Dynamite

The blueberries were plentiful - right in our yard!  Daddy checked on them and sure enough they were ready to be picked, so Madison grabbed a bucket and we proceeded with our blueberry harvest.  These were ready to pick easily, so big, blue and plump.  We tried a few, but the majority of them are currently resting in a large bucket waiting for some tasty dish in the near future.

Today was a day off, although Daddy spent a big of time at a tire shop in Alpharetta, taking care of the car.  We're getting ready for a vacation, so it's good to take care of the car earlier, rather than at the last minute.  However, he was there for hours, and somewhat worn out upon arriving home.

The day was one of cleaning up and restoring things back to their pre-4th of July state.  Bunting down, patriotic pinwheels down, decorations down.  Our garden keeps getting watered each day, courtesy of Madison and the hose - she makes sure it is taken care of each morning, keeping a close eye on the different crops we'll soon be picking:  peppers, tomatoes, and more.

Madison got one of her magazines this morning, a LEGO-themed one.  This is always a thrill for her at the mailbox, getting magazines.  She gets a few subscriptions a month - some have Disney Princesses, others have LEGO characters.  There's this one called Sparkle World - this cover pretty much sums it up:

Yep.  Everything you need for an eight-year-old girl.  This brings Daddy back to think about what magazines he got in the mail each month.  This is going to put a date on him for sure:

This was something Daddy looked forward to each month.  I wish I knew where all of these magazines went off to, because there was a big stack of them somewhere, years of pop culture all piled up, sedentary layers of retro fun I wish I could peel back once again.

Another magazine Daddy got when younger was Ranger Rick.  Recently, we were delighted to see that's still up and going, even with a "Ranger Rick, Jr."  Especially with the "Get Wild" series going on right now, why not sign her up for another magazine?  This one caters for kids a bit more, and of course has that educational angle about different animals found in nature.  So add that to the list of monthly publications Madison looks forward to.

And who knows?  Maybe some day Madison may find herself on the cover of a magazine?

Tonight when Daddy got home, there was a delicious salmon dinner - again!  We've been eating outside on the back deck more frequently - although if it is too late you want to apply bug spray.  Just like everyone else, mosquitoes love Madison.

We continued our aqua-movie fest with a viewing of "Atlantis," which had Madison riveted.  I'm not entirely sure why this one is such a favorite of hers, which is not to say it isn't a good movie.  It's just interesting what fascinates her.  Anyway, we've been watching a lot of open-sea movies lately, all part of the "research" phase of a new series.  We may or may not get ideas, but we're keeping with the theme for inspiration.  And of course that theme carries over to our vacation coming up as well.

After the movie, it was time for bed - although just prior to that there was yet another skirmish in an ongoing war:  "One, two, three, four - I declare a thumb war.  Five, six, seven, eight - this is going to be a piece of cake."  This was yet another theme of the day, one epic battle after epic battle!  Madison and Daddy were going at each other with thumb wars all day long.  Madison declared the thumb war to begin with.  She didn't even consult congress when declaring war, a habit very similar to our current executive office.  She just attacked in the morning, and that was that.  Several hours later, the thumbs were still battling it out, still too prideful to call a truce.  At the very least, we have a cease-fire until the morning, so at least there will be peace until sunrise.  But tomorrow, who knows how much more this thumb war will last.

As for tonight, that's about it for the day.  Aside from picking blueberries, Madison played some piano, colored in some sheets and did some reading.  It was a nice relaxing day for all of us.  Or, to sum up using topics from today's entry:  it was thumbs up, and dynamite!

"Hey sugah! How ya'll doin'?"

So here we are at our new series, "Get Wild," where Madison and the other children got to see a few exotic birds such as the umbrella cockatoo (named Sugar).  Lately, Madison has been practicing her Southern accent.  This is something she hasn't quite acquired, mainly because (ahem) she's from CHINA.  But still she has been trying to sound Southern by repeating the phrase - over and over again - "Hey sugah!  How y'all doin'?"  I'm not sure where this started, to be honest.  It may have been when we were talking about one of the X-Men, Rogue.  Or it could have been trying to describe one of the My Little Pony characters, Applejack.  Whatever it may be, Madison has been trying this accent for a few weeks now, repeating the phrase.

Now, suddenly, she can ask a bird with all sincerity, "Hey sugah!  How y'all doin'?"  The bird didn't reply.  But it did surprise Daddy backstage when it said, "Hi Sugar!"  I forgot they actually talk, and sound not so much like birds at times, but like tape recorders.  I honestly thought someone else had said it, but then it dawned on me:  oh yeah, the bird talks.

Anyway, there were plenty of other exotic birds.  Madison also saw a hornbill above, and a few parrots like the one in the picture below:

You can see Madison barely in the crowd above, against the wall in the middle with the white hairband.  She's enjoying the presentation, where we learned quite a bit about various birds.  The service was fantastic, and one that left the kids remembering quite a bit.  And that's pretty much what we go for at KidPak, making lasting impressions.  Here's a few fun facts about birds we shared this morning, straight from our message:

A Bird’s Eye View

     Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south? Not really. That credit goes to God, the one who made all creatures great and small, including the wonderful variety of birds that soar over the earth.

     You see, God is smarter than a fifth grader. He’s smarter than all of us, and he ought to be: He’s the one that created us and knows what’s best for us. He knows every sparrow, and He knows every hair on our heads – so don’t worry!

     No matter your situation, remember that where God guides, He also provides.  The prophet Elijah found this out firsthand when he was hungry and fed at the brook by a congress of ravens sent by God. That’s so raven! Even in a barren desert where everything looked so empty of promise, God made a way – and Elijah discovered that he shouldn’t worry.  God isn’t like an ostrich that sometimes leaves its nest, completely unconcerned for the eggs left there alone. No, God is cuckoo for all of us, His love so strong that He sent His only son for us. He watches over us like a hawk!

     So don’t lose feathers worrying about the future. Even if you’ve messed up in life, God can forgive you if you ask. After the rooster crowed, Peter realized he had done something awful to Jesus. But even after that rooster crows for all of us, there’s still God’s love. He’ll take care of us because He loves us no matter what. Nothing can separate us from His love, so return to the nest and get a bird’s eye view!

1. God is smarter than a fifth grader. He knows everything there is to know about you.

"Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south?” Job 39:26 NIV

2. Where God guides, He provides. God will take care of you, just as He took care of Elijah when he was hungry.

“You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.” 1 Kings 17:4 NIV

3. God is not an ostrich! He cares for each of us, and won’t abandon us. He will never leave or forsake us.

“Ostriches lay their eggs on the ground. They let them get warm in the sand.  They do not know that something might step on them. A wild animal might walk all over them.” Job 39:14-15 NIrV

4. Even after the rooster crows, God is still cuckoo you. The rooster reminded Peter of his sin, but Jesus forgave him. God loves us so much, that He sent His son to die for our sins.

"But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NIrV

Shutter Shades

I told you it would happen.  Madison got her shutter shades, which are retro cool like our new series that we'll start tomorrow.  It's called "Get Wild," where we'll be seeing all kinds of unique exotic birds to start out with.  The look of the series is 80's retro, hence the glasses above.  These are for the display case that Mommy made up, currently resting on a Panda bear that Madison has named "Pandy."  He also has a gold chain around his neck.

We shot videos today also, and since our theme was about exotic birds tomorrow, we did a video about flamingos.  Since Daddy wanted footage of flamingos for this video, it was off to the main library in Cumming to pick up a video, "The Crimson Wing."  Which sounds like a fighter pilot in the Pacific Campaign or something.  But it's actually a decent movie.  We'll show a bit of that, and we'll also probably show the entire 1:51 of the flamingo with a yo-yo from "Fantasia 2000."

We hadn't been to this library before, so we naturally spent a little time there before moving on.  One of the neat little features there was a story book trail.  We walked outside through a garden - out the back door.  Following the path, we'd see - and read - different pages of a story about a frog named Charles, or Charlie in the end.  It was perfect weather for this sort of thing, and the three of us enjoyed walking along outside, and reading as well.  Add one more book to the reading program, but this was a great idea.

Afterwards, we raced to the church to get some work done.  Mommy went out afterwards to get shutter glasses for her side of things, but we spent most of the day at work today, preparing for the service tomorrow.  Madison watched movies and played games - and helped put books in chairs, or carry things around.  She was there for the shooting of our flamingo video too.  Speaking of which, here's the skit we made up - you can read that as we get back to work on the stage, music, banners and videos for tomorrow:

FLAMINGO FUN

HOST:  “Hello there!  What color is a flamingo?”

HOST 2 jumps in.

HOST 2:  "Pink!  It's pink!"

HOST looks a bit surprised for a moment, and holds up a lawn ornament.

 

HOST: “ Right!  They’re pink.  But did you know why they are pink?"

HOST 2:  "Because girls like flamingos, and girls like pink."

HOST continues patiently, still upbeat.

HOST:  "No!  It’s actually because of the food that flamingos eat.”

CUT TO SHOT OF FLAMINGOS

HOST’S VOICE:  “Flamingos eat a lot of different things – but one thing they love is plankton.”

CUT TO VIDEO SHOT OF PLANKTON LOOKING FEARFUL:  “What?”

CUT BACK TO VIDEO SHOT OF FLAMINGOS

HOST’S VOICE: “Inside this plankton are something called carotenoids, which have a pink pigment inside. You can tell a strong and healthy flamingo when you’re around one. The more the flamingo eats, the more pink its feathers turn. “

CUT BACK TO HOST

HOST:  “We can learn a lot from the birds.  Let me share a scripture with you.”

CUT TO SCRIPTURE:  Luke 6:45

HOST’S VOICE:  “A good man says good things.  These come from the good that is put away in his heart.  An evil man says evil things.  These come from the evil that is put away in his heart.  Their mouths say everything that is in their hearts.”

CUT TO HOST

HOST:  “With the flamingo, you can see the evidence on the outside of what it’s been doing.  But the same thing can be said with we humans.  If you’ve been feeding on God’s word – reading and praying each day – others will see the evidence of that on the outside.”

HOST 2:  "You'll turn pink!"

HOST looks perplexed.

HOST:  "NO.  Look, just ... just stop, okay?  Go sit over there."

HOST 2 sulks off as HOST looks back at camera, upbeat.

HOST: “What are you feeding your spirit?  Hopefully it’s something good, because people are looking at you.  And they can see the evidence of how you’re living.”

Lady Liberty

Look at this tasty cupcake!  This creation was one of Mommy's inventions, a cupcake for Hannah that turned out really well.  Daddy is glad he took a picture of it, because it was completely devoured shortly after this.  No mercy!  If you made something like this for Daddy, he probably wouldn't eat it out of respect for all the effort!

Here's our little Statue of Liberty.  Madison has been thinking herself a Statue of Liberty lately, especially because of two consecutive LEGO games where you can go around playing as a small LEGO Statue of Liberty.  Today Lady Liberty saw her grandparents and extended family come over for a wonderful afternoon.  Part of the "wonderful" is the presentation that Mommy was working on all yesterday (including the cupcake above).  It also included patriotic items, like these tasty red, white and blue strawberries below:

They were as tasty as they look.  In fact, I'm going to eat another in a moment.  Daddy fired the grill up and got the burgers and hot dogs going, while Mommy set up the lemonade dispenser - which looks so cool.  We had all kinds of salads, corn, and toppings ready - and soon we had ourselves a 4th of July meal outside under our new canopy.  The decorations were up, and the traditional music was playing (Daddy always plugs in Phil Driscoll's "Celebrate Freedom" and Disney's Liberty Voices).  It was a great time together, with the three f's:  fun, food and fellowship.

We got inside, afterwards and cleaned up a bit - and then went off to the pool.  Everyone jumped in for a nice afternoon at the pool, where the weather was perfect.  It wasn't too hot at all - just right for an afternoon swim.  

Coming back to the house, we had our desserts, and presents for Hannah as well.  Her birthday is actually July 2, but it works out that we're all together on this day.  She wasn't complaining either - especially when opening birthday gifts!

Like all good times together with family, the day eventually came to an end.  We handed out sparklers, and when it got dark, Madison and Daddy had our traditional adventure outside lighting sparklers.  Here's a few pictures of Madison with the sparkler, the first one showing her desire once more to be like the Statue of Liberty.

And here's another one where Daddy left the shutter of the camera open as Madison ran around the tree in the front yard.

Yes, she gave me the runaround.  The tree reminds me of the one at Pixie Hollow, doesn't it?  Anyway, we heard all kinds of fireworks in the neighborhood, so we walked down the street a little to watch some of the neighbors shooting off fireworks into the air.  These things are getting bigger and bigger each year - as technology increases, so do the amazing pyrotechnic shows of your very own neighbors!

But it was pretty late by this point, as you can imagine.  We walked back home and indoors, pretty much going straight to bed.  It was a very nice Independence Day - tomorrow we'll be back to work.  But today was simply fantastic.

"You Started it Second"

So we're in the grocery store, and Madison hits Daddy's shoulder.  So he hits her back.  Of course, not a real hit.  And then there's one of those "Three Stooges" hitting wars where we're both slapping in the air at each other - and Daddy goes, "You started it!"  And Madison's defense is, "NO.  You started it second!"

We went to the grocery store today, but that wasn't the only place.  We started out at the library - which was a nice place to start out at because we actually finished our reading program.  Madison read seventy-five books, the 75th was this morning, and so she was anxious to get to the library for a certificate, to put her name on a small robot on the wall there, and get a free book of course.  She got one of the Katie Woo books, something Madison has been enjoying lately.  But we did all these crafts while we were there too - it happened that there was a special craft session today, which was pretty neat.  We did this one thing where we put down streams of glue, and followed afterwards with bits of colored rice on top to great a great fireworks display on paper.  We also did some other patriotic crafts as well - but were off from there soon afterwards to go grocery shopping for tomorrow's big 4th of July special.

No problem.  We got our supplies - including sparklers.  You have to get sparklers for the 4th of July.  We also got some other items for Mommy, who was at home cooking up a storm.  Not really a storm, of course - the weather is absolutely perfect lately.  More on that in a bit.

First, the Disney Store.  It's across the highway there in Dawsonville, so Daddy and Madison went over there to check on something.  AND it happened that we were just in time for a Disney Storytime session, where a storyteller sat the kids down in front of an assembled stage and floor, telling the story of Belle's secret.  What's the secret?  I don't know.  Madison' wouldn't say.  But while Madison was listening to the story, Daddy took advantage of the sale that was going on and did some serious Christmas shopping.  I am not making this up.  You'll have to see what we got in about six months!

As for what she got from the Disney Store now, that I can answer:  she got a free pin and a lanyard.  This was pretty cool, as we weren't expecting anything as we showed up.

So we got home after that.  And Madison and Daddy assembled something a bit bigger than the standard Lowe's project:  a 10' X 10' canopy for the back deck.  This monstrosity took a long time to build, but the two of us stuck to it - and fortunately we made no wrong turns in our construction.  Meaning, we didn't have the usual U-turn at step ten to go back and redo everything from step four.  In fact, it was rather easy to assemble - it just took a while to do.  We wanted a nice canopy for the back porch, and now we have one!  Just in time for tomorrow.  And best of all, Hurricane Arthur did us a great favor by providing a constant breeze throughout the whole process.  Off the coast of North Carolina, a sudden hurricane has formed, this great ominous spiral on our weather maps that has come out of nowhere and spoiled a lot of 4th of July plans on the coast.  Not so much for us though - again, it's made things nice and cool here, with a pleasant constant breeze.

Mommy cooked all day.  And into the night.  One highlight was the cupcake batter she made, where we got to lick the spoon.  Oh yeah, licking the spoon!  Madison and Daddy each got a spoon and went to town on that tasty icing!

And afterwards, a bit more Disney Infinity.  But it was bedtime after that - we definitely need to get some rest lately, as we've been staying up late quite a bit.  Tomorrow is a big day, one that we're looking forward to quite a bit.  But looking back on today, it seemed to be a pretty big one too!

Church Night

Tonight Mommy and Daddy got to go to church, which is to say we got to sit and attend rather than the usual bit of effort surrounding the event.  Daddy did do a bit of work on the children's service beforehand, setting up a lot of review questions.  It was the last night of our Tribes series, and we devoted our time to rewarding kids for questions answered correctly about our services the last few months.  Madison actually got to answer a question, we discovered, and she knew the answer:  The Tribe of Benjamin was hungry like a wolf.  She got a token for that, and had to go to the Pak Shak - that's where it's at.  

It's been a good series, although it feels a bit like a hodgepodge of ideas at times.  Still, it allows us to focus fully on Summer Xtreme, so it serves its purpose well.  Also, it allows us to focus on the future, which I think will be lots of fun upcoming.  We have some great services planned, and great messages for July, August and September.  Even October and November have some planning involved - a possible LEGO-themed series in the works there.

Until then, we celebrate the Tribes series and get ready to move on.  Daddy finalized some plans today for a few animals to arrive this Sunday and Wednesday (and the Sundays in July afterwards).  We'll see all sorts of exotic birds on Sunday, and then a sugar glider on Wednesday, followed by some monkeys on the following Sunday.  Later this month, we'll see snakes and lizards, and then our alpaca friends once more.

But our family will probably be on vacation for one of those days - we were blessed with some deeper discount availabilities today.  For one, we're trying out this new hotel in the Downtown Disney area.  We don't usually do that - we're used to the Disney resorts with various themes - we've done the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Caribbean, Coronado, Ft. Wilderness cabins, and Port Orleans Riverside.  Oh, and of course the Art of Animation last time.  The Contemporary is the one we're building up to, although our next one will be the All Star Movies in October.  This hotel, however, is a recently refurbished one, with some amazingly low prices to entice people to come check it out in the first few months it is open.  It is right there within walking distance of Downtown Disney too - we've stayed in that area a few times, but it was quite some time ago.  Daddy remembers staying at the Grosvenor Hotel with a few friends, long before all those other resorts were being constructed.  We used to walk across the street to Pleasure Island every night, all this after a full day at one of the parks.  Such energy!

The other deal came up today, an offer to go to SeaWorld that we might not pass up.  We'll see the next day or two, but the plan has changed for us, and now we'll probably be going to SeaWorld a few days. This is something Madison has not seen yet, so we're pretty excited about that.  The downside of SeaWorld right now is the gluten free menu they have:  They don't have one.  Daddy is hoping to communicate with somebody down there, to get assurances and hopefully a gluten free menu.

So anyway, that's what we're doing later this month.  Look for photos from Florida, one way or another.  We just might go to Disney Quest instead, but we'll see how this SeaWorld deal turns out.  An added bonus:  Nana and Ba-Ba might be joining us for a day, or maybe two.  Also, these tickets to SeaWorld are for unlimited use until the end of the year.  So we could go back in December with Madison's Christmas break, and visit once again before year's end.  Or go back in October.

ANYWAY, Madison's day was fairly simple today.  Not much on the activity list, other than helping Mommy a great deal with grocery shopping.  Also, she's been reading.  Ten books yesterday and ten books today - which translates to only two more books left to meet her quota.  She's read 73 books so far this summer, so after reading two tomorrow morning, we'll be going to the library to collect a free book, and put her name on a wall somewhere.  One more summer, and one more summer reading program all done with!  Daddy is reading on and off, but when we went to the library the other day, he discovered something magical:  graphic novels.  I had no idea!  They have all the old X-Men comics put into graphic novels, which are basically hard cover books that contain about 12-14 comic books inside of them.  These are the ones from the 60's and 70's, ones that Daddy has never read before.  So, as you can imagine, Daddy is reading them now.  They're classics.  I know the stories, but never got a chance to see the comics before.  The one story that Daddy finished today was a Wolverine story from his first limited series where he goes to Japan - great stuff!  Daddy waits until Madison is in bed before attacking these books!

Mommy is working a lot lately.  She has been doing a lot of painting lately - she's gotten a room on the back porch all done now, which is looking really good.  It's clean and so much lighter, now with a couple chairs and only the ceiling fan above to fix up.  Soon, it will be a pleasant place to retreat for a drinking lemonade, reading, or some time in the future:  painting.  Yes, we haven't let go of that dream.

Today was Hannah's birthday.  Madison made her a card, which she'll hand Hannah in a few days.  The Fourth of July is coming, and so are the family - everyone will be here in just a few days.  We'll celebrate Hannah's birthday, among other things.

But for now, it's time to retire for the evening.  It was a pleasant day.  We've gotten all kinds of good news lately - if only we can get the car working again.  Something is draining the battery.  Once that mystery is solved, we'll be in a better position. But right now, we're still blessed regardless.  Lots of favor and optimism about the seasons to come - and we're getting lots of good rest too.  Speaking of which... good night!

Hipster Panda

So here's our mascot for this weekend's upcoming series, "Get Wild."  He's a hipster Panda, but hip in kind of an odd way, really.  He is growing on me, though.  For one, he's a panda.  Hard to go against a panda, right?

One other thing that Daddy likes about the panda are the shutter shades.  I am now officially convinced that all the kids at KidPak will be getting these some time in July.  I must make this happen!  One way or another, Madison will at least have some shutter shades, where there will be a blog entry actually called "Shutter Shades."  Daddy had a pair back, back, back in the day.  I remember picking some up at Six Flags - they were silver.  I wore them around a bit, actually kind of proud of wearing them.  They'll be perfect for the kids, really.

Madison read ten books today.  Ten books.  She wants to finish her reading program, and is really goal-oriented.  We had breakfast together, all of us, but with the work day as it was, Daddy didn't get home until later on this evening.  Mommy cooked a spectacular dinner though, with salmon and potatoes and salads - it was absolutely perfect.

We watched the last of "The Little Mermaid" trilogy today, the sequel about Ariel's daughter, Melody.  Ugh.  To have all the talent back with voice acting, and yet rush this through with the animation department?  This should have been something they spent more time and energy on - didn't they know we'd be looking at this movie fourteen years later?  It doesn't feel like that.  It feels like something they wanted to put on television in a hurry, and it not be seen again.  Diehard fans could go out and buy it, but don't expect that much.  It has a few moments, but they are all nowhere even close to the incredible first movie.  Fortunately, the third movie , "Ariel's Beginning," was a huge improvement.  It is really a prequel, so we watched that one first together.  The animation in that one is far superior, and everything about it seems to be somewhat of an apology for "The Little Mermaid II."

Madison still enjoyed the movie, of course.  She also enjoys "Cinderella II" and the other direct-to-DVD movies that Disney put out during that brief, but brutal time.  There were so many unnecessary sequels.  It wasn't that we weren't interested in the idea of a sequel, it's just that all of these were so incredibly cheaply made.  Only a few of these stand out as worthy:  "The Little Mermaid III," "Cinderella III," "Mulan 2," and "Kronk's New Groove" are among those we grown-ups don't mind watching again.  But Madison likes the others too, so I suppose they serve their purpose.

We'll continue our ocean-themed movie watching with "Finding Nemo" next, followed by "Ponyo," and maybe even "Atlantis."  Daddy is going to go out and buy some documentaries - we're watching all these as "research" for our upcoming series dedicated to life "under the sea."  This is the fun stage of work, the research.  And yes, we might even be going to a sea-themed place pretty soon.  One that even has the word "sea" in it...