Libby Sinclair- The Arcadia Oaks Diaries

Got Thanksgiving?

"Right, right!"

- It was hard to not get distracted by all the other different items the stores had in stock. For example, as the teens wandered past the aisles, Tobes happened to spot a 300+ piece National Geographic Rock Collection Book. As the others knew very well, geodes and minerals were his weakness.

"No! Toby--Dude, we're only here for the ESSENTIALS!"

"But this Ultimate Rock, Mineral & Fossil Activity Kit and this box of geodes ARE the essentials!" The boy practically wailed.

"Aw, c'mon!"

"Tobes, no! We're only buying what's on the list."

"We'll come back here another time, okay? Right now we need the stuff for the float? And we can't win with nothing in our hands right now."

"Hm, fine."

- Tobes thinks for a second. Right, winning will sure feel better than some mineral activity kit. With all the prize money, he could probably buy all the rocks he wanted and further grow his collection. (He also managed to get his hands on the shopping list while no one was looking, making sure he hid by the farther aisles and wrote at the very bottom of the crinkled paper the very thing he always wanted.)

Ultimate Rock, Mineral & Fossil Activity Kit

"There. Heh." And once he saw everyone coming back, he pretended that he had found the list, placing it on the floor before picking it back up.

"Where were you? We were looking for you."

"Hey, float gang! S-Sorry, guys, I uh... was trying to find the list. I think you guys dropped it. But, uh.. I got lost, okay?" he blushed, giving them the list back in such a rush and panic. He let out a nervous chuckle. 

"Uh, thanks. Anyways, we need like 2 more things and we're done here."

"Right. Lead the way?"

- Their family helps in the best ways possible. Libby's aunt purchases a platform for the float. Tobes's grandma gets them some table skirting and extra long fringes to decorate the sides later on. More people are coming in and out with decorations, paint, glitter, etc. 

- Everyone picked amongst themselves who would be in charge of what for the float: Tobes' was in charge of looking for anything that was running out and including it in a list, Claire gave suggestions on any design ideas, looked for solutions to problems when it came to the float, and of course, Jimbo was in charge of looking for any errors or mistakes after completing their day of work.

- Soon the stage where the float would stand was completed. The floor was covered up in heavy plywood for extra support. Each person felt happy that the first part of the build was looking good.

- It was starting to look like a factory, with everyone getting to work on their assigned section. People went back and forth, occasionally taking a small break, complementing each other on their work progress, etc.

- Libby was in charge of making the props, costumes, etc. The stuff that the kids would wear during the day of the parade. They needed to match.

- They worked throughout the entire month (More like September, pretty much. These things take a lot of time and planning, Claire'd say) and hit with trials and errors. 

- Jimbo offers to take the float for a test drive to see if everything's working well. The group cheers him on as he drives off. He waves back at them in a temporary farewell.

- However though, oops. Some of the decorations fell off as he was driving around the block and so, they quickly had to fix those.  

- It was the week of Thanksgiving and the float was very much taking form. In Arcadia, the weather grew chilly and the wind blew calm, leaving a small scatter of leaves behind, nicely littering the roads. 

- The final result was an enormous turkey holding out a slice of pumpkin pie with a huge cute smile on its face. There was a bit of natural scenery around it like grass, autumn trees, and fallen leaves everywhere.

- Libby, with the help of her aunt and cousins finished making the costumes and met the group in the garage to present them. She felt bad for not being able to help around as much, but it's perfectly understandable and they're not at all angry.

"You did hard work, too, y'know, Libby? Don't worry about us," Claire winks

- Upon dashing in, however, her mouth drops at the sight of the finished creation. 

"That's not ours, is it?" She jokes, pointing at the large turkey.

"Yep, that is, actually."

"What, you think we'd end up with absolute crap?" 

"Not what I was saying," Sinclair laughed, tugging at her red scarf awkwardly. 

- Each fall, her aunt would crochet the thickest and most uncomfortable scarves and caps and gift them to everyone either in the house or in the neighborhood. Libby was one of her aunt's late victims of these.

- And on the day of the parade, they're getting ready, getting dressed up into their matching costumes. Libb wanted to impress not embarrass and so she didn't go too crazy on the costumes, thankfully. They all wore cute turkey hats and turkey-inspired attire.

- Everyone they knew was there and the entire town watched from the sides as various floats of all different shapes, sizes, and colors came into view. Large balloons were also listed up high into the chill sky. 

- The local schools had joined in on the fun, including Arcadia Oaks High, which had the marching band join in, along with their own balloon and float of their school mascot: the purple mole, raising its golden staff in the air, exuding that school spirit, of course.

- As their turn came along, massive cheers erupted from the crowd. 

"Smile and wave, you guys,"

- They waved to as many people as they could as they passed by and the rest was wonderful

- After the parade was over, it was time for dinner. It was your classic turkey, with the mashed potatoes and corn

- Libb's family was invited, as well as Tobes's and Claire's over to the Lake residence where the feast would take place. 

- Each family contributed to the grand feast with their own dishes and sides, of course

- They ended up winning 1st place, which would be a big talking point during dinner.

- Everyone mentioned what they were thankful for and the rest of the night was lovely