Fancy Allyson

This past weekend was a busy one. We camped out on Friday with our ward at Hagan-Stone Park. We roasted hot dogs for dinner, had smores for dessert (or, if you're Cora, just 7 marshmallows and glassfuls of lemonade), ran around with friends, took a long walk to the bathroom, and then tucked ourselves in for the night. We bought a new, bigger tent for the occasion. Cora was extremely tired, but also extremely restless. When she finally passed out, it was between the two queen mattresses. And that is where she stayed, face-down, all night. Ally, Sally, and Nephew slept quite comfortably on their bed, and Chris & I were quite cozy on ours.

We woke in the morning, had breakfast, packed our stuff, and took another long walk to the bathroom. We returned home, cleaned ourselves up, and headed over to Barnes and Noble.

Jane O'Connor, the creator and author of Fancy Nancy was visiting Greensboro on her tour to promote her new chapter book. Ally got all fancied up for the event and even did her own hair. Cora accompanied her as JoJo, the unfancy little sister. Jane started her speech with an apology: She usually dresses fancifully for her appearances, but had accidentally left her bag of boas, ribbons, tutus, and rhinestone-studded glasses in her last hotel room. (I wonder what the hotel staff thought when they found that bag!)

We listened to Jane read her book The Mermaid Ballet, watched some girls walk around with bananas on their heads for good posture, learned how to curtsey, and then stood in line to meet Jane and get her autograph. Jane loved Ally's choice of clothing and hairstyle.

Ally was ecstatic. That's fancy for very happy and excited.