The First Arabian Night

Have you seen this movie?  It's called "The Thief and the Cobbler," and apparently there's a big story about how long it took to make, and how it was never really finished.  We saw a version of the movie with patched together bits, and it's entertaining enough as is, and of course all part of our "Arabian Nights" theme we're embracing as we build up to the piano recital.  I think up on deck we have the two "Aladdin" sequels, and hopefully we can squeeze in a few of Harryhausen's Sinbad movies.  Maybe we can throw in "Prince of Persia" as well, although that one might be a bit too much for Madison right now.  Not sure, actually.  She seems to be tougher than Daddy was at that age.

Today, we were getting costumes and finishing the proof for the Summer Xtreme booklet in June.  That's pretty early there.  But the videos are lurking, and there are quite a few of them to be written, filmed and edited.  We've been working on the writing all along, but there's still plenty to do there.  The good news is that the booklet is coming along well.  In fact, here's the cover:

SX Heroes:  Titanium.  It's going to be interesting, for sure.  Daddy also has a LONG ways to go towards writing a script for the daily dramas.  The idea is to have Batman on stage, so as you might suspect, we'll be watching quite a few episodes of the Caped Crusader.

Sitting inside the office, it's so easy to be a bit more productive than usual.  Daddy's office may be a converted storage area, but it's been converted nicely.  There are hanging lanterns, plus Madison's picture hanging on the wall and other bits of art.  The new addition lately is a Keurig, which is all the rage right now.  These little coffee machines can turn out a great cup of tea very quickly, nice and hot.  It could be chai tea, or apple cinnamon spice, or green tea, or pretty much anything that's out there.  Daddy even has a Junior Mints hot chocolate pack, which makes some decent hot chocolate.  Madison will love that one.  Anyway, things are picking up as far as our daily list of work-related chores are concerned.  Today, Mommy and Daddy were out looking for pirate gear, as Captain Hook needs a proper crew this weekend.  Daddy just might be a part of that crew, we'll see.  It was a cooler day today, and a windy one as well.  An update on traffic in Atlanta is making us glad we've found that alternate route to Florida.  Atlanta will be an epic traffic mess for months on end now, unlike anything on earth.  That may sound like an exaggeration, but recently there was a study that showed we were ranked eight in the world for the worst traffic.  This bridge collapse will catapult us to a number #1 ranking very quickly.  

Interestingly enough - and probably just a coincidence: one year ago this very week, our governor vetoed the religious liberty bill.  That very month, according to the rainfall amounts for Georgia, the drought started for us as well.  Just sayin'...

Burning Bridges

Interesting day if you're from Atlanta.  This was the day that this happened:

If you're from Atlanta, or the surrounding area, this imagery might be seared into your memory for all time.  As if traffic wasn't bad enough, this bridge here is I-85 at the point where the tributary interstate 400 has just connected.  Unless you're the General Lee, or Knight Rider with that turbo boost feature, you're not going on I-85 anytime soon.  It's been severed, as if General Sherman has returned, cutting a line of destruction that makes it impossible to go from South to North.  Or visa versa.

Not since our snow event in 2013 have there been so many stranded drivers for such a long time.  What a stunning mess this one event has created.  Although taking I-285 either way around Atlanta is an option when traveling, the fact is that I-85 is already overcrowded, and all of those cars have to go somewhere else.  Needless to say, it's going to be a devastating few months for Atlanta citizenry as they await the completion of this bridge.

As for the fire, who knows what started it or how or why.  We watched the thing collapse live, as we just so happened to be there looking at the live feed.  We're very grateful no fire fighters were injured in the process, and that's the one positive takeaway from all this:  nobody was injured.  Not one person.  The cars were all stopped and things were shut down as they attempted to put the fire out, but it was too great, and too much to overcome.  The falling bridge actually helped smother the fire somewhat, so there's that.  But it will be little comfort to those driving in Atlanta tomorrow.

We haven't driven in Atlanta in a while.  We used to all the time, but the traffic has just gotten out of hand.  I think the next scheduled drive through might be during Summer Xtreme, actually, when we were planning on going to the zoo.  We'll see, because even those plans might be dashed - we got to the zoo last time by going over that very bridge.

Storms are coming through tonight.  These are part of a dangerous system from the west, although the  energy is not there as it was in the midwest, where there was considerable damage.  Daddy is watching the radar, and aside from wind and rain, we seem to be okay.  It's loud outside, with rumbles and flashes of lightning in the air.  Mommy isn't feeling well either, so that doesn't help one bit.

Today was a good day for her otherwise.  She was getting a lot done around the house, while Daddy had his class to teach, and then the usual work at the office.  We took Madison to ballet, and Daddy was proofing some books as Madison danced her ballet routine.  After spring break, she'll have to really focus on that routine, because it won't be long until she'll be performing at the spring recital.  Crazy how fast this all goes by.

She's made a lot of friends along the way though.  Daddy dropped Madison off at school this morning, and watched as she started talking with the girl who was dropped off in front of us.  They knew each other.  They were talking all the way up to the entrance of the school.  And as Madison was leaving ballet, she had friends wishing her well on her spring break.  It's good to have friends, and they all seem rather nice.  She'll want to keep those, of course.  It's never a good idea to burn bridges.

Colorful Cat

Work day today.  Wednesdays are very full days.  Madison had art class again today, although not for enrichment.  There is one more enrichment class left, those after school classes where students can spend an extra hour at school tinkering with LEGOs, cooking, creating art or other activities.  Madison wants to sign up again, and she's going for a straight year of art classes, because she's having such a great time.  So sign up we will, and Madison will finish the year with one final enrichment class with art.

This is something Madison drew from scratch, and then colored in.  She likes cats, and this one would be quite a unique cat to have around the house, certainly.

So Madison has been taking practice tests for the Milestone testing that is upcoming.  This testing is all important to the school, the state, the teachers.  It's testing season, a tool used to measure a child's intelligence or growth or whatever.  Of course, they're all timed, so it's not about how smart your child is entirely as it is more about how they react to timed tests with a limited amount of time to put down a correct answer.  Madison did well on her testing last year, despite the fact that she was doing a make-up test after being sick for about a week.

The other season that is fully upon us is Pollen Season.  Daddy is more affected this year, more than usual.  Madison is really affected too.  We both take allergy medication each morning, and it helps a little.  Madison has this runny nose, and Daddy's been wheezing a little.  Thankfully, Mommy hasn't really been as affected as the two of us.

Service went well tonight, although Daddy was able to come home early to read to Madison and Mommy.  We continued with our story from the pages of Jack Sparrow's adventures, continued our Bible, and continued our Neverland devotional.

It is always so good to read each night, pray, and give a little kiss on the cheek.

Our friend is moving down in Atlanta.   He was asking for a bit of advice about buying a home, and we thought it would be good to put that here, for future reference.  As we close out for the day, here it is, the official home buyer's advice list, from Mommy and Daddy:

* I know you’ve probably already considered this, but the elementary school your child would be going to is actually very important.  One school does not fit all.  This was first on our list when looking for a place to move to.

* Get pre-qualified so you know your price range of what you’re pre-approved for.  It’s useful, and it is so you don’t get your hopes up for something that’s just out of range.

* Be willing to walk away.  We saved $10,000 on this house walking away.  An offer was given to us, and we were good to go.  And then the inspection revealed about $10,000 in renovations needed.  It’s not that I’m an expert negotiator.  It’s just that despite the fact that we really did want this house, we also know that a house is a big investment.  They threw a new offer at us immediately, and we’re here to this day.

* Are there any reported clown-sightings in the neighborhood?  While some people don’t have any problems with clowns, others develop a deep fear of them lurking in the woods.  Ask neighbors if they’ve seen any clowns in wooded areas nearby.

* Laundry room.  The location of the laundry room is something to consider.  It’s actually a bigger deal than many realize.  That’s Zena’s input there.

* Local taxes.  This might be something to look into ahead of time.

* Location, location, location.  I’m sure you’re thinking about distances away from certain places like work.  In some cases, even if it is further away, that time spent driving is negated by traffic quantity.  So perhaps further away isn’t as much of a problem. It all depends though - there are so many variables. 

* If there were clowns sited in the neighborhood, what kind of clowns were they?  Don’t be afraid to pry.  Ask neighbors if they were circus clowns, rodeo clowns, street mimes, or standard birthday party clowns.  A simple question like this could save you a lot of trouble down the road.

* Certain websites will give you an idea what houses you’re interested are estimated to be worth, and what the taxes run.  You can compare prices, find out an estimated market value based on neighborhood sales.  You also get an idea of resale value.

* Real estate agents are human beings.  We had to let one go because she wasn’t doing as much as we wanted.  The truth is, you and your wife are excited about buying a house, and you’ll probably be doing more work than a real estate agent in finding and looking for something.  My wife clearly did in finding this house.  Tell your agent all that is needed, but I think I know you two well enough to know that you’ll be doing more work.  It’s a lot, but the internet is there with pictures that can help eliminate pointless visits to locations.

* A neighborhood HOA can carry a reputation similar to North Korea.  There’s costs to consider, but also the heavy hand of the HOA is ever present.  Kiss those garden gnomes goodbye!

* How old is the roof?  Will it need to be replaced soon?  That’s a big expense either immediately, or down the road.

* Just because a clown has been spotted in the woods, that doesn’t necessarily mean he or she is a viable threat.  Consider if anyone in the neighborhood is a professional clown.  Perhaps you can turn this into a learning experience for the family about acceptance of others and their belief systems.

* AC/Heating are also issues to look into.  Do you have to replace anything up front?  These costs add up, of course.

* Water damage.  The inspector will point these things out, but you want to look for those wet patches in ceilings or basements.  Those are signs that water has been coming in somewhere.  And if it is a consistent problem, that could lead to toxic mold.

* The driveway.  Holy cow, we’ve seen some bad ones.  Just try to picture some worst-case scenarios with weather or traffic or your children, and factor that into your ultimate decision. 

* Bradford Pears.  Builders planted them all over neighborhoods in the South.  And they have a well-deserved reputation.  They will eventually break.  And they stink for two solid weeks each year with such a repulsive fragrance that you’ll avoid frolicking in your own front yard.  This is way down there on the bottom of this list for a reason.  It’s not that big of a deal.  It’s just something to be aware of.  They have a lovely bloom.  But we have two in our front yard, and two weeks ago, the smell was awful.

* Playroom.  We made such a big deal out of the playroom upstairs for Madison, and she never goes in there unless it is to get something and bring it out to the living room/kitchen.  It’s an entire room, and yet we don’t get much use out of it right now.  We’ll be repurposing it soon, but the idea of a little nursery/play room area was lost a long time ago, because she just wants to be around Mommy more.  You may not need a playroom for your child. 

* People with coulrophobia, a fear of clowns, may be more unsettled by the “uncanny valley” effect, where something looks almost, but not quite human.  Just keep in mind that clowns live by a code of conduct, something they call the “clown commandments.”  These rules apply to conduct and appearance, and are fairly detailed to remind everyone of the goal of clowns:  to spread laughter and joy.

Those were off the top of our heads here, but one important thing to do is this:  enjoy the process.  Sure, it’s a lot of work.  And there’s the heartbreak of telling a house “no” because of one issue or another.  But like with any relationship, that “Mr. Right” is out there, the perfect fit for you, with or without clowns.

Art Gallery

It was our annual trip to the art gallery today, the one down at the Chestatee Gym.  Madison's fourth grade picture was hanging up, framed amongst all the others, and a sad little reminder that there is just one more row left to go and she'll be moving on from this school.  We've collected her pieces going back to kindergarten, then first, then second, then third, and now this year's.  It was an unusual piece to say the least.  You can see she's got a picture of herself tilted to the left, with her mouth slightly open, and all this color and wording coming out.  It's either a Peter Max 60's kind of thing, or these are all portraits of kids during that time when everyone was sick.

One thing we like to do is check out the self portraits from the third graders.  There are so many great ones - although these were our favorites above.  the first one, there's a kid who evidently wore a shirt that said, "I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry.  I wasn't in control."  And so, that's in the final picture.  You really lose focus of anything else but that message, and then you go from there, looking for cues as to some sort of ravenous behavior.  Finding none, you then assume that though the girl appears somewhat normal, things can drastically change very quickly.  The best strategy is to keep her well-fed.  Child #2 there with the rainbow... is one to be scared of.  The Minecraft Creeper there on the shirt really lets you know that there is monster lurking within this picture.  And it is probably due to an abundance of sugar, as shown in the eyes.  Although, that could be a simple case of possession.  Child #3 cracks me up because she's wearing a "Love Wolves" shirt, and is surrounded by wolves, and her expression seems to indicate that perhaps this wasn't the best idea, posing with some wolves.  There's just a hint of unease and fear there.  And Child #4 is telling us to smile more.  We're not sure what that backdrop is, but his zipper smile is somewhat contagious.

Anyway, we left there and watched "Aladdin" at home.  Daddy passed along the fez again, and we got some popcorn ready for another Arabian night.  Today at music practice, Mrs. Pam was reading a portion of the Scheherazade stories, complete with a frustrating cliffhanger (this so Scheherazade can keep telling the stories night after night).  We're getting ready for a "Arabian Night" theme for the piano finale, so these movies will be on the playlist.  Today we dropped off a bunch of magic carpets and baskets to help her decorate when the time comes, and beyond that, we've got brass items and more to donate for the effort.  It'll be a great finale!

We Use Antlers in All of our Decorating

The party kept going today, as you can see above.  Mommy and Daddy went out to do a bit of shopping while Madison was dancing, and there we found a lamp stand that had antlers in it.  Yes, this is the perfect thing for your friend who uses antlers in all of his or her decorating!

Our day with Madison started out as it always does before school:  a picture, breakfast, prayers, and then the drive to the drop-off zone.  It sounds like a military operation there at the end, and indeed it is!  Okay, no it's not. 

Today we decided to have lunch with Madison, so we brought taco stuff to the cafeteria, and she loved it.  It was a nice visit, the usual sort of visit where Moms and Dads get to hang out on stage at the cafeteria.  Usually if we come, we try to bring some sort of good food, and for Madison, it's hard to beat tacos.

We were there today because right after lunch, her class went to the Book Fair.  Mommy and Daddy were there, looking around, and by the end of the visit, we had a few more books to add to the collection.  Plus a book mark.  These trips to the Book Fair are always fun.  Sometimes, even Mommy and Daddy find books for themselves!

After school, of course we were heading to the dance classes.  Even after such a traumatic week of practice, rehearsals and productions, the show must go on.  There was jazz followed by ballet, and the kids were back dancing again.

One thing we got today were the school portraits of Madison.

We bought a few.  These are so much better than the lasers backdrops of the 80's-90's.  Although we may look back upon these twenty years from now, and think how tacky they are.  By that point, we'll have some sort of laser backdrop again, or a utopian paradise, or perhaps a simple gradient. 

For now, the natural backdrop is nice, although it looks more like a movie set than her actually at the lake.  No matter, she looks nice and the image is pleasant.  Here below is the class picture for 4th grade.

This backdrop amuses me.  Madison's class is way beyond the simple spelling and math you see on the border there.  And who still uses comic sans font in anything?  I thought it was generally agreed upon that this is the worst font in the history of typography?  

Regardless, it's a nice group shot.  Madison and her friends look great, although you sort of pity that girl in the front row with the slumped shoulders.  She either wasn't ready for the photo, or is having an unusually bad day!

Tonight, we read some more from "The Timekeeper," the latest Jack Sparrow book.  Also, we read from our devotional and the Bible.  It was a big day today, and a fun one.  Tomorrow, we have a few things scheduled too, so we haven't exactly had that chance to catch up on rest and so forth.  But we're not worried - that will come soon enough!

As Scripted

This morning we kept on rolling with all the activity of the week by continuing with our Neverland series, which has been just great.  You can see Madison with a few of the other characters at the entrance to the church upstairs, greeting all kinds of different people as they walk in.  But here was the signature moment of the morning for Mommy and Daddy:

This is Madison's first line of dialogue for this series, and pretty much the first thing she's said as a part of a script ever.  She's a character named Mei Mei, who hangs out with the Lost Boys.  Remember, Jane was the first Lost Girl, so it's okay to have a few Lost Girls with the group.

******************

WENDY: “Well, it’s quite simple really.  Because God wants to adopt you into His family.”

RUFIO: “That’s all we ever wanted.  To be adopted.”

PAN has been thinking this over, and marches over to join storytelling at CENTER STAGE

PAN: “I don’t get it, Wendy.  Why did he have to die?”

MEI MEI taps him, and looks up to him.

MEI MEI: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

******************

She didn't have any problem at all with her line.  In fact, she asked if she could have more lines next week.  We'll see about that though, as we have a whole lot of cast members and only eight microphones.  We'll have more pirates next week, so we actually will have a cast of about sixteen or so total by the time all is said and done.  Quite a big cast!

KidPak went well, and we went home.  We had some delicious spaghetti, and soon after that Madison was taking a much-needed bath.  This is the follow-up bath to all the make-up and hair products used for the ballet... are gone!  As you'd suspect, it took a bit of scrubbing!  Mommy and Madison were upstairs with that, and Daddy was downstairs trying to understand the rules to the latest board game we'd try immediately afterwards. 

It went well!  We did a couple games.  First, we tried out "Star Wars Rebels Missions," or something like that.

This was a fun game, although we lost.  We're supposed to work together - which we did.  Players roll the dice, match up cards, and try to complete missions.  The challenge is doing a certain amount of them with a timer going on.  That adds a bit of tension to the game, which gets players doing things with a frantic sort of nature.  

Madison didn't want to play it a second time.  The stress was too much!

So we did a few games of "Stitch: Trouble" next.  It was a fun few rounds, an easy game to play, and one that we enjoyed quite a bit.  We're so glad to have board games in the house, and truth be told, Madison would rather play these than video games.  They take a bit of time to set up, but they're a lot of fun to play.

But we did play some video games.  Madison has been into the whole Jedi/Padawan thing lately, so she was Luke, and Daddy was Obi-Wan, and we were battling all kinds of foes in the Jedi training room.  

Tonight, we had popcorn and a movie, and the choice was:  "The Avengers."  Madison has not seen this yet, and we decided it was time that she could watch it.  She loved it.  We'll probably be watching quite a few more super hero movies between now and Summer Xtreme.  

By the way, we let her know that Agent Coulson will be okay.

And speaking of "heroes," Daddy finished the 2017 Summer Xtreme booklet today, and it looks really solid.  Like, "titanium" solid.

Bedtime tonight:  Bible, devotional, and more Jack Sparrow.  A nice capper to a pretty full day!

A Night at the Ballet

There's Madison again, our lightning bug on stage.  She had a great day, although she was astoundingly tired by the end of it.  Who wouldn't be?  Mommy and Daddy were wiped out too!

Today was our big, long day.  Madison had two performances today - although they didn't start until 2:30 this afternoon.  And yes, Madison had to get there a lot earlier than that.  We dropped her off at Brenau with little trouble or stress, and she was up and ready to go.

Here she is with one of the other ballet moms.  Madison did really well today.  Mommy and Daddy were able to come to the second performance, the one scheduled for 7:30 pm.  Nana and Ye-Ye also came to that.

There's a degree of emotion to these, as the kids have been working for so long, and working so hard on it.  And now as it draws to the end, there's a bit of bittersweet emotion there, especially where the seniors are considered.  Madison will miss a few of them deeply.  Of course, she was quite tired by the end of the night.  But there was so much emotion there too.  Bedtime came easily tonight, although it came much, much later.

As for the ballet itself, it was beautiful.  This was the first time that Mommy and Daddy could see it in its entirety.  The concept is simple enough, a marriage of the many different stories of Grimm, from Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Hansel and Gretel.  The performances were spot-on, and something that we're really enjoying more and more.

As you might suspect, this was it for the day.  The parents do a bit of waiting.  Daddy was working for a short time, and then returned to get Madison after her second performance, only to discover a misprint on the return time had him there an hour early.  Therefore, he had some time to kill while waiting around.  Here he is with Lessie, a painting of a woman from 1903 or something like that.

And once that was over, it was a race home, eating some quick bites of food, and a race back to the drop-off time, which was an hour or so before the performance time.  Remarkably, we had favor for parking in all these situations, getting those prime spots that nearly require parallel parking in front of the auditorium.  They also made it easy to leave the auditorium area quickly, and get home as fast as possible for a good night's rest.  Everyone is tired!

But it was magical again.  I don't think it was quite as magical as the Nutcracker, but that's a tough one to beat considering the Christmas spirit and larger crowd size.  Still, the performances were just as good, and there is this sweetness and heart present in the productions that can't be quantified.  An audience member is simply in the presence of so much heart, you sort of get swept away with it, even if it isn't your own daughter on the stage at the time.  The truth is, you know all the daughters and parents, because like a band of brothers (and sisters), you've been through a lot together.  And though there might be a tendency to complain about long hours waiting (which Daddy did this week!), the truth is, all that is erased when you see the beaming faces of our daughters as they gracefully glide across the stage in their beautiful costuming.  And for a few moments, all the troubles of this world are gone, as contentment and peace come dancing in as well.

Quarters in Her Quarters

One of the things that Madison has inherited from her great grandmother are quarters.  She has these in her room right now (quarters in her quarters), and she's been fascinated with coins lately.  We're not sure where this has come from, outside of her interest in finding older dates on pennies and so forth.  As mentioned earlier, she's got a whole lot of pennies now, some dating back to 1900 and somewhat before.  But also, she has a new set of quarters:

Here she is with that classic map that everyone was selling at the turn of the century.  Back in 2000, these maps were for sale everywhere because the US Mint was issuing quarters for every state, and we were all scrambling to get at least one of each.  They were issued in the order of statehood, so Hawaii was last, and it seemed so distant now, coming out so long away in 2008.  The coins started in 1999, I believe.

You can see above that Madison has one of each of the first round.  She does not have the second round though, outside of a few that we've found here or there lately.  We'll no doubt be collecting that second series, the one with all the parks and landmarks on them.

Coincidentally, there's a wiggly tooth in Madison's mouth right now.  That just might be something the Tooth Fairy brings, as she does like to bring coins!

No ballet today at all, which was fantastic.  It gave Mommy and Madison a chance to rest.  They stayed home tonight, although Daddy had a Father-Son event to go to, one where KidPak hosted a bunch of games, video games, dodge ball, basketball, and the inevitable grilling of hot dogs and hamburgers.  It was a nice night out, although it did go late.  Daddy got home, and the girls were already asleep.  That's a good thing, because Madison needs plenty of rest for tomorrow:  she's doing her final performances with "Into the Woods," and of course Mommy and Daddy will be there to see it all!

Into those Woods

Today was the big day!  You can see Madison backstage here, getting ready for her performance in "Into Grimm's Woods."  All the girls arrived early, and got make-up and costuming on as they waited for one of two performances this morning.

Daddy didn't get to see all of it because of the class he was teaching, but he did get to see Madison dance in her routines.  We're not supposed to take pictures during the performance, of course.  These are some from the other night's practice, and what the audiences this morning got to see from the Gainesville Ballet.

It went well for both performances, and the crowds were immense.  Both shows were overbooked, and the audiences really enjoyed the show.

There were plenty of things to see, from the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, to a witch that seems to be responsible for Rapunzel's situation and a trap for Little Red Riding Hood.

She's a very busy witch.  But of course, Daddy's eyes weren't on any of the other dancers so much.  Here's the one performer that he was watching this morning, smiling the entire time:

Going back to the class, I was speaking to the students about how I was only looking at Madison, and watching her perform.  Even though there was a soloist, and Madison's performance wasn't the centerpiece of the production.  Regardless, I was smiling and proud of her for doing her part, looking at her only.  And it made me think of our Heavenly Father, how he sees us go to work each day, doing our part.  Though it may not be something in the limelight, and it may be something far from the center of attention, still our Heavenly Father is looking at only us, and smiling when He sees us do our best.

It was a magical performance, and it will be even greater on Saturday when we sit down to see the entire thing.  Nana and Ye-Ye are coming to this performance as well, and we'll sit together in our usual spots in the balcony to view the ballet.

Here's Madison with her other fireflies afterwards.  She was outside in the lobby, greeting and waving goodbye to all the audience members as they went out the door.  She's enjoyed this very much, and we're enjoying it too of course.

Fireflies

Madison had her last practice tonight, and yes, she got home significantly earlier this time.  She and Mommy met Daddy at church tonight - KidPak went well also.  We've been all over the map this week with transportation and practices and schedules, but we're almost done with it all.  Mommy looked at the calendar and laughed, because it won't be long before auditions for "The Nutcracker" again:  next month!  Also, of course, there are two spring recitals in ballet.  It can very easily fill up the calendar.  Mommy and Daddy are looking at the summer part of that calendar, and yes, there's a "Nutcracker" camp there usually towards the end of July.  Also, there are two Summer Xtreme camps to attend, as well as perhaps two weeks of art camp.  Did we mention that we're now supporters of Quinlan Arts Center?  Yes, we're official members now.  Part of that is so we can start signing up for various classes and camps, including those summer camps that Madison likes to attend.

You can see that the summer calendar fills up rather quickly!  But there's one more camp that Mommy and Daddy have been eyeing, and we'll see if it all works out.  It actually takes place down at Ponce Inlet there, at the Marine Science Center.  Hopefully they'll be posting some info about their camps, because it looks like a great time, and an educational one too.

As for today, it was spent in preparation for classes tomorrow morning, tonight, and writing the script for this upcoming Sunday at KidPak.  This weekend, Madison will actually have a line to say on stage, so that's exciting.  It's a good script, one where the Lost Boys want to hear a story from Wendy.  And Madison gets to help out with that story!

The weather is suddenly chilly again, although not as chilly as last week.  But one day it is 88 degrees, and the next, the temperature drops thirty degrees or more.  That's what the storms were about last night.  And speaking of which, there is a lot of debris to clean up after today.  There are branches and other things thrown about by the violent winds yesterday.  It sounded rough last night.  Of course, we spent much of our time inside Pearce Auditorium, so we weren't completely aware of what was happening... that is until the big BOOM!  A thunderclap could be heard from deep within the auditorium, and then everyone suspected there was more to the weather outside than meets the eye.  It turns out there were a few tornadoes in Jackson County, and maybe even southern Hall County.  Hopefully this season won't be as rough as some of those we remember growing up.

Canon in D

Another long, long day!  It was so long, in fact, that we decided together that Madison could sleep in tomorrow.  We'll start with piano class afterwards.  Madison was on her own in this class, because today was the day where the kids picked the song they wanted to play.  We were surprised when Madison emerged from class, because she had selected Pachelbel's "Canon in D."

This was the song that Mommy came down the aisle to at our wedding.  We had a guest harpist there who played this song, somewhat of a standard for weddings at the time, and maybe even now.  We just generally didn't like the sound of "Here Comes the Bride" as much.  

Anyway, it was sweet that Madison chose this song.  While she was in the room playing, Mommy and Daddy went over to get her something to eat from Chick-Fil-A.  It would be a long day, we thought.  But it turned out to be longer than we even thought it would be.  

First, there were the pictures at Brenau.  As you can see here, Madison is posing for her production photo, something that Daddy and Mommy signed her up for.  This was immediately after class and eating, but Mommy did a good job getting her dressed up.

What's nice is that the one who runs the ballet, Mrs. Diane, was there to pose the children personally.

We'll get these pictures in a bit.  In the meantime, Daddy was snapping the ones you see above from the balcony.  This was where Daddy would be for the next five hours!

Yeah, that's right.  There was practice after the pictures, and it was for the red team (not Madison's dance team), with the understanding that there would be an intermission where a group photo was taken, and then the green team (Madison's team) could go home.

Only there wasn't an intermission.  And things ran late.  So the end result was that Madison was there for five hours or so, without dancing at all.  Somewhere around 9:30, she was called out to take her group shot, and that was it.

So to sum up:  take a personal photo at 4:15 pm (above).  Then wait around while others are dancing for five hours, and then take a group shot at 9:30 pm.  This was obviously not planned well for kids like Madison, who have to get up early for school the next morning.  We decided right away, and Madison was quite happy with this decision, to just let her sleep in tomorrow, and go from there.

In the meantime, Daddy was up in the balcony, and during that time, why not take a few pictures of the production itself.  This turned out to be a great blessing to some of the other parents, as Daddy took over a hundred pictures, and parents were happy to see nice photos of their kids in their costumes.

Here's Madison and a few of the other fireflies that were dancing.  This is the group shot towards the end.  The photographer is taking the picture below, as Daddy snapped it from above in the balcony.  It turned out really well!

Here are some of Madison's favorite characters, Cinderella's sisters.  Madison really, really enjoys all this.  And for all of our waiting around, she was just fine hanging out with her friends, playing games and talking.  And when all is said and done, it really wasn't that bad for us, personally.  Missing school a bit tomorrow might be bad, but in all things it could be worse.

But time is growing short!  The production is just a few days away, so practice went on for a while, and even later into the night after we left.  Madison did well with her dance last night, and we're confident she'll do well this weekend with her part.  The director was pleased with things, not really having to talk to the kids so much.

Now to the other big event of the day, one that happened while we were inside Pearce Auditorium.  There was quite a storm outside!  We heard the boom, and all day long felt the heat - it was 88 degrees at one point.  You just don't have it turn 88 degrees and not expect trouble!  There were a few tornadoes in Jackson County, and in our neighborhood, there were garbage cans tossed into the streets.  Tomorrow was a pick-up day, and many made the mistake of putting out the garbage the night before.  More impressive, the power was out for many, many people.  All of downtown Gainesville was powerless, including the Lakeshore Mall area.  Once we passed by McEver Road, the rest of Hall County - all the way to Forsyth County - was powerless.  Fortunately, we had electricity in our house when we got home.  Although it didn't matter so much - we were ready to go to bed, and nobody cared what time we got up!

It was quite a day, but now it's time to sleep, and sleep well.  This sort of day takes a lot out of you!