Patriotic Sprinkles

Mommy is so creative.  For the Fourth of July celebration, she made up this great ice cream snack that delighted Daddy and Madison.  It's an ice cream sandwich that has sprinkles on the side - red and blue. For good measure, there's a handle on the bottom that makes everything just perfect.  We stop to admire Mommy's handiwork, and then faster than a school of piranha, we devour it whole!

It was so good to see Madison tonight upon arriving home.  She and Mommy had a fun day together, going out and getting a few things for tomorrow's celebration at Ye-Ye and Nana's house.  Among the items, a gift for Hannah.  Also, the ingredients for a delicious dessert surprise from Mommy.

Tonight we had plans to see fireworks, but God had some fireworks in the sky that were much more impressive.  The rain was very heavy tonight, and over a huge amount of area in Georgia.  There was flash flooding in Atlanta, and a whole lot of rain.  It pretty much put a damper on any plans for fireworks tonight - maybe next time.  Tomorrow, we'll use some sparklers that Mommy picked up, but nothing doing tonight.

To get into the patriotic spirit though, Daddy popped in a couple old Disney cartoons.  First of all, there was "Ben and Me," which tells the story of how a mouse named Amos actually came up with the dialogue for the Declaration of Independence.

Incidentally, I can't help but notice this sentence:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  And this one at the end:  "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Inspiring document, isn't it?  Could you imagine an official document like this one mentioning "Creator" and "Divine Providence" in them today?  Not hardly.  That pretty much sums it up for me.

Another cartoon we watched tonight was "Paul Bunyan."  Here's a cool picture we found online of him meeting Captain America.  That didn't happen tonight though:  Daddy was wanting to inject a little American folklore into Madison's mind, and we scored big with this old story.  She loved this cartoon, especially the parts where Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox wrestle.  Only a few days ago, Daddy found a gem of a book at Goodwill, an old book that is a collection of stories about Paul Bunyan.  Tonight at bedtime, we read a few of these, and Madison's imagination was quite active!  We'll read some more in a bit - she was enjoying their adventures together across this country.  It starts out in Maine and goes on to the western wilderness, pretty much covering the whole country.  It's neat showing her a little culture, and neat seeing her enjoy it!

One final note about Paul:  Madison hasn't quite got his name right yet!  She calls him Paul Onion!

Today was another work day for Daddy, but unlike some others, this one was a whole lot of fun.  Despite it being 97 degrees outside (not an exaggeration), we went down to Centennial Olympic Park to do some filming for our series this month.  We filmed two and a half videos - we ran out of battery on that last one.  Still, it was neat to go and visit again.  We weren't exactly given permission to film, but we were able to sneak some videos in there in a clandestine sort of way.  I think everyone was focused on another area where they were trying to set up for a big Fourth of July party tomorrow.  Meanwhile, we were out there filming and talking about the nations of the world, and of course the bricks.  Daddy got himself a brick in 1996, and it was cool to see it again.  In one of the videos, our host points it out - the reason is because there is a scripture on it, Luke 19:38-40.

Initially, I had wanted to take Madison with us so she could go and enjoy the fountain down there - but it wasn't even on, as you can see below:

You can see the five of us above, each one inside an Olympic Ring.  So why wasn't the fountain on?  Answer:  It wasn't working today because - and this is a direct quote from an official: "Yesterday someone pooped in it."

I am not making that up.  The point here is that I'm glad Madison didn't come.  There would have been absolutely nothing for her to do.  Once you've located your brick, the trip is pretty much over - especially when the fountain isn't on and it's 97 degrees outside.  Still, there were plenty of people there, which was nice to see.  You may be wondering why I have Luke 19:38-40 on my brick.  Well, here's the script I wrote that sort of works it out:

HOST:  "Here we are at Centennial Park - it was right here the world came to visit as Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympic Games.  This was a place of noise - and quite a bit of celebration!"

CUT AWAY to shot of BRICKS

HOST:  "And if you look down, you can see here the bricks of thousands of names, each one a person who gave money and time to make all of this happen."

CUT TO HOST walking along on BRICKS

HOST:  "The stones here say a lot.  But have you ever considered that these very rocks might someday sing too?  Let me show you something."

CUT TO CLOSE UP of BRICK with LUKE 19:38-40 on it.

HOST's VOICE:  "This brick has a scripture on it that amazingly talks about rocks, and how they can give praise to God."

RETURN TO HOST

HOST:  "Let me explain:  You see, quite some time ago, the Pharisees were complaining about all the noise and celebration.  People were rejoicing because Jesus was entering Jerusalem.  The Pharisees hated it though.  And they asked Jesus to get them to quiet down.  His response?"

CUT TO SCRIPTURE:

HOST'S VOICE:  ""I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

RETURN TO HOST

HOST:  "Each time the Olympics come, there is a great celebration.  But remember that seeing Jesus is cause for the greatest celebration of all - he is the one who loved us so much that he died for our sins."

CLOSE UP of HOST

HOST:  "And until the day we see him once more, this simple scripture is a reminder of what we should be celebrating most.  Don't let the rocks out-praise you."


I'll post the video when it gets done with the editing, which should be later on this week.  Hopefully it will turn out well.  I know it's going to be above average because we went on location in a serious way - last week, we filmed at the Olympic Rowing Venue, and today we went to Turner Field, and of course Centennial Olympic Park.  We got a lot filmed today, but truth be told, we had a lot of fun too!