Last of August

Still marching along Yellowstone virtually!  I got this post card here from the Grand Prismatic Pool area there, one that I've been able to see a lot of with virtual walks in the area.  There are enough POV hikes online that you can walk on a treadmill and hike through Yellowstone everyday through this 75 mile journey. 

We were out trimming the hedges today, but the temperature is a bit hot still.  Maddie was at school, and afterwards getting free ice cream with Nate.  Ice cream always helps.  And it was helping Mom and I, who went over to Mellow Mushroom for a little date.

We had our usual gluten-free Pacific Rim, along with a gluten-free brownie and ice cream on top.  It was super delicious!

Maddie was off to taekwondo tonight, and she's involved with the cardio class now, and that's a lot for her.  The quote of the day each time is, "I'm going to feel sore in the morning."  Yep.

Mom had a visit with the dermatologist today, and there were a few areas that were of concern, but thankfully not as much concern now afterwards.  She's got some creams and a prescription for something that she isn't supposed to use too much, but it's there to help.  We got a good report and that's always a feeling of joy.  God is faithful!

We watched the Braves tonight, and their winning streak ended against the Giants, ironic given how bad that team is doing this year.  I guess we were just being nice and giving them a little morale boost, right?  At least the Braves are still in first place, although those pesky Phillies have had the best record in all of baseball in August, and are always behind us.  If not for our own winning streak, they'd have overtaken us for sure.  

Anyway, it was a decent day today.  We read tonight just a little bit, and got to bed after prayers.  Today is the last day of August, and tomorrow the "BER MONTHS" begins.  It's the most wonderful time of year!

KidPak at the Chapel

 This morning's service was a great one, and the kids had a fantastic time going to church at ... THE CHAPEL!  Yes, we had our service this morning at the Chapel, where we usually do weddings, funerals and special services.  It was a bit of a twist to have parents dropping off their kids over there, but we had a great morning with games, videos, and all the fun of a typical KidPak service.  We were out there redirecting parents and families and then while service was going on, just sitting back and savoring this unique moment.  Maddie was there to take some pictures, and she got a lot of really good ones! 

We were walking out to the parking lot, and Bailee did something SUPER NICE.  I was talking about how God blessed us with a Braves bobblehead last week - it was the same one we would have gotten if we had gone to the game we were supposed to.  And randomly, our friend from KidPak got us a bobblehead, not knowing any of that.  So anyway, Bailee was at the game recently, and she got us another Braves bobblehead, one for Andres Galarraga, the "Big Cat"!  

Now we have two additional Braves bobbleheads, along with the ones we got of Chris Sale at the Stripers game... we don't collect these things, but suddenly have a collection in the workings!

After all that, we saw someone in the parking lot that we hadn't seen in a while, and got invited to Wang's Chinese Restaurant for lunch.  Why not?  We had a nice meal over there, although we were all a bit tired, and then... it was time to get home.

The rest of the day was quiet again.  Maddie was off doing homework, and Mom and I were watching the Braves win again this afternoon, followed by some cleaning up around the house.  Later on, I finished the next part of a LEGO project that I've been working on:

It came out really well!  Tonight we saw "Box Trolls" again, because yes, we're starting up the fall season early around here.  The "Ber Months" start soon, and that's when the fun begins.  It's still super hot out there in the afternoons, but we're feeling a slight chill in the morning and we're ready for fall.

We read tonight from "Soul Music," and then afterwards, it was time for prayers, getting the Plush Entourage tucked in... and some sleep!

Flood

Plans for today went a little sideways when we discovered a tremendous leak at KidPak.  Evidently, one floor up there was a lithium battery that exploded in storage, and that set off a fire and that set off the sprinklers, and that set off 25,000 gallons of water that gravity helped find a way downward to pretty much everywhere in KidPak.  I was concerned about the binders and all the printed material, but that was fortunately rescued.  Pastor's wife was there personally grabbing some of those books first thing this morning, lifting them up from the lower shelves and getting them out of harm's way.  Additionally, many of electronics were spared too, not quite in the area of the pools of water forming.  We were really blessed in many areas, but of course the carpet and walls are going to be affected, and we'll see how that goes in the coming days.  Until then, this morning was all about drying up, cleaning up, and making a big PLAN B for tomorrow.

These were taken later on in the morning after the tremendous flow of water had stopped.  But the damage was done.  We got the binders with printed materials - and the printed photos - all to our house for safe keeping, a temporary location of course.  And that was our morning!

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful by comparison.  We watched the Braves beat the Rockies again, continuing their winning streak although against a weaker team.  But a win is a win, and it was fun to watch.  

This morning Maddie had her Team Edge practice, and she came home afterwards, still doing a good bit of homework for college.  It's keeping her busy, as expected.  We had our Factor meals, and tonight we settled down to watch the Dolly Parton tribute at the Grand Ole Opry, which was nice.  

We read tonight, and after that said our prayers.  We're getting up a bit earlier tomorrow for a big day at KidPak... in a different location.  You'll see where tomorrow!  Goodnight!

Mad Hatter Pepper

We have a mad hatter pepper!  I've been waiting for this mad hatter pepper plant to give us a pepper, and finally we have one on the way.  This thing has grown up so tall, and it seems to be doing well - just not much in the way of actual peppers.  Until now!  The tomatoes have been popping up here or there, and we still have three to go.  And of course, we have lettuce inside too, some of it still growing well.  We had that one mammoth pepper too.  But I've been waiting on a mad hatter pepper ever since we bought that tiny plant a few months ago.  

So Maddie was not at taekwondo tonight, mainly because of soreness from yesterday's extensive workouts.  She was at class this morning, and she's doing well at school.  We're super, super proud of her.  She's doing well driving too, by the way.  We're waiting on the insurance to get together with the body shop, and hopefully her car can get fixed up.

Quiet day really.  We saw the Braves beat the Rockies tonight, and of course we read tonight afterwards, moving forward through the pages of "Soul Music."  It's been fun, and today's lunch date between Ridcully and Susan was one of those items on a Discworld checklist that I didn't realize we needed to read about.  And then there was Foul Ole Ron and the Patrician - it's been fun reading these passages pairing up wildly different characters.  We'll see what happens as we keep reading.

After reading, we said our prayers and got the Plush Entourage tucked in.  Time for some sleep!

Silent Spectacle

Late tonight, we had another lunar eclipse, and tonight the weather was super clear to enjoy the whole thing.  Maddie, Mom and I were out there watching the shadow cross the surface of the full moon, shading the covered area in a sort of dull glowing red.  I got a few pictures of it tonight - we didn't have a complete coverage, but it was a treat to see what coverage we did see tonight, always a silent spectacle in the skies.

 Speaking of spectacles, tonight's Braves vs. Dodgers game was one for the ages.  Drake Baldwin gets a home run with the first pitch of the game... and that's the only hit throughout the entire night.  And while that was great, the real story was our pitcher Chris Sale, who pitched an entire nine-inning shut-out game versus an incredible opponent.  A bad call at the end should have ended it earlier, but he got another out after that - we'll call it a 28-out complete game shut-out, and it was magnificent!

Maddie was at taekwondo tonight, there for the more energetic class tonight by request.  She'll be sore tomorrow! 

 

We read tonight, and Maddie got to bed earlier.  But I was up watching that eclipse with Mom, and we were also doing that time-honored stay-up-until-midnight onboard registration thing for the Disney Cruise, which just so happened to be tonight too.  It's a pain of a process, as you're sitting there at midnight with the seconds ticking by and some glitch in the system keeps sending you back with no explanation whatsoever... but we did get registered, and yeah, it's going to be fun this year celebrating Halloween on the High Seas.

Okay, time for some sleep!

Kim's Big Night

So all of us were watching this battle with the Dodgers, baseball's evil empire of sorts - although the players are all pretty decent guys.  So this was a struggle that felt like the playoffs, each at-bat an intense moment... and it all came down to the bottom of the ninth with two outs, when who should walk up to the plate but Ha-Seong Kim.  To say he's had a rough year is to put it gently.  He may have historically one of the lowest on base percentages in baseball history.  It's been difficult to watch him at bat all year, just assuming it's an automatic out.  So here he is in this huge epic moment, and he's hitting the ball - foul.  Time and again.  Eight pitches... and then suddenly this:

This is the reason we love this game.  It was so great watching his teammates come out to celebrate with him, and so wonderful to hear everyone celebrating this moment. 

We were doing a good bit of work today - we got the October booklet completely done, and now we're off to doing November's book.  I was trying to come up with some visual inspiration to go with, and started to look back to this retro look that is making me super happy:

It should be a great series booklet!  I'm sort of moving forward quickly through these booklets now - using this new art tool and having fun with it.  I can't wait to see what it does with a "Whoville" sort of look.

Maddie was at taekwondo tonight, there for the more energetic class tonight by request.  She'll be sore tomorrow! But it's been good - she was watching the end of the game with us tonight, and then it was time for reading, prayers, and sleep!

Goodbye Dolly

Well, the news of the day was sad news - Dolly Parton passed away, and of course that'll be in the news cycle for a while.  I think Dolly might have been one of the most iconic and beloved celebrities in recent memory, universally adored for creativity and generosity.  We made our way to Dollywood repeatedly, of course, and we have some of her music that we picked up each visit, along with stickers, Funko pop figures, clothing and all sorts of other souvenirs.  And movies too - I was forgetting those.  Anyway, it was pretty shocking and sad news today, and it spread around to all of us so quickly.  It wasn't too long later that this was all we were talking about, and of course playing all kinds of her music as well.  

This is completely random, but I took this picture at Dollywood a few years ago.  It’s a picture of a puddle from a recent rainfall, and of course, there in the reflection was a mural of Dolly illuminated by sunlight.  

It’s sort of symbolic in a way, a”light of the world,” a bright and shining face standing out amidst all that grey.  That was her, a splash of sunlight, a positive presence in a dark world.

Today we finished up the racing theme book for October, the series we're calling "DRIVE."  I did that booklet pretty quickly, and am moving on to the next booklet right away to get ahead of things - it's our November booklet.  

Tonight was a big game for the Braves, and they won against the Dodgers in a nail-biter sort of game that just felt like an October kind of game.  There was such tension and every at-bat held meaning and importance and... well, let's just say it was an exciting game.  And we won, and that made it so much more delicious.

It's time for bed though.  We read tonight, and then said our prayers - time for sleep.

International Waffle Day

 

Today is International Waffle Day, so yes, we had to celebrate.  It was rather last-minute, but we did have these protein waffles available, and they're pretty yummy.  Mom and I had waffles for dinner tonight, and no regrets whatsoever!

Maddie was at college this morning, and taekwondo later on today too - so it's been a busy day for her.  I was out getting groceries, and doing more book work for our October series.  It should be a good booklet, I think.  

I did get my walking in, and that's been fun lately.  Tomorrow I'm doing a virtual walk towards Trout Lake in Yellowstone.  I've sort of been seeing all the trails, big and small, crowded and desolate, grand and off-the-radar.  They're all good as I march along.  And check out the soap I get to use afterwards in the shower:

That's right.  Venom's very own soap.  It's Symbiotic Plunge, and each time I use it I'm afraid I'm in danger of being taken over by some sort of symbiotic alien.  On the plus side, I might develop superpowers, so there's that.  But yeah, it's a great scented soap.  Makes me want to go watch the "Venom" trilogy of movies.

But not tonight:  tonight Maddie was all about "The LEGO Movie," this after our adventures Sunday at the Brick Fan Event.  Not only did we watch that movie (which is still really great, by the way), we also saw an episode of "LEGO Master Builders" for the first time, and it's something we might be watching more of in the days to come - it was a cool show!

Okay, tonight we closed things out with more reading from "Soul Music," and then it was time for prayers... and a good night's rest.

THE Big Fat Panda

 

I've got the ridiculous panda suit on again, and it's super fun!  This morning we continued our "Path of the Warrior" series, and Mom had the idea of me wearing this inflatable panda suit again.  It got some big laughs and excitement.  It was a good morning today at KidPak, and Maddie got some really excellent pictures as always, also taking pictures of the younger ones down at KidPak Discovery.  Here are just a few of the pictures of our service that Maddie took this morning.

Super morning, and a relaxing afternoon that followed.  One really fun thing that happened this morning was outside of service, but one of our friends from KidPak gave me something because he was thinking of me, and it was more meaningful than he actually realized.  A few weeks ago, BravesVision offered us some tickets to go see a game, and I picked a day where we could get a bobblehead doll of Javy Lopez if we arrived early enough.  I got the parking garage tickets all set up and we were ready to go until... Mom wasn't well enough to go.  And I wasn't going to go by myself.  So I gave the tickets to our nephew, and he had a great time, although I don't think he got there in time to get a bobblehead.  So I was bummed about that.  But lo and behold, God was looking out for me here with this minor little thing:  our friend went to that game the other night, part of a business-related perk, and he even got the bobblehead doll.  He doesn't collect these, and so he began to think about who to give it to... so yes!  I got my Javy Lopez bobblehead doll after all!  Super, super cool!

So the rest of the afternoon was a bit of relaxing.  I'm still marching along virtually through Yellowstone walking by the Firehole River area now.  The POV hiking videos have been so great to watch as I'm on this treadmill.  Today I was walking a trail to Mystic Falls, but there are so many other trails to wander along.  

Maddie's been doing homework, something that's on the increase lately of course.  We did go and take a break though, heading over to Dairy Queen and using our BOGO card yet again to get a couple of Blizzards.

The Braves won their game today against the Brewers at a little league field in front of a lot of those young players, and it was a really neat thing to hear... we were listening to that while I was working on the next LEGO project in the dining room.  Tonight's movie was the third Men in Black movie, which we like a lot - actually, all three are pretty fun, and a definite tradition each year.

We read tonight before bed, moving along with "Soul Music," where the band is coming together to play for a huge crowd in this massive cavern.  Susan is visiting to see what's going on here, because technically, the lead singer and guitarist should be dead by now!  We'll see what happens next as we move along.

The evening was closed out with prayers, and getting all those members of the Plush Entourage down the hall and safely in bed.  Mom and I did a few puzzles before bedtime, and she was actually doing some shopping online.  But now... it's time for some sleep!

Brick Fan Event

This afternoon we went down to a Brick Fan Event, basically a huge opportunity to see LEGO Master Builders and some of the incredible things they've been creating.  We got stuck in some atrocious GDOT traffic on the way down on I-85 costing us all an hour of our lives.  Pathetic planning there by the GDOT as usual.

BUT...  we still had plenty of time to wander into this exhibition hall.  Fortunately we were in no hurry.  Anyway, we were there at the same building where we saw the Festival of Christmas Trees a few years ago.  This was a smaller area set aside, but it was absolutely packed with some stunning LEGO displays and creations made by LEGO Master Builders.  Maddie and Nate went off to look around, while Mom and I spent some time visiting with displays and having extensive conversations with some of these Master Builders, learning all kinds of things about their ideas and efforts.  Below are some pictures from our visit:

The Bat Cave!  Super cool display of Batman's vehicles!

Of course, this is our favorite, the 60's Batmobile!

Unikitty as Batman!

This is our generations' Batmobile - epic!

So many amazing Star Wars LEGO builds.  This one is huge!

A tiny opening in the side with a display of tie fighter pilot helmets

Laser cannons up top, and a class on how to aim properly below.

Look at this - it's huge!

A lot of Imperials busy at whatever tasks LEGO Imperial people do!

One more look at the landing bay.

More of the side of this same structure.

Another build, a big area where the Republic army is getting prepped.

Here come the Republic tanks

Another angle of this huge build.  It's impressive... most impressive!

This castle is so tall - this a beautiful construction.

Ah, here we go to the Lord of the Rings! 

Boromir is about to whoop up on some orcs!

Our heroes believe they have a ghost of a chance!

Elves.  Am I right?

This one guy made all these Star Wars and Lord of the Rings displays.  Amazing.

This one was my favorite of the Lord of the Rings displays.

We spoke with this Master Builder for a bit, an awesome guy.  He combines his love of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture with Star Wars themes.  

Darth Vader is visiting his LEGO palace on Mustafar... we'll call it "Falling Lava."

Naboo Guards enjoy the gardens.

This Naboo palace looks fantastic.

Ah, and here's another Wright-inspired palace of Duchess Satine.

And there's Obi-Wan having a private conversation with the Duchess.

Plo Koon talks with Commander Wolf as they make their assault.

Clone Troopers head into the jungle!

Another immense display here - just amazing!  So many details, so incredible!

This was massive!

Okay, this was fun - Nate and Maddie made their own LEGO mini-figures as souvenirs today.  

Nate also got a Bionicle set he was pretty happy with.  

The merchants had plenty for sale, including a lot of mini-figures.

That white Boba Fett - or Mandalorian - is valued at $600.  What?

Amazing!  There was this mini-figure arcade with a "Street Bricker II" game!

This is just a small portion of the mini-figures for sale.

Muppets!  Rowlf the Dog!

Here's our mini-figures.  Nate's with the axe, then my scared pirate, then Mom's Bob Ross, and Maddie's robot in handcuffs.

An amazing jazz performance.

A huge concert!

These are pretty cool - a great Japanese display.

Maddie and Nate look on

Dinos having fun!

This display is incredible, so creative and colorful.

The Pink Pig makes its return to Gwinnett.

A pretty crowded Marvel street!

Look, there's Jamie Lynn!  We have that one at home, a sentimental friend from so long ago, saved by Maddie from being traded at LEGOLAND, and then staying with us to become one of the mascots for our KidPak LEGO series.

Check out all the details in this Punisher logo, the little pieces used to make the skull.

Scarlet Witch!

The train is just zooming by!

LOVE this Nightmare Before Christmas wreath!

Inedible LEGO food!

It was a super nice visit!  We all went over to Aurelio's afterwards, because it was on the way home and it's one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  And there wasn't much in the way of traffic either, so that was cool.

We watched another Men in Black movie tonight, as the Braves game was in the afternoon.  After that, we read from "Soul Music" for a little bit, and got ourselves to sleep.  Got a church service in the morning!