Through the Looking Glass

This morning we took a break from all the Summer Xtreme work to catch a movie that Madison has been waiting on for quite some time:  "Alice Through the Looking Glass."  In order to work with Daddy's schedule, we actually saw this in the morning today, which made for a nice, quiet movie experience.

All three of us enjoyed the movie.  Of course, we enjoyed the last movie too, and of course the characters have a long history with us, and Madison as well.  Just look throughout this blog and you'll see countless KidPak skits, references, costumes, plays, and tea parties.  Madison brought her Alice doll to the theater, and Daddy had his Mad Hatter t-shirt on.  It was nice to see all the characters back together again for another surreal journey down the rabbit hole.

Of course, the movie had little to do with the book of the same title.  Like the last movie, these two movies just use the titles and the characters, telling a story that takes place some time after the events in the original books.  While the original book "Alice in Wonderland" was probably easier to translate to the big screen, the sequel "Alice Through the Looking Glass" was a very strange book.  Mommy and Daddy read that one a few years ago for research.  There was one movie we believe that attempted to tell the story straight as it was written - it was a 1998 movie that was enjoyable for those of us that are fans of the characters and books.  But it was highly unusual for certain.  Anyway, this story was fun, and the visuals were amazing.  We love the costumes and landscapes, and when Mad Hatter Day comes again in October, we'll probably be watching this movie from home.

Moving on:  afterwards, we hit the ground running again for another day of preparation.

Madison and Mommy were at home of course.  Madison did quite a bit of piano practice today, following her piano 'summer homework' sheet.  She also did some drawing too, which is great to see.  She's getting better and better with that, as the more you practice, the better you get.  Right?

Tonight we had a prayer meeting for Summer Xtreme.  Volunteers and staff joined at the KidPak auditorium for a night of prayer over Summer Xtreme.  The one thing we can't do without is God, and despite all our efforts, it is a big fail if we don't have His presence in the services and throughout the week.  It was a good night, one of those good things you sense we should have been doing all along.  We did pray for the week before, of course.  But we didn't actually host a prayer meeting, inviting the volunteers and staff.  That just made it more powerful, I feel.

Anyway, SX2016 will be really good this year.  Despite feeling like we may not have done every last thing, we know as of tonight, we've done the most important thing.