5 or 8

Looks like our elf is in a dangerous game of Jumanji - hopefully, he'll roll a 5 or an 8!

Today was our last day of play practice, as tomorrow, we'll be performing "Holly" in front of thousands of folks, which is pretty big when you think of it.  It's always big, of course.  But this time, Daddy was the writer of the whole thing, so it feels a bit surreal.  We've made slight modifications to the script over time, but nothing too big.  A lot of the humor remains, and now on top of that we have some music tracks to back up the thing.  Some work, others don't work as well, I feel.  But they're still in there, and that's okay.  The whole process has been about compromise, which has been an interesting thing to go through.  At the end of it all, I'm just plain honored to have so many people bringing to life characters and situations that I dreamed up.  Over the course of the thing, there is a Nativity scene - and Madison is continuing her long tradition of being a sheep for us:

These sheep aren't baaaaaaad.  Today was a lot of practice.  I think we ran through this thing four times, each time with sheep, lots of kids, volunteers and staff.  Lots of moving parts that make up this big machine we call a Christmas play.  I imagine we'll be rather zonked this time tomorrow.

But it should be a special day.  Nana, Ye-Ye, Aunt Shain and the cousins are coming to see the second service tomorrow.  And so are many others.  Plus, it is being live-streamed around the world.  In that respect, it could be somewhat like that Peter Pan production recently.  Only there's no Christopher Walken.

Anyway, it's late, and this was what we were doing most of the day.  The morning, however, had us doing a few different things.  Firstly, there was the trip to Lowe's to make a new Christmas train.

Yes, Madison and Daddy are seasoned pros at building these things.  The apron she has is nearly full with patches for each thing she's constructed.  This morning's train is unique in that it has an electric part that glows when you press a button.  She enjoyed putting it together - and doing so rather quickly.  She really has gotten the hang of basic carpentry!

Afterwards, we went outside into the parking lot, and encountered something you don't see every day.

This is Sergeant Greg Cochran.  And he is flipping a 555 pound tire.  Over and over again.  This morning, he set a world record by flipping this tire 205 times in one hour.  Because that's something you do with 555 pound tires.

Seriously, it was for a good cause (raising money for Georgia Sheriff Youth Homes), and we were there to see part of it.  Although we didn't see all of it, because, to quote Madison, "it was kind of boring."  We did have a lot to do that day, and spending an hour watching someone flip a 555 pound tire might have put us behind.  But we were glad to have seen a little of it, and soon were on our way home.  Later, we found out he did in fact break the record.  We were at home saying to ourselves, "that guy is still out there, flipping tires."  And sure enough, he was - all the way until noon.

I'm not entirely sure how this idea got into his head though.  I mean, there are other large objects to try and carry from one point to another.  Regardless, it was mildly entertaining for a bit.  But then we were off and running - play practice was awaiting.  And that was pretty much the rest of the day.  We didn't flip any tires there, so it wasn't that exciting.  But it was probably a little easier - even though at the moment, we're all a little - wait for it - tired.