Kelsey Goes Camping

Journey Girl Kelsey Tries Out Her New Tent

Kelsey loves to be outdoors.  There are just so many great thing to do outside.  This weekend she went camping for probably the last time this season.  She just had to get out one more time before it got cold. Especially since she bought a brand new tent!

Kelsey sitting at her campsite.

 Before she set up camp, Kelsey sat by the lakeshore and enjoyed the calmness.  Then she threw rocks in the lake!  She laughed as the rocks splashed into the water.  She even tried to skip a few rocks, but wasn't very good at it.

Kelsey throwing rocks in the lake.

 Finally it was time to try out her new tent.  Kelsey took out her lantern to make sure that it worked.  She did not want to have it not work in the middle of the night.

Everything is ready.  Her sleeping bag is nice and comfortable, her lantern works.  Kelsey is ready to sit in her tent, watch the sunset over the lake, and then go to bed.

Kelsey is excited to see what adventures she can have tomorrow.  Maybe she'll go hiking, or search for shells by the lake, or climb a tree…or maybe she will do all three!

Kelsey is wearing a Journey Girls outfit.  Her new tent is from Target's Our Generation line.

Journey Girl Meredith Trying on a Swimsuit

Our Generation Swimsuit

Swimsuits for dolls have not really been an outfit that I have looked for.  You can’t really use them for anything other than swim outfits (some of them can be used with leggings to look like a gymnastics outfit).  They are usually just as expensive as any of the other outfits that are sold and they have a lot less to them.  The big one has always been that the fabric body of the doll looks ridiculous with a swimsuit on.  That is why the Journey Girls are awesome!  The vinyl breastplate makes it so that swimwear looks more appropriate. 

Our Generation Swimsuit

Just an FYI…if you are going to actually have the doll in the water with the swimsuit on, make sure you wash it first.  There is some color transfer if you don't wash it.  Also soak the vest and let it air dry to avoid color transfer.  Also note that it will take a good amount of time to dry out the doll if she gets wet.  Make sure you wash the fabric part of her body with a small amount of laundry soap (very diluted), squeeze as much water out, and then let her dry for 3 days or so.  

Our Generation has taken care of one of my other concerns; cost.  They released a swimsuit for $12.99.  That doesn’t sound cheap (especially considering you can get a Springfield swimsuit for about $4), but lets look at what it comes with; goggles, a towel, life vest, jelly flip-flops, three shells, and a starfish.  That is a good deal! 

Our Generation Swimsuit on Journey Girl Meredith

The swimsuit in this set is a blue and white, horizontally striped, full body swimsuit.  One of the shoulder straps is thicker and flows up from the suit.  The other strap is thinner and is sewn to the suit.  There is a pink fabric flower on the thicker strap.  The whole suit is made out of a stretchy material like a real swimsuit.  The suit has no Velcro, it just stretches to fit Meredith.  The fit is perfect.  I don’t like the flower on the shoulder.  I would have much rather seen a ruffle around the waist.  It is still cute though.

Meredith with her life vest and seashells

The life vest is my favorite part of this set.  It has material in it that makes it so that it floats.  It has a zipper up the front and two straps that have actual quick release (or side release) buckles in the front.  What I love about the life vest is how real it is.  Your little girl’s life vest is going to look very similar to Meredith’s.  It’s a great way to teach safety to kids.  Plus it is so dang cute!

Meredith with her goggles on.

The other thing that I like a lot in this set are the goggles.  They don’t quite fit the spacing of Meredith’s eyes, but don’t look bad at all.  I like that they seem to be made out of the same materials that real goggles are made out of.  Meredith looks like she is ready to swim for hours in her suit, vest, and goggles.

All of the other accessories are just nice add-ons.  The shoes are my favorite Our Generation shoes.  The fit wonderfully, they are super cute, and they go with this outfit and many others really well.  The sea shells and starfish are cute. The towel is nothing special, but it is nice to have something for Meredith to lay down on at the beach.  I would have loved a little pail and shovel and a pair of sunglasses in this set, but the accessories that it comes with are great!  

All of the accessories that come with the Our Generation swimsuit.

Rating

All ratings are out of 10

Value 9 – I would give this a 10, but I would love to pay $10 for the set.  As I said before $12 is not bad, but $10 is better!  I love all of the things you get with this outfit.  It is a good value, one of the better ones for the Our Generation line.  A much better value than the Journey Girls swimsuit set (look for a review later on that set)

Fitment 10 – This is the best fitting Our Generation outfit I have seen.  That is probably because it is a stretchable material.  The suit fits great, the life vest is a perfect fit, and the shoes actually fit well.  Awesome for an outfit that is made for a completely different size doll.

Versatility 5 – It's a swimsuit!  Maybe you can use it as a dance outfit or a gymnastics outfit…but it is really just a swimsuit.  The shoes can be used with a lot of summer outfits.  And the shells and towel can be used with other things.  By and large though…this is a one trick pony.  Which is exactly what you expect from a swimsuit.  I know I don't ever buy a swimsuit thinking I can wear it out for dinner.

Cuteness 8 – How can you not like this outfit.  That vest is so darn cute!  And those goggles…come on!  Too cute!  I like the swimsuit, but would have loved it with a ruffle.  Still awesome!

Overall 9 – Buy this!  No, it is not as versatile as other outfits.  No, you probably aren't going to use it that often, especially since Journey Girls have a cloth body.  But (I think I may have said this already)…it is CUTE!  I will say that it is not always easy to find at Target…so if you see it grab it.  You may be able to buy it from Target.com, but their stock changes often.  I think it is worth looking for though, especially if your little one wants to take her favorite doll to the beach.

Kelsey's New Friend

Journey Girl Kelsey at School

Kelsey has been so excited to go back to school.  She loves her new teacher and her classmates.  She even met a new friend.  Gabriella is in the same grade as Kelsey, but in a different classroom.  Kelsey met Gabriella out on the playground at recess.

Kelsey is ready to go for a slide.

Kelsey ran up to the top of her favorite slide and slide down.  Weee!
"You're pretty fast,"said a girl sitting at the bottom of the slide next to Kelsey.
"Yeah.  I love the slide.  I'm Kelsey, what's your name?"
"Gabriella…but call me Gabby.  I bet you I can beat you down the slide!"  Kelsey and Gabby ran up the stairs to the slide.

Kelsey and Gabby racing up the stairs to the slide.

"1…2…3!," Kelsey exclaimed, as both her and Gabby flew down the slide, giggling all the way.

Kelsey and Gabby love racing down the slide together.

 "Come on," Gabby said.  "Let's go climbing!"  Kelsey and Gabby climbed up the jungle gym.  They chased each other around, laughing the whole time.

Climbing on the jungle gym.

Kelsey even tried rock climbing.  She made it all the way to the top.  Gabby was a little scared to try.  "Don't worry," Kelsey told her.  "You can get up to the top lots of different ways.  Some other time I'll teach you how to rock climb…it's awesome!"

 

Kelsey climbs up the rock climbing area.

Don't let go!

RIIIIINNNNNGGG!  "Oh..recess is over," Gabby moaned.

"That's okay," said Kelsey.  "We can play again tomorrow!"

Kelsey and Gabby after playing at recess.

The girls went to class for the rest of the afternoon.  When school let out, they ran into each other as they were going to the school buses.
"Hey Gabby!"
"Hi, Kelsey!"

Kelsey and Gabby going home from their first day at school.

"I'll see you again tomorrow…yeah?", Kelsey questioned.
"Definitely! You're my new best friend!", Gabby exclaimed.
They both laughed and walked to their buses.

Best friends.

 As Kelsey got on the bus, she thought to herself, "This is going to be a great school year!"

Hope that school goes well for everyone out there!

Our Generation Retro Outfit Review

Journey Girl Dana Goes Retro

The Our Generation line, like the Journey Girls, is a modern line of clothes.  Our Generation does have a line of historical outfits that they call their “Retro” line.  Most of the clothes in this retro line are reminiscent of the 50’s.  The outfit that I am reviewing today is a “Retro Deluxe” outfit named "Two-riffic Twin Set"

The outfit is made up of 5 pieces; a purple checked skirt, a white t-shirt with a purple collar and a purple band at the waist, a white sweater that buttons at the neckline, a purple checked bow for your dolls hair, and a pair of black cloth shoes with bows that tie around the ankles.

Dana in the Our Generation "Two-riffic Twin Set"

Journey Girls are thinner than American Girl dolls or Our Generation dolls.  Some of the outfits, including this one, are big on the Journey Girls.  In most cases the size is not that much different and the girls are fine.  In this case, the skirt is just too big.  I even tried to overlap the dress and Velcro it to itself, rather than the other piece of Velcro and the dress was still big.  It does stay on, but as you can see from the photos, you can tell the skirt is big.  The skirt itself is very cute.  It is made out of a satin material.  It is nice and thick with two layers of material.  It bellows out rather than just hanging down.

You can see that the skirt is very loose, even with over lap.

The t-shirt is not just a normal t-shirt; it has the purple collar and purple waist.  It’s made out of a thicker cotton material with the purple parts made out of a felt like material. The purple waist is actually tighter around Dana’s waist than the skirt is.  On Dana the shirt looks like it is riding up and the skirt is falling down.  I love that the t-shirt is thicker than normal and has the purple accents.

Dana doesn't really need her sweater on since her t-shirt is so cute!

Out of everything in this set the sweater feels the cheapest.  It is made out of a similar material to the t-shirt, but is all white.  The material feels right for the t-shirt, but feels thin for a sweater.  I do like the way that the sweater makes the outfit look.  It looks more complete with Dana wearing it.  I also like that the sweater can be used with just about any other outfit.  It is a great piece for the wardrobe closet.

Our Generations Deluxe Retro outfit

The two things I’m not so sure about are the shoes and the bow.  Let’s start with the bow.  The size is just right.  It looks great off to the side of Dana’s hair.  I don’t like the “leather” material it is made of, or the color (the purple is just a bit too off for me).  I am also not a huge fan of the bobby pin on it to hold it in place.  The bobby pin does not seem to hold it very well, so it flops around some.  Like almost all of the other Our Generation shoes, these are fabric.  I like booty type of shoes, especially with the pretty lace ties up front, but can’t we get some real shoes, please?  Even the plastic shoes the Journey Girls come with are better than these.  I’ve complained about the Our Generation shoes before…so I will not do it again.  Suffice it to say, they are not my favorite part of the outfit.

Rating

All ratings are out of 10

Value 7 – You don't get a lot for the extra cost of this outfit.  Yes, there are 5 pieces to the outfit, but many of the regular outfits have just as many pieces and include a purse.  It's nice to have the sweater, but not really necessary.  If you can get this outfit on sale, buy it…at full price, I would skip it.

Fitment 7 – Although this is a very cute outfit, it doesn't work well for the Journey Girls (fits great on American Girls though). The skirt is way too big.  You can make it work by using the t-shirt, but it's goofy looking.  The shoes are tight.  The bow doesn't stay very well in Dana's hair.  That all being said, the outfit is made for the Our Generation dolls and American Girl dolls, so I can't really expect that it will fit perfectly on Dana.

Versatility 8 – The t-shirt and sweater can be used with other outfits really easily.  Even though I'm not a fan of the shoes, they are very useful with other outfits.  The skirt can be mixed with other tops also, it's just king to be loose.

Cuteness 8 – I like this outfit as a retro outfit.  It is not the cutest outfit I have, but I do like it.  It is a good retro style outfit.

Overall 7 – Not the best outfit, mostly due to fitment, but still good.  If you have other brand dolls as well as Journey Girls, this is a great outfit.  The girls can share it, it will just be a little big on the Journey Girls.  I like the colors and the style of the outfit overall.  Great back to the 50's dress!

Meredith Stops and Smells the Flowers

Meredith in a Clover Field

Meredith loves to go outside.  Usually it is to play soccer, baseball, lacrosse, go biking, or anything else that is fun.  Today she went out just to relax and take in the scenery.  She wore her pretty pink polk-a-dot dress from Our Generation as she went out looking for flowers.

Meredith finds some daffodils.

 Meredith loves going on walks, because there is always something new to see.  Just a few weeks earlier these daffodils were not blooming.  Now look how beautiful they are.

Meredith trying to decide which clover flower is the prettiest.

She comes upon a sea of green and white and decides that she must find the perfect clover flower to bring home.  Meredith loves the smell of the clover.  It may not be the prettiest flower, but it is cute.  And she can always find it everywhere.  Plus the flowers are just the right size for her.

Meredith sits in the clover patch and decides which clover flowers to take home.  As she looks around she notices that some of them actually have a hint of pink in the flower.  She definitely picked the right outfit to wear.

Meredith smiles for the camera

 She just can't decide which ones to pick, finally deciding to leave the flowers there for the next person to enjoy.  What a wonderful day to be out and enjoy some wild flowers.

Meredith enjoying the day

Do you have a favorite wild flower?  Dandelion? Thistle? Or maybe another?