Vanellope

Mommy did such a great job with the Vanellope von Schweetz costume this morning, particularly the wig you see above, but also the rest, which turned out really well.  But Camille was so fantastic as this character, copying the voice in such a great way, asking everyone in the hallway if they are hobos, or taking a big lick of her lollipop.

"Level Up" continued this morning at KidPak, with plenty of more costumes, of course.  Princess Peach is above, and Bowser - sort of.  Here below are the heroes of the skit, Mario and Luigi:

It was an interesting approach to the series, one I think can work within the context of the skits.  The basic premise is that the auditorium and everyone in it are part of the game within "Fix-it Felix," a world called "Niceland."  The kids in the audience are Nicelanders, are all the volunteers, and basically anyone else we wanted to.  But then other characters make the visit within this video game world, like the ones above, and of course a few extras as well, like Chun Li.

Yes, Chun Li was here, as was Link from "Legend of Zelda," who you can see playing a game of foosball in the recreation room.  The kids loved these characters!

Seriously, there were lines that were just as big, plenty of kids wanting to pose for pictures with all these classic video game characters.  As for the skit, the plot was simple:  Vanellope was visiting, and so were Mario and Luigi and Peach, who all put on a play for the Nicelanders in the room.  The play had a strong bottom line, and lots of laughs, and it was a mad-lib as well, so that added to the humor of it all.  So it was a play within a play, and at the very end, Link and Chun Li enter to tell Vanellope that Ralph has done something elsewhere, and that's the cliffhanger.  "Ralph did what?"  It was a lot of fun, and of course Madison enjoyed being on stage once again!

Our bottom line was about facing off against a boss level, and how to win (reading the gamer's manual, the Bible!).  It was a really great morning!

We actually didn't leave church right away, instead sticking around to talk with friends for awhile.  When we did get home, it was one of those deals where we were all just really tired.  Mommy actually took a well-deserved nap.   Daddy and Madison went over some homework, and did a bit of piano as well.  We played "Darkstalkers" for a few rounds, and in the end popped in another October movie, "Goosebumps," mainly because we might be going to see the sequel that just came out in theaters recently.  

It was a slower paced sort of afternoon, with some resting and some cleaning up around the house.  The biggest thing about tonight's bedtime ritual was our finish of "A Series of Unfortunate Events."  Anyone hoping to finding answers to the big questions raised during the series are bound for disappointment, although there are plenty of theories online and possibilities.  Madison has a bright mind and had plenty of ideas about the sugar bowl, but there are other questions too, and it's one of those things that had us all talking quite a bit afterwards, suggesting this, talking about that, or questioning something else.  We enjoyed the books, and wow, I can't believe it's over, having spent nearly six months reading these, about a chapter a day.  We'll probably read "The Beatrice Letters" again tomorrow, which is probably what we should have done all along - reading it after the last book.  

We said our prayers, and went to bed a bit early tonight.  Some of us were pretty wiped out after a big morning, as church generally does that.