...One of those Days

 ...Professor Utonium, Braves lose 12-0, position player pitching, bad day, bus stops, good test results, chia dormant, Mt. St. Helen's... updates coming soon...

Building the Temple

Today we started on a project that Mom got me, a it's a big one - but a really fantastic one.  I loved reading through Exodus and all the specifications and processes for putting together the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, but only when seeing some sort of visual to understand what it was I was reading.  There are videos for that sort of thing, a step-by-step account with visual aids to go with those scriptures that show how it all came together.  Well, Mom got me this LEGO brick version of the Wilderness Temple, and it goes with the scriptures just the same, verse by verse, as you assemble that Wilderness Temple.  As you can see here, all I have thus far is the ground, and a high priest.  But he looks ready for that Temple to get into place.  This will be a fun thing to put together.  Mom got this for me earlier, and I've been waiting to make room at the table to get it all going.  Look what else we started today!

We were in a Chia pet frame of mind, and I think that's because we have a State of Liberty version of one that we'll do closer to July 4th, but in the meantime, we have Grogu and Shrek to do some test runs on.  We went through the set up tonight and got these guys going, all while catching up on "The Mandalorian," which of course is all setting up for the big movie coming out in a few weeks.

And there's good ol' Shrek!  Remember this guy from before?  We've put this one together a few times over the years, going way back to 2011!  These will be fun to keep an eye on in the coming days - don't worry, we'll post pictures!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty standard for a Sunday, eating together and watching the Braves whoop up on the Boston Red Sox again, 8-1.  The game was at Truist Park, and there was actually a sudden explosion of rain there that caused a small delay - it was actually hailing on the field, small bits of ice hitting the park.  But just as suddenly, the sun came out again - briefly, and long enough for the game to end with the Braves on top of things.

This morning, we had a great KidPak service as always.  Emma was speaking, and we did a memory verse exercise, and just had a lot of fun with the kids.  It was a good morning - I took this photo backstage before Emma went out there, but below that are just some of the excellent pictures Maddie takes of our services.

It was a fun day.  We had the "Rededicate 250" event live-streamed from Washington DC, and that was a really nice thing to see up there in our nation's capital.  Tonight we closed up our evening with reading from "Snuff," and after that prayers and a good night's rest.  I'm on some medication right now with a little cold, so I'm sleeping a little heavy tonight! 

More Mean Girls

This afternoon we were at the final City Springs Theater production, which was "Mean Girls."  I saw the high school version of it about two years ago, and it's okay.  Not my favorite, but we still enjoyed the performance, and it was nice to go down and see a bit play.  

Maddie was at the graduation party for Nate this afternoon, and earlier on, she and the rest of Team Edge were practicing together at the martial arts studio, where there were some important questions asked.  Like, "What kind of fruit or vegetable would you be?"  The answer for Maddie, or at least other people's answers for her:  a lemon.

She had a good day today, and then got home to join us for the Braves game against the Red Sox.  Mom actually got us some Cracker Jacks to enjoy while watching, and we destroyed that bag.  Those were delicious, of course.  The Red Sox got us this time, but tomorrow is another game and another chance to win the series with them.

Tonight we moved our story, reading "Snuff," and there's a mystery afoot to figure out.  No doubt Sam Vimes will be on top of this one.  We read for a bit, said our prayers, did some of our puzzles, and then yeah, it was time for some sleep!  We've got Kidpak tomorrow morning.

Nate's Graduation

Tonight was Nate's graduation, and Maddie was happy to be there and celebrate with him!  They had fun with the family together, and after that went off to eat.  When the manager heard there was a graduate at his restaurant, Nate got a super sweet delicious cupcake!

Okay, those actually look pretty good.  As do the tacos that Maddie got, of course.  I'm kind of wanting one of these street tacos now.  We'll have got go there again soon!

Here's the family there after the graduation.  Congratulations, Nate!  Maddie had a nice time tonight being there for Nate's big night.  There's a party or two tomorrow, and you know she'll be there for that.

Wow, tonight's Braves game was a thriller - extra innings, and Yaz came through with another huge hit to drive in the game winner and against his grandpa's old team, the Red Sox.  Maddie got home just in time to see the big play.

Today was a bit of driving to and fro, heading to the church to get a few things to set up for Sunday's service.  We did our reading tonight with the Plush Entourage, continuing with "Snuff," the final book of the Sam Vimes series in the Discworld.  After that, prayers, and a good night's rest!  

Goombay

You're looking at some Bahamas Goombay Punch!  I bought a few cans in Nassau, and imported them back home for lunch today, and Maddie had one too - she liked it!  It's basically a carbonated fruit punch, but I remember seeing these cans a long, long time ago.  I found one at the market right there next to the boat in Nassau, so I picked up a few cans.  I was going to drink them there, and then maybe later, and then it just worked out that I brought them home with me.  And that's just fine!  Anyway, it's good stuff.  We'll have to go back and get some more now.

So here are a few of our medals we got for the games the last few cruises.  We actually got the old-school ones before this, although I'm not sure where they are at the moment.  We've won quite a few trivia games, but keep getting the Donald Duck and Cruise Ship medals.  We'll have to go back and get some more now!

Here's the new Star Wars set-up Mom has on the counter there.  You can see our new rubber ducks and of course the C-3PO head there.  That just might be my new popcorn bucket!

The Braves lost tonight, actually shut out for the first time in a month of so.  Hopefully they can wake those bats up a bit soon, but even so they've got the best record in baseball, and are the first team to win thirty games this year.  There's a lot of good news here.

I've been a bit under the weather lately, and I think it's something I got on the cruise.  I'm sort of doing the medicine thing and taking it easy, but yeah, it's weird having a little cold when it's summer.  I put together a few fern stands for Mom, so her new ferns look great on that front porch.

We read tonight, and we're moving through the book "Snuff" fairly quickly now.  It's supplementary book, "The World of Poo" is what follows, but we're wrapping up the adventures of Sam Vimes and the City Watch.  There's still plenty of other Discworld books we haven't read yet, so no worries there.  

After reading, we said our prayers.  Quiet but good day.

Outback

Mom and I had a gift card to Outback Steakhouse, so why not drop by tonight?  We Maddie and Team Edge had a big performance tonight at the martial arts studio, and afterwards Maddie was hanging out at Nate's place for a bit.  So Mom and I had a date night, and it was pretty nice there.  

Here's something else nice - some flowers that Nate got for Mom for her birthday, or perhaps Mother's Day.  Either way, it was a nice gesture!

As for the Team Edge performance, it was great!  The team was showing off a little for all the parents and students that were testing tonight, and it was a really good run-through.

Today was a good day - we had some KidPak planning today for various upcoming events like Father's Day and Summer Xtreme.  We're keeping out exercise going with the walking - I've been watching old movies while walking "to the moon."  Today's flick was "Space Chimps," and wow, we've come a long way with CGI.  It's fun watching these older movies where animation studios were just starting to figure out computer animation.  Anyway, not a bad movie.  Next up is "Area 51," and after that I'm looking forward to "Muppets in Space."  

So tonight after watching the Braves win, we closed up things with reading from the Discworld.  We said our prayers after that, and it was off to sleep.

Keep Moonwalking

Got another post card from the Moon!  Still walking along this trail in space, following star dust and all that.  While walking, today's movie was "Space Chimps," which I'm about halfway through at the moment, keeping up with the whole space exploration theme.  I'm about 70% or so through this virtual walk, but it's been a good one, as there have been a lot of post cards, images and different moments along the way, but also all of these VHS and DVDs I've been watching on the television the whole journey.  Super fun.

Okay, so yeah I was back to work today.  Mom was still doing laundry.  Maddie was ... I'm not sure what she was doing, but I'm sure it was awesome!  We finished the Summer Xtreme booklet today, and that is going to be great to have all done and ready to go.

We had a more chill day today, certainly nothing as hugely scheduled as last week of course.  But it was nice nonetheless.  I got home and we all were watching the Braves vs. Cubs, basically the teams with the two best records in baseball.  We were number one beforehand, and we defeated the Cubs pretty well tonight to get even further ahead.  The Braves are doing really well, and it's just been fun watching this BravesVision, as the team is really fun broadcasting the game and other things going on.  I think it's the other things going on that add a bit of craziness, from hamsters, ice cream, second buttons, eel bites, giant sandwiches and more.  And then the other things being shown, ceremonies and post-game interviews and all kinds of interesting things.  It's been our staple this year!