Gorilla Party (Happening Upstairs)

Maddie took these photos this morning of our great service at KidPak - you can see Bailee holding the message in a bottle, the theme of the the morning, still part of our series "Castaway Cove," of course.  We were holding those matching cards above, the front side of those with pictures of Gilligan's Island characters, and the back with parts of the bottom line that kids tried to guess in the right order.  It was a solid morning, and lots of fun too!  

And afterwards, we had ourselves a gorilla party!

So the context is that there's been a KPTV video we've used occasionally for the last few years, one where there's gorillas at a party, and they love ham sandwiches.  Of course gorillas don't eat ham sandwiches.  Nor do they party.  But regardless, it is what it is, and in our upcoming Summer Xtreme skits and videos, we reference the gorilla party.  And as a bonus at the end of Summer Xtreme, we actually filmed ourselves after church today, having a gorilla party.  Or at least a party where Frank (that's me in a gorilla costume) attends with the others, partying and having ham sandwiches.  And there's also those creepy baby dolls too...

Anyway, it was fun.  We got that filmed, and then we went over to Chef Wang's to pick up some Chinese food to bring home for a celebration.  Another party?  Yes, we had a Gotcha Day celebration.  Today is Gotcha Day, and yes, that means it's been fourteen years now since we first met Maddie.  Wow.  

Mom had a red envelope for Maddie, and we got her a Funko Pop figure of Mulan (holding a sword, of course!).  And the rest of the day was relatively quiet compared to the earlier portions.  We watched the slide show of our trip to China and meeting Maddie, all of it seeming as if were someone else's life a long time ago.

And tonight we watched "Kung Fu Panda 4," which was fun.  I had the bar lowered on this one, and it leaped over that bar rather easily.  We enjoyed it.  Certainly not on the level of the first two movies, but it was still a good time.  

And that was Gotcha Day.  We read a little tonight, more stories from Jabba's Palace, and after that we said our prayers and got everyone tucked in.  It was a fun day, and now it's time for some rest!

Forward Day Three

Day Three started early for us, of course, given that we have to drive a bit longer.  We stopped by Edge Martial Arts to pick up Chris, another one of the students from Edge.  Maddie, Chris, and Kaylee would spend the day together at the sessions for Forward, and a meal in between.  

Maddie snapped some of these photos with her cell phone.  The first session was fantastic, with the huge Tribes games, the worship, and a guest speaker.  By the way, our guest speaker this morning needed a laundry basket with some dirty laundry in it... so that came from our house.  We now have famous laundry.

Oh yeah!  Before the actual session, the rides were going on outside, and Maddie hopped on this swing ride again.  She also was on the big slide again too.

We have famous laundry!

Here I am on one of the vehicles contestants were racing around on.  These were fun to race around on throughout the underground areas of the arena.

Here I am at the Soundbooth before providing a voice for a robot character, Cyber Simon.  We had a Tribes game, "Cyber Simon Says."  Fun!

This is Darth Vader's toilet.

After service, we went to grab something to eat at one of the local Chick-Fil-A.  The closest one was too crowded, what with all the Forward people descending on it.  We opted for one further up the road and it was still crowded, but it worked out for us.  Still, a big line of similar folks from Forward.  We were everywhere.  You could easily tell the Forward attendees based on the bright team colors they wore.  Here's Maddie, Chris and Kaylee at Chick-Fil-A.

We spotted this place on the way to Chick-Fil-A and had to stop and take a picture of it!

And afterwards, I got the gang inside early so they could get their preferred seats, and get ready for another big service, the final one of Forward 2024.

 

The thrilling end of the Dating Game...

Another outstanding worship set.

Maddie's favorite speaker, "Uncle" Reggie.

Yes, we had turtle races!

Afterwards, there was some lingering and shopping.  The three had a fantastic time, but everyone was pretty tired afterwards.  We got in the car, which funny enough you can see in this picture above, and after that we drove back to Edge to drop Maddie's friends off with their rides. 

It was an unforgettable weekend.  Maddie said it was her favorite Forward so far.  She had a really great time! 

We got home and saw Mom, and of course there was much storytelling there.  Tonight we watched a the final few episodes of "Loki" before bed, just something to keep us awake until a decent bedtime, and then we read and said our prayers afterwards.  Long day, but Maddie loved every bit of it!

Forward Day Two

Forward Day Two started out earlier, and that was just fine.  Maddie joined up with Mia and the Braselton campus this morning, sitting with them for the first session.  And that was really great.  The Tribe games, the dating games, the worship and the message - things are going well here at Forward.  Here's a few pictures Maddie took with her cell phone before and during service.

I was in there early, and also backstage a good bit.  I snapped a few random pictures here of the arena.

And here's one after service:

Maddie also went to an information session about Free Chapel College, and she did that with her own initiative.  She sat in and gathered a good bit of information, seated upstairs with plenty of others upstairs at the arena.  She was even in the photo posted online, sitting in and listening to the presentation about daily schedules and what to expect at Free Chapel College - you can see her to the right.

And then after that... it was time to eat!

 

Afterwards, we went over to Sugarloaf Mills, and there we were waiting around in the luxury of air conditioning.  We met up with Kaylee, and that's when we got some food.  Maddie had wings, and I got some more shawarma, which was amazingly spicy.  Kaylee got some Popeye's, and we also had a few of her fries as well.  We walked around a good bit, and the girls had their time together so I could meet up with them later.  But one mandatory thing I insisted on us doing:  the shooting gallery at Bass Pro.  We dropped by to say hello to the fish, and the two girls went by the LEGO store, amongst some other places.

Fun!  And after a good bit, we went back to the Conference.  And it was hot outside.  Really hot.  No rain today, but we got there, and I got in without any trouble, thanks to a "go wherever I want to pass" that I acquired earlier.  Maddie and Kaylee sat with their Tribe "Icon" and got ready for another great night at Forward.  

It was a huge service, and of course Pastor Franklin was the speaker on Friday.  Everything went very well.  I was blessed with a new shirt from the team, a long-sleeved shirt that copied the design of the Atlanta Olympics in '96.  Maddie's been getting merchandise too, including a new John 3:16 sweatshirt, plus at the mall today a new plush Stitch.

After service, we were all quite tired.  Maddie and Kaylee hopped in the car, and we drove back to Edge to wait for her parents to pick her up, and then Maddie and I got home before midnight.  We were ready for prayers, a good night's rest, and ready to do it all over again tomorrow for the last day of Forward.