It Was Their First Cruise

Nora, Allison, Leslie, and Rebekah were so excited. They had been planning this trip for a long time. This was the first time that they had ever been on a cruise. They had checked the weather forecast so they couldn't wait. The weather people said that it was going to be perfect. They knew that the water was going to be blue and hopefully warm as well.
It seemed like they had been driving forever, but they made the best of it by talking about their trip and the things that they would see. They couldn't believe the change in the scenery. They saw palm trees and beautiful flowers. It was too early for flowers to bloom at home. It had been cold when they left, but they knew the weather would be much better in Florida.

They were a a bit disappointed when they realized that Florida was having cold weather. No they were a lot disappointed! Even their motel room was cold. But they made the best of it and decided to play Uno. Uno is a very fun card game, but their hotel room was so cold that Rebekah had to wear gloves to keep her hands warm!

The next day when they were driving to the ship Nora said, "Oh look, there is a truck with some Elves on a Christmas tree. How funny they look. They look like somebody had thrown them in the trash along with the tree. The truck soon sped by them and they didn't give it a second thought.

The elves were having the time of their lives, however. They had not been thrown in the trash, they had deliberately jumped on a truck with a Christmas tree to hitch a free ride to the Enchanted Kingdom. There they would get to see all kinds of things that were magic. There would be an Enchanted Forest, rides, and all kinds of fun things to do on their vacation.
 The Enchanted Kingdom was a long long ways away. It was in the Philippines. The Philippines have many little pieces of land. Many of them are surrounded with water. Those are called islands. One of them was close to a city called Milan. The city of Santa Rosa, Laguna was the home of the Enchanted Kingdom.
 They had found out that vacationing in Oklahoma was not a fun vacation. There were two dogs there. One was always digging a hole under the shed they had chosen to vacation in and the other one was so big that they barely escaped with their lives when they decided to leave.

Soon the truck backed up to the dock where the ships were waiting for people to board for their cruises. The elves quickly ducked behind people with trunks and suitcases. What the elves didn't know was that they had jumped on board the wrong ship! They had followed Nora and her friends. They were going to the island that once upon a time Lady Kathleen had made her home.

The Elves Were Going To The Enchanted Kingdom!

Miles and his mama had been visiting at Grandma Lu's friends' house for Christmas. He and his mama were having lots of fun with Poppy and Bella and of course, Mile's grandma and grandpa. He said that this was his best Christmas ever!
 They loved to hear about all of Poppy's adventures. Miles loved his new dinosaur. He also loved to sing really loud. He was such a happy boy! Because of all the visiting and singing they did not hear what was going on out in Poppy's shed.

When the elves had landed in Poppy's neighborhood it was almost dark. The elves had to make plans quickly because it would soon be daylight. They wanted to have a little fun with the dog that was ruining Elfa, and Eric's Christmas vacation. They had decided that they would build a camp fire and fix some yummy food. They knew that Poppy would dig and dig trying to get to their leftovers. Then his human would get after him. This plotting against Poppy was so much fun. It was a bit tiring though because it was so much work.

After the elves had thrown their left over food and some smelly cheese in the dirt, they packed up their things. Then they crawled out of the shed very quietly although they were giggling about all the trouble that Poppy was going to get into. They were going to hop on the first Christmas tree that was going to Florida by truck. Those airplanes were scary to jump out of. Then they were going to get on a big ship. They were going to have an adventure! They were going to The Enchanted Kingdom far far away.

 The elves knew for a fact that there was an enchanted forest there.  They had heard about a reporter that was asking a lot of questions about an old pirate that was only seen once in a great while when she thought no one was paying attention to her. It seems that once upon a time there was a stowaway on a pirate ship whose name was Marlee many many years ago...

"Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Get out of my yard," barked Bella

"Run everybody! There is a giant dog out here. Run for your lives! I see a trash truck stopped next door. Let's go! Yay! Here we go to the Enchanted Kingdom.
"Have fun Poppy! Hope you don't get into too much trouble!Have a fun New Year!"

Else Hides In The Christmas Decorations

 Grandma Lu had accepted the challenge from Marlee and Grandma B. They had sent her a letter more or less saying that they didn't think that she could write a story just by looking at a few pictures of an enchanted forest that they had made in Grandma B's kitchen at Christmas time.
Grandma Lu had decided to show them that she could in fact write a story about most anything. She had thought about her friend's little dog, Poppy. He was a little scamp and seemed to get into mischief at every twist and turn. The last that she had heard he had been digging underneath a shed in their back yard making a mess of the yard and himself. In fact he really didn't smell very nice!

"Okay, old girl, think. Something is making that little dog dig like that. He's also chewing on the shed doors. Why would a dog do that if there wasn't either something in the shed or under the shed that he wants to get at. Hmm, yes. Christmas decorations are probably stored out there in the shed. Yes, there just might be something in those boxes that he is trying to get at. What would make a good story, let me think. This is harder than I thought it would be."

While Grandma Lu was trying to think of a story to write, one of the dogs in Poppy's neighborhood was helping to pack away Christmas decorations. Buddy packed his favorite Christmas toy so that he could have it again next year. He just loved that toy, but he thought it would be fun to get it out of the box when his lady decorated for Christmas again. Besides that he liked to help his lady.

What Buddy didn't know was that the little elf, Else, that had been at Marlee's house had heard the H.E.L.P. alarm and had stowed away in his lady's decorations along with his toy. She had somehow managed to catch a ride with another elf friend, Buzz, that had jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. They had landed safely thank goodness. However, he landed right at the entrance of the hole that Poppy had dug. She had landed at Buddy's living room under the Christmas tree. So she had decided to jump in the box of Christmas decorations. She was certain Buddy's lady was going to put her Christmas decorations outside in her shed too. Poppy's shed was just across the fence from Buddy's shed. Else figured it wouldn't be a bit difficult to quickly join her friends at Poppy's shed.

I don't think that Else knew that Poppy went outside at all times of the day and night on his adventures. She also didn't know that Poppy had a really big friend that lived with him. Her name was Bella. She was so big that she took up most of the room on their sofa. Hopefully Else makes it safely to the shed before either Poppy or Bella goes outside.

Grandma Lu Gets Grandma B's Letter

One day Grandma Lu went out to the mailbox to see if there were any bills in the mail. "It seems like that's all I get nowadays is bills. Hopefully, someone will send me a letter. I can't believe it!  Here's a letter from Grandma B. I wonder why she just didn't call me? I'm going to take this in the house and get me a cup of coffee. I have a feeling this just might be important."

"Ha, ha. Oh those two characters. They sent me a challenge huh? Oh this should be fun. They don't think I can write or tell a story about an enchanted forest. Well, we will just see about that. I see snow on the ground and some little elves by the trees. It's funny Marlee didn't put a Prince Charming in there somewhere. That little girl sure does like to be a princess. Oh, I have it. I need to grab a leftover Christmas cookie and get to writing a story. Oh such fun."

Grandma Lu happened to think of a friend that she had never met, but they had visited and shared stories about their lives on their computers. She happened to think that her new friend had a little dog. In fact she had two dogs. "Hmm, I think I will give Faun a call and see if it's alright to write some stories about her little dog's antics. From what I see and hear, he is a character. I think his name is Poppy. Oh and I think I will write about the Elf On The Shelf antics some of the young moms and dads are having fun with at Christmas time.

When Grandma Lu talked to Poppy's human she gave the green light. Oh that tickled Grandma Lu. She could think of so many stories to tell to little Marlee and her Grandma B. Challenge, ha!

"Your challenge is accepted Grandma B and Marlee! I got this, B"
 And Grandma Lu sat down at her computer and started the story that she was sure would win.

Once upon a time there was a lady and her husband who had a little dog named Poppy........

Poppy's Chewing Has Set Off The Elf Alarm

One day Poppy heard his human say rather sternly. "Okay for you. I am not "it". I don't play hide and seek. No food or water until you come in the house. Do you actually expect me to bring you out your meals when you have been bad? Look at that door! Have you been chewing on it? Oh, what to do with you!"

Poppy couldn't believe his ears. He was royalty after all. He could trace his blood lines clear back to King Charles the second in England. And did she forget that Tramp the famous movie star was probably his great great great grandfather?"

There was a little elf that was doing some rock climbing inside the door that Poppy was chewing on. "I thought this would be a great place to vacation. I was told that the winters were mild and that my friends and I could relax and have a good time until next Christmas. They said that there was an enchanted forest that we could explore."

  "They said there was sun and fun and relaxation. Boy, I need to send out an alarm to Else and her friends. Don't come to this shed! It was misrepresented in the vacation flyers. No sun in here, that's for sure. If I'm not mistaken there is a dog trying to get in here."
" Come here and look out the window, Elfa. I do see a dog! Now what are we going to do?"

"I don't want to leave. This is a fun place. Whee! Look at me. I can ride a rocking horse in here," said, Eric Elf.

Tommy, the tallest elf in the shed said, "I will take care of this. I can send the H.E.L.P. signal to our friends with my magic wand, but until we get some help we can have a lot of fun teasing that dog out there. He will get into trouble and nobody will know it was our fault."
The other elves agreed and laughed as they made more noise that only Poppy could hear.

The signal did go out. It reached to the shores of the sunny ocean beach to Elle the elf.  "Oh this is the life. I love Christmas vacation. The perfect place to rest and relax before I go back to getting into mischief again next year. I think I will go snorkeling in the water for awhile. Oh how I love the beach. Oh oh, my ears are hurting, what is that ringing in my ears?"

"What? Oh no.....

Buzz and his friend Barbie were practicing sky diving. They had an appointment the next day to jump out of an airplane. "Vacation was so much fun. "Oh ow, something is ringing in my ear! What? Oh no!"

Else had been hiding in Marlee's jewelry. She was still having fun. No one had found her yet. As she made another dive into Marlee's stash she had a ringing in her ear. "Oh ow, What? Oh no. I guess Christmas vacation is going to be in Oklahoma this year. I had better get packed. Hmm, her hair bow might be of some use. I think I will take that along, oh and her secret treats she has hidden in here. I might need this too. An elf just never can tell what kind of trouble they are getting into."

Sally Gets In Poppy's Yard

Poppy was in a hurry to get under the shed before his human caught him and made him go in the house. There was a really big reason he didn't want to go inside. Inside the house there was another dog. A really big dog. Her name was Bella.
Poppy thought, "I'm going to see if I can't get under the shed before my human catches me. Oh look, there's a cat. I love to chase cats almost as much as I like escaping the yard. What?! What's going on? Yuk, why did you do that? Now I am really going to get into trouble. Thanks a lot."

What Poppy didn't know was that the cat he decided to chase, because after all it was on his yard, was in fact a skunk. Her name was Sally. She had been watching Poppy with interest for quite some time. It was getting colder and she thought that she might like to dig a nice place to keep warm right underneath that shed. "No such luck with a winter home underneath that shed. That dog was getting too close for comfort. I had to give him a little squirt of my special warning juice to make him stay away from me. I will just go somewhere else to spend the winter."

When Poppy's human came out and smelled the horrible smell of Sally's special warning juice she was really upset. She even had her hands on her hips. "Well, you are going to have to stay outside until I get back from the doctor. Then you will have a bath young man. What a terrible smell that is. You should know better than chase a skunk. You will chase anything, even leaves.

When Poppy's human got back from town, she did indeed give Poppy a bath. She gave him several baths, but she could not get all of Sally's juice out of Poppy's fur. She dried him off the best she could. Poppy went to the air vent to finish drying while his human called a Pet Groomer. They would have to finish the job.

While Poppy was gone his human was talking to her big dog, Bella.
"Oh what a good dog you are. You are really big, but you love to sit on my lap, don't you? That's okay, you don't get into trouble all the time like Poppy. I just have a feeling there is more trouble on the way for that little scamp. What to do with him, hmm? Yes, I know we could give him away, but we won't because we love him." she laughed.

"Hopefully when he gets back from getting another bath at the groomer's he will stay away from that shed. One could only hope," she sighed.