, grab an end and run with it.
“No-no-no-no! I need to take part in the delivery of
this scavenged item… I am the leader of the Red Team! I am the winner!” shouted Skeeter.
“Oh stop your
whining Skeeter. As far as being
in charge of our team and leading the scavenged item to our pile… well, looking
at you at this very moment you ARE the whole package,” chuckled Slugger, “You
and the Band-Aid can be our 1st place Trophy!”
“And then this
game will be over and we can get back to work before Queen Ant finds out that
we played hooky today!” added Shortstop.
As the Red Team
ascended The Hill to their surprise the Pink Team had somehow beaten them
back. And they were proudly
standing next to their completed scavenged pile, which they rightly deserved to
be. Shortstop, Slugger, Slyguy and
Speedy knew the Pink Team played the game fair and square as well as smarter
and kinder. And even though they
were happy that Alfy’s team finally won a game against them, the four ants were
annoyed with Skeeter for constantly being such a poor sport. So instead of just setting the last
scavenged item, the Band-Aid along with Skeeter down on their own pile they
gave it a good toss missing it completely. As it rolled in the dirt settling itself next to a rock,
Skeeter was finally freed from the Band-Aids middle giving him a chance to
finally vent his anger.
“Cheaters!” he
screamed…
We love you Ellie Jelly Bean!
Mom & Mimi
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