Horse and Carriage

An unexpected carriage ride?  Sure, why not.  Tonight we had a Daddy-Daughter Dance for the younger kids at Free Chapel, and something well over 700 people showed up.  

There I am above, the one to the left.  In the snowman costume.  I was Olaf tonight, and that was quite the workout.  I can't believe how soaking wet I was after a few hours of dancing, waving, running... it was a big time workout, actually!  

So Maddie had her taekwondo practice tonight, but she got a ride to the church and she jumped right in, helping out.  She was moving tables and chairs and helping clean up, working very hard tonight!  She got to spend a good bit of time with the princesses there too - Camille was Elsa again, and she had a full Princess court there with Cinderella, Moana, Tiana, Aurora, Anna, Snow White, and Jasmine there too.  Maddie had a picture with Camille as Elsa, and wow... can you believe it's been ten years since that first picture together with Elsa.

At the end of it, just before we were going, the horse and carriage was still letting dads and daughters ride around until the last ones.  That was very kind of them.  So we just so happened to time it as we were leaving that there were a few in the carriage, but there was room on top for Maddie and Emma.  So with their tiaras on (everyone got a tiara today!), the two hopped up at the front of the carriage and rode around the church parking lot for a little bit.  It was a sweet way to end the day.

Well, the rest of the day was quiet by comparison, at least here.  Maddie enjoyed her day at school, and I got a lot done with KidPak, and Mom has been busy working towards Easter's production as well.  Tonight we'll get a good rest.  Tomorrow is a little quieter, but we still have a few things planned.

We read this evening, and then said our prayers.  Time to get some sleep.

Pink Blossoms

The pink blossoms on the trees are back, and that signals the hope that warmer weather might just stick around this time, although that seems somewhat optimistic even the roller coaster ride that winter typically brings our way.  Nevertheless, the temperature has been absolutely gorgeous outside, so much so that at night I've been out there sitting on the front porch reading, and even doing a bit of work from time to time.  

It's been a good day today, a productive day for us.  Maddie was at school like always of course.  She's been painting her fish fabric creation and that's coming along well.  We'll share a picture of that soon enough.  She's been doing ELA homework and studying for calculus as well, just sort of riding out the rest of the senior year here.  

We did have taekwondo tonight, a shorter night as always.  But Maddie's doing well in class, and will be having another testing I think next week, inching closer to that third degree black belt.  She's on pace to earn that in December, by the looks of things, so that will be a special testing.  I won't miss that.

No time to watch anything tonight.  Maddie had homework, so Mom and I were sort of watching the news on and off while making plans for some future events.  One of those future events:  the Harlem Globetrotters.  Okay, so this has been a pipe dream of mine for quite some time now, so I'm pretty excited about going with Maddie and Mom, and during our basketball series too.  

We read tonight, and we prayed too.  I'm going to close this day out with a basketball-themed skit that I wrote up for this weekend.  We have this elaborate Cinderella costume, so I thought it might be fun to do something like this for KidPak.  I'll post that here below as I close up this post:

KidPak Adventures:  Slam Dunk
Slam Dunk Cinderella

PROPS:
1.  Basketball Tickets (3)

2.  Big Cheese 

3.  Basketballs (2)

 
CUE TRACK:  1 Animated Dream (end at 0:36)

CUE SLIDE:  SLAM DUNK

HOST:            You may have heard the story of a Cinderella team

where an unheard-of squad has a season that’s a dream?

 

HOST:            Watch this story here and you will soon see

How the words “Cinderella Team” they soon came to be!

CUE SLIDE:  CASTLE BASKETBALL COURT

HOST:            Once upon a time, there was a king and his court

                        And this story involves someone who is a little… short

 

NERDO enters in a mouse onesie.

 

NERDO:         I can’t believe you’re making me do this.

 

HOST:            This is Gus-Gus, and yes, he’s a mouse

                        He does not live in the castle.  He lives in this house

NERDO:         I don’t want to be a mouse!

HOST:            Now hold on there, you cute little fella!

                        For in walked Anastasia, and yes, there’s Dribble-ella

 
CUE TRACK:  2 The Chicken

EMMA and DAWN enter.  DAWN is holding a cheese.  EMMA holds a basketball.

HOST:            They were rather rude, in fact, both of these

                        Look what they did to this mouse and that cheese

 

EMMA:          (sing-songy) Do you want some cheese little mousie?

 

NERDO:         Actually, yeah.

 

DAWN:          Too bad!  It’s all for us!  

DAWN and EMMA laugh maniacally.

NERDO:         We could share.  I could get a knife and I can …cut the cheese!

 

CUE SOUND EFFECT:  RUDE NOISE

NERDO:         Alley-oops!

DAWN:          (pointing at NERDO) That was out of bounds!

HOST:             Dribblella said with a growl!

EMMA:          You need to be tossed out for such a bad foul!

 

NERDO:         Fine!  I didn’t want to be in this skit anyway!

NERDO marches off towards STAGE RIGHT.

HOST:            The mouse travelled off.  Towards the door he did peel.

                        But then he faked and turned.  And he made a steal!

NERDO takes CHEESE from DAWN and EMMA, who start to follow him.

NERDO:         Don’t come any closer!

 

EMMA and DAWN:  Why not?

 

CUE SOUND EFFECT:  RUDE NOISE

EMMA and DAWN back away, horrified.

HOST:            These two backed off quickly, afraid from the gassing.

 

NERDO:         Yep.  I hold the league record for that kind of passing!

NERDO laughs as he exits STAGE RIGHT.

EMMA and DAWN begin bouncing basketball and passing it between them.

HOST:            Well, he’s gone.  So what’s up with these two?

                        Why are they practicing?  What will they do?

 

EMMA:          If we keep playing well, we’ve got a good chance!

 

DAWN:          We’ll be playing basketball, at the Big Dance!

 

HOST:            Ah, the Big Dance!  It’s the King’s Tournament, y’all!

                        They’re both training hard, they’re going to the Ball!

EMMA and DAWN:  Yeah!

HOST:            They had their tickets.  They were tops in their bracket

                        When suddenly they heard a noisy big racket

                        
CUE TRACK:  3 A CAPELLA CINDERELLA

DAWN and EMMA look around wondering where music is coming from.

HOST:            For that’s when they heard a song in …a cappella

                        Oh yes, here she comes.  Why it’s …Cinderella!

CINDERELLA enters STAGE RIGHT with a ticket

 

CINDERELLA:          Woot!  Woot!

FADE OUT

HOST:            It was Cinderella.  I think you know her name

                        She’s got MVP skills.  This sister’s got game!

CINDERELLA:          Hey there!  Can I play?

 

HOST:            Her sisters were angered! 

 

EMMA:          We don’t like you Cinder-ellie!

CUE TRACK:  4 KLEIST BLACKMAILS JOY 

HOST:            They didn’t want her playing.  Because they were… jelly!

CINDERELLA:          But we could be a dream team, and then we can win!

HOST:             But they did something wicked.  Oh yes, quite a sin. 

 

EMMA and DAWN take CINDERELLA’s ticket, and rip it up dramatically.

 

HOST:            They took her ticket, and then ripped it to shreds

                        And then laughed as they left.  And then they both said:

 

EMMA and DAWN:  “Bippety-boppety boo-yah!”

 

EMMA and DAWN do a high-five, a peace sign to audience as they laugh and swagger out STAGE RIGHT.

 

HOST:            Her step-sisters  were jealous, and acted real bad

Cinderella was hurt, and she sat there quite sad.

CINDERELLA picks up basketball on ground at STAGE LEFT.

HOST:            She picked up a ball laying there on the ground

                        And thought after this, just how could she rebound?

 

CINDERELLA:          My ticket is gone.  My life is a mess!

 

HOST:            And then someone entered.  Do you know?  Wanna guess?

 

Let audience answer.

 

NERDO enters STAGE RIGHT, and STAYS AT STAGE LEFT

 

NERDO:         Why are you so blue?

 

CINDERELLA:          Cinderella wears a blue dress.  It’s kind of my thing.  

 

NERDO:         No, you big goofball.  Why are you sad?

HOST:            Cinderella went on to explain and determine

                        The situation she was in, to this smelly vermin

 

NERDO:         Hey!  That really hurt!

 

HOST:            But then he went on to suggest something scary

                        He said, “Why not call in the Basketball Fairy?”

NERDO:         Why not call in the Basketball Fairy?

CINDERELLA:          The Basketball Fairy?  How do I call her?

 

NERDO:         You have to say the magic words.

 

CINDERELLA:          What are they? 

NERDO:         (super aggressive, almost angry)  Hey, Basketball Fairy!  Get out here!

 

CINDERELLA:          Okay, here goes.  KidPak, can you help me?  On the count of three… one… two… three…

CAST gets audience screaming too.

ALL:               Hey, Basketball Fairy!  Get out here!

CUE TRACK:  5 BASKETBALL FAIRY

 

MEGAN enters CENTER STAGE (when “Basketball Fairy” is heard in track), dressed as a giant basketball, in one hand a wand and in the other hand some confetti.

MEGAN struts across the stage in ridiculous basketball costume, taking a bow, waving at random people in audience, spinning around from time to time, and then settling between NERDO and CINDERELLA.

CUE TRACK:  6 SPIN IT REAL GOOD-2

HOST:            And that’s when the Basketball Fairy appeared

She looked at the mouse, and she said…

 

MEGAN:        You look weird!

 

NERDO:         You think I look weird?  You’re a giant basketball!

CINDERELLA:          Oh, Basketball Fairy!  I don’t know what to do.

MEGAN:                    Oh you have a gift, girl.  You know that it’s true.

HOST:                        She rolled up to Cinderella, and told her this gem:

MEGAN:                    Things will all work out fine, if you just trust in Him.

 

HOST:                        Then the Basketball Fairy, she waved her wand too

                                    As she said these special words

NERDO:                     Bippety-boppety boo?

 

MEGAN:                    No, that’s the fairy godmother.  My words are…
BOOM CHUG-A-LUGGA, LUGGA! BOOM!

 

MEGAN struggles in costume but eventually taps CINDERELLA on head with wand.

CINDERELLA:          Why thank you –

 

MEGAN:                    Hold it!  Not done yet.

 

MEGAN struggles and shifts and then uses other hand to toss confetti at CINDERELLA

 

MEGAN:                    There.

CINDERELLA:          Uh… thank you?

 

MEGAN:                    No problem.  (suddenly remembering) Oh yeah!  Hold on!

MEGAN waddles to STAGE RIGHT EXIT, grabs a ticket and the cheese.

HOST:                        But that wasn’t all, for her spirits were about to lift.

                                    The Basketball Fairy had given her this special gift!

 

MEGAN hands CINDERELLA a ticket and NERDO a cheese.

CUE TRACK:  7 PARTY PREPARATIONS

CINDERELLA:          A ticket to the Ball!

NERDO:                     And cheese!

 

MEGAN:                    (to audience) You all have a gift, so never give up.

                                    Your dreams will come true. (slight awkward pause) Yup.

CUE SLIDE: NICER CASTLE BASKETBALL COURT

MEGAN and CINDERELLA walk to STAGE RIGHT screen (where castle is), as NERDO stays at STAGE LEFT.

HOST:                        And so Cinderella made it to the Big Dance

                                    She just had to try, and she took that chance

EMMA and DAWN enter CENTER STAGE and go stand next to NERDO at STAGE LEFT.  They look shocked at CINDERELLA

HOST:                        Her sisters were at the palace, and saw her at this place

                                    They knew they had lost …to cut to the chase

EMMA and DAWN gasp at CINDERELLA

NERDO laughs in an exaggerated way.

EMMA:                      What are you laughing at?

NERDO:                     I thought he was going to say “to cut to the cheese!”

CUE SOUND EFFECT:  RUDE NOISE

EMMA and DAWN cry loudly, waving arms in front of their faces, and rushing off STAGE RIGHT

HOST:                        God is with you always.  He can help one and all.

 

MEGAN:                    You’ll be a champion.  You’ll have…a ball!
(gesturing at herself)  Ball?  See what I did there?

 

HOST:                        Yes.  And so, persevere!  You can win.  Show some spunk!

CINDERELLA:          And don’t you give up.  You can do a Slam Dunk!

CINDERELLA and MEGAN (celebrating):  Woot-woot! 

HOST:                        The End.

 

  

 

A CAPPELLA CINDERELLA

[verse 1]

She’s wearing a big hoop skirt
And mice help get her set

She jukes and jives, and makes a drive

And takes it to the net

[chorus]

Cinderella’s at the Big Dance

She’s going to the Ball

It’s her big shot, this is her chance 

to score and win it all!

 

[verse 2]
She practices with pumpkins

And she will take it to ya!

She’s made the show, just watch her go

with a bippety-boppity boo-yah!

[chorus]

[bridge]
Anastasia and Dribble-ella

And their coach Lady Tremaine

They try to block, and stop the clock

But they won’t win this game

 

[chorus]

Cinderella’s at the Big Dance

She jumps, and then takes flight

She slams and scores, and tries for more

Before it strikes midnight!

 

[verse 3]

Her fairy godmother is pumped

The Lizard coachmen too!
The only thing she’ll lose today

Is just that one glass shoe 

[chorus]

Cinderella’s at the Big Dance

Yeah, she’s going to the Ball

It’s her big shot, this is her chance 

to score and win it all!

 

Gala

Maddie's been looking forward to this night for quite some time.  She had her dress set up in her room, resting there on a mannequin that greeted her as she entered, reminding her of the big night tonight.  It's a great chance for everyone to dress up and have all kinds of formal pictures and of course there's a dance there too.  Home schoolers got something like a prom tonight.  Maddie had a fantastic time, and you can see she got a bunch of her friends from Edge to show up, texting the guys frequently to make sure everyone came all dressed up.

It was a good night together!  Maddie had a lot to say afterwards on the way home about the laughs and conversations.  She had a really great time.

Fish Art

Check out Maddie's creation!  She's been painting this and it's come out pretty good in the light there.  She shared this picture earlier, and was happy with the end product.  

Quiet day today, as February winds down.  We had a free night tonight, with not so much homework, so in honor of Fat Tuesday upcoming, we watched "The Princess and the Frog."  It's become a yearly movie now, partly based on the season, and also a bit of nostalgia because roughly a year ago we were in "The Bayou" on the Disney Cruise some time ago.  It's also a really great movie with a fantastic soundtrack, and yeah, it's hand-drawn.  That's a novelty that is long-gone now, with the advancements of AI, I really think this is the last of the epic hand-drawn movies from Disney.

We've had meetings galore lately, getting things ready for Easter.  Mom is going to be working hard on costuming and of course we're still trying to get casting together for this too.  It's going to be a pretty active season here.

We read tonight, and we said our prayers.  It was time for a good night's rest after all that.

Rolling Along

We picked these up the other night, so Maddie and I got to try one - we got a little impatient tor the season to start!  They weren't too bad, a little chocolate and mint ice cream with cookie topping. Tasty treat!

Today was a day off, but we were at work heading down to Braselton again to drop off some things and pick up a costume for a Daddy Daughter Dance event this Friday.  While there, of course Mom and I had to drop by Cracker Barrel again.  It's somewhat of "a date," a tradition for us now each time we head down there to the Braselton campus.  Lately we've had a bit of New Orleans in our minds, so I got to try out this New Orleans skillet with shrimp and grits, which was pretty yummy.  We had seen "Princess and the Frog" recently and were listening to that soundtrack on the way down - we might have to get some beignets soon!  Maddie will want to be a part of that, for sure.

Speaking of Maddie, she was doing some practice tonight at taekwondo, getting a few rolls in as you can see in the video above.  

She's rolling along, so to speak, with her practices.  She's got a testing coming up soon, one more step towards that third degree black belt. 

This morning I was at the heart doctor again.  Everything seems to be okay, although I will be doing the nuclear treadmill test.  Which is such a fun phrase:  "nuclear treadmill."  That's where they have an injection of radiation and put it into your bloodstream, and then have you running on the treadmill to see the blood flow through the heart.  Hopefully all will good to go!

Okay, time to wrap up here.  We did read tonight, and we're getting closer to the end of this current book.  We also said our prayers afterwards, bringing that whole Plush Entourage down the hall and getting everyone tucked in.  It's been a good day - just one more week with February here, wrapping up a solid month together.

This is the Greatest Show

Tonight we made our return to the Greatest Show on Earth, which of course is Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey's Circus.  We had seats at the front of our section, pretty much exactly where we sat for the ice hockey game a few weeks ago, dead center.  It was a great "overview" sort of seat, because just like this circus used to be, there is so much going on all at the same time.  I mean, it's still a three-ring circus, although there's not technically rings so much as areas where performers are doing their thing.  Simultaneously, you have these Ethiopian acrobats climbing up poles and launching themselves horizontally while at the same time there are BMX cyclists doing tricks all over the place.  Where do you look?  

It was pure nostalgia for us.  I was not sure what to expect, given that the circus had to shut down for a while for financial reasons.  It had to reinvent itself, and I remember wondering if it would try too hard to copy Cirque du Soleil or instead just continue to be what it's always been.

I'm happy to report that it's sticking with spectacle.  There are themed costuming and music, but it's not so much a story like you see with Cirque.  It's simply a massive collection of talented performers over a large area.  And it's everything you expect in a circus, from trapeze to acrobats to one of my favorite things ever, the human cannonball.  

We went down to Gwinnett and got there early enough to get some popcorn and of course I got myself a program.  I now have a program for all the Ringling Brothers circuses I've been to, which goes back to the 70's.  I had them in the car with me so Nana and Ye-Ye could look through them on the way down.  Memories! 

There was no one in our section, except for two others, so we had these cushioned seats all to ourselves up top.  It was a splendid view, and nice and comfortable too.  

Here's me and my girl.  We had a great time tonight.  We were wondering how things would be now that there aren't any animals in the circus, but in fact things were pretty good.  There was a robotic dog that was pretty fun, and as always, things moved along very quickly with all the space on stage.  Your eyes would be watching something at the left, while something at the right would be setting up.

There were some unique acts too, a bola swinging performance from Argentina, and of course the wheel of death thing that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Oh, and a guy on a three-story unicycle.  That's something you don't see every day.  I think Barnum would be proud of that one.  He's not on the three-story one here, but later on he was rolling along carefully on this unicycle that was as tall as where our seats were.

Oh, and the human cannonball of course.  That was super fun.  Maddie has now seen two of those in the past six months.  Yes, there was the one at the Cumming Fairgrounds too.  For some reason I think this would be tremendously fun.  It was the last thing pretty much of the circus, all part of the ending musical number.

All in all, I think they did a fantastic job with the new vision for the circus.  The trapeze act was different, a criss-cross of performers, and there were other twists on many of the classic acts within the circus.  There were new things to see, new performances, and the clowns were entertaining too.  We all had a really good time tonight, and were glad we went.  Nostalgia was there in a huge way, but truthfully it was just a great circus as it's always been.  We're glad we went, and we'll continue seeing it when it comes around again. 

Speaking of circuses,  we did have a fun morning at KidPak.  You an see our skit here, where all of us are various pieces of food performing one of the parables from the New Testament.  The skit is called "The Unforgiving Cheeseburger," which may tell you all you need to know.

It was a fun morning.  We were talking about Jacob and Esau, and forgiving others because we're "better together."

It was a solid morning at KidPak, and also the end of that month.  We start our "Slam Dunk" series next week with some new booklets.  Things are moving along pretty quickly there!

Tonight after the circus there wasn't as much time to do much but sleep, but we did squeeze in our reading for the night - the story is moving along now with a tense chase scene as Magrat is fleeing from the evil elves.  After reading, it was time for prayers - and a good night's rest after a full, fun day!