Ever After

One more service with the Descendants characters - we wrapped up the story today, and it was a nice, clean landing for a story that actually brought Uma to Auradon, and yet got her back to the Isle of the Lost without any memory of what actually happened.  This was all necessary to keep this as close to canon as we could, and of course we wrapped up a few other loose ends as well.

It was a good morning with some great laughs, and a few unexpected parts that got Daddy realizing just how into it the kids were.  At one point, our actor playing King Ben starts telling Uma lines straight from a song, "It's Going Down."  And the kids in the audience were all saying the lines too, because like Madison, they have it all memorized!

Of  course, there were other laughs as well.  I was worried about using characters that were so familiar to the kids.  And it was restricting in some ways, as these weren't exactly the wacky characters that KidPak characters normally can be.  But the kids were into it, and by the end of it all, I can say it went really well.

And again, the star of the whole thing was Mommy, who made these wonderful costumes, many from scratch.  She did such an outstanding job, and the actors were so into their parts, it was easier to do.  The kids loved it, including Madison.  She did well on stage again this morning, and afterwards she raced out to hear Pastor Lance deliver the message of the day, which followed the story of Pinocchio a bit.  It was a great, solid morning!

So what did we do when we got home?  Why sure enough, we played Jenga with some Imperial Scout Troopers!

Scout Troopers are understandably afraid of things made of wood.

The Empire was out in force this afternoon at Chestatee Elementary School for something called the Spring Fling.  It was a fun afternoon where the kindergarteners were singing in a choir, there were inflatables, icees, popcorn... and Jenga.

This will not end well!

You can see here this larger-sized Jenga game is on the verge of collapse, and yet the architects that we are, Daddy and Zena had this epic duel going on for another few layers upward, all the while under the watchful eye of the Empire.  

FUN FACT:  Imperial Guards actually used cattle prods, because in their spare time they herded cattle.

Here's Madison, posing with one of the Imperial Guards.  These guys were some of my favorite troopers when I was growing up, mainly because they just sat there and did nothing.  You can see Madison joining in here and doing nothing as well.  They stood by the door there, and then when they were asked to leave, they did that too.  And that was about it.  Clearly, Madison is Imperial Guard material, as you can see above, she's able to stand there.  And I'm sure if you asked her to leave, she could do that too.  All she needs now is a red uniform and helmet, and we'll be set and ready to go.  Daddy will walk around, and have her trail behind me in her Imperial Guard uniform.  No one will dare mess with us.  Because the reputation is that no one messes with the Imperial Guard.  They don't even have to move.  You just know it's a dumb idea to mess with them!

"Scoundrels"

Here's Madison in front of another inflatable that she went on a few times.  It's a slide, but standing guard out front of it were a stormtrooper, and a mini Kylo Ren, as seen in those Calvin & Hobbes cartoons inspired by "The Force Awakens."  Seriously, the 501st was all over the place at this event.  They were standing guard at many of inflatable areas, ready to quell any rebellion.

"You can go about your business.  Move along."

Madison had a great time though, and the weather was just perfect for this sort of thing.  Even the folks in the uniforms were probably not as hot as they could have been.  It was sunny, but it was also cooler today, and that made the whole afternoon just perfect.  Also:  it wasn't raining, obviously.  This has to be pointed out, because pretty much every weekend lately it's been raining.  So it was nice to get outside and do something, you know?

So we got home, and did some piano, and then after that, a whole lot of Marvel Battlegrounds.  The highlight was a really long fight with Loki vs. Nick Fury.  There were ghost Indians and decoys and all kinds of madness - Madison was giggling hard all the way through.  All this was to set up our movie tonight, part of our Marvel weekend:  Rise of the Silver Surfer. 

To be fair, this isn't an awful movie.  The representation of Dr. Doom and Galactus are way off, but on the whole, it's not bad.  It's just not as good as the material that Marvel has been putting out in their cinematic universe.  Still, it was fun seeing the four heroes plus the Silver Surfer in action.  Madison enjoyed it.

She also enjoyed the end of our Nancy Drew book tonight.  We had all guessed quite a few chapters ago where the mysterious mannequin went to.  But tonight, as we wrapped things up, the bad guys were apprehended, and all was well again.  

We said our prayers tonight, quite content with another full day.  It was a good one.  We're thankful for quite a bit, and we're also a bit tired.  Time to turn in.  We said our prayers, and for all of us, it's time for a good night's rest.