Wonderland

We all fell into Wonderland today, and it makes a whole lot of sense because we were all pretty sleepy. A late night of setting things up made it quite a drowsy day - so perhaps it all was a dream? But it all seemed so real! This morning, we met Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Caterpillar, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Cheshire Cat, the Pepper Cook, the Queen of Hearts and her three cards: Two, Five and Seven. Mommy had a very heavy hand in making sure everyone had a costume. A few were ordered, but many were put together over a long period of time, with trips to fabric stores and time spent in Goodwill.

It was an all-star cast, performing all over the place: for the hundreds of kids between first and sixth grade, it was an introduction to Wonderland. Alice followed the White Rabbit into a place like no place on earth, and doing things slightly out of order she met up with the Tweedles. Everyone really enjoyed it in the audience, laughing at the slapstick of the Tweedles and getting caught up in the fantasy of it all. In case you're wondering where the Bible is in all that, we talked about the Beatitudes, as Alice tried to straighten out the Tweedles' goofy behavior!

Down the hall with the younger kids, the Queen of Hearts ruled, ordering her cards around: Two, Five and Seven. You could hear her cries from their auditorium: "Off with their heads!" Of course, the Queen and her subjects all had to learn a thing or two about the Beatitudes themselves. But something tells me those goofy cards have got a whole lot more learning to do before this series is over. It may be just me, but I don't think some of these guys are playing with a full deck!

After and between the services, all the characters spent time with the kids - including Madison. Here to the left you can see Alice at the tea table, getting served by the Duchess' very own cook. Unfortunately, he's got a thing for pepper: he puts too much of it in everything, including apparently her tea! Madison got to meet most of the characters today, but will certainly meet the rest in the coming weeks. She had fun dancing with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and looking up at the bumbling playing cards. If you're wondering what role Daddy played in all of this - of course he was the writer. But you'll see him in a moment, all dressed up as the March Hare. At one point while the message was being delivered to the kids about the Beatitudes, the March Hare snuck off to the nursery area to peek in the window on some of the kids there, looking for Madison. He didn't want to be seen, but that plan didn't work out: a train line of kids were marching down the hall to go to a playroom and caught the March Hare! In the middle of that train was Madison, who beamed with joy when she saw a giant rabbit coming towards her. That's my girl: Giant rabbit marching down the hall towards me? Everything's normal!

You can see Daddy in the middle here (he's the one with the really long ears). We were posing with some children after the service, and as you can see it was a lot of fun for everyone. Parents were thrilled to see all these characters walking around - trying to name each one. It was like Disney World or something. This was a WHOLE lot of work, but everyone stepped up and worked together as an amazing team to make it happen, from videos to costumes to acting to volunteering with the kids. Actually, this sort of thing goes on all the time week after week with all our different series. It is a lot of fun to see the finished product, and I think everyone involved enjoyed it too. We'll be taking all sorts of photos of Madison with the characters, and maybe she herself at the Mad Tea Party. And oh yes, our family is a proud part of the Tea Party movement. We're all a bit mad, you see.

Madison had a wonderful time today, and that's why we do what we do. We try to make lasting impressions and make church the most exciting experience we can so that the kids will want to come back, even if they have to drag their parents in with them. In that regard, I think we accomplished our goal, and made this place a wonderland for Madison and all the other children to come to... all on a golden afternoon!