Legoland Discovery Center

Grapevine Mills Mall recently opened a LEGOLAND® Discovery Center that is like the biggest box of LEGO® bricks ever!

The kids battled on Kingdom Quest - an interactive LEGO® laser ride, feel a part of the story in the 4D cinema, learned top LEGO® building secrets from the Master Model Builder, checked out iconic landmarks from Dallas Fort Worth and beyond in MINILAND, and shopped to their hearts content. It’s a very colorful world with over 2 million LEGO® bricks! The interactive games are definitely geared toward younger children, but the replica Dallas/ Ft. Worth was very impressive.

Build cities for your women and children,
and pens for your flocks,
but do what you have promised.
Numbers 32:24

The Greatest Show on Earth

Today we ran away with the circus when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® came to Dallas! It has been two years since we’ve seen The Greatest Show On Earth. It was full of clowns, amazing animals, and awe-striking airborne acrobatics, speeding motorcycles, and incredible feats of strength! We arrived with the Gungan’s in time for the preshow to get autographs and meet the performers. Just for fun I downloaded circus jargon off the Ringling Brothers website so we could communicate like true carny folk! I also downloaded The Greatest Show on Earth from Netflix, starring Charlton Heston in preparations for today’s show!

I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
Joel 2:30

Cowboy Camp

The kids spent this week at Cowboy Camp with Ms. Belinda and the boys! It was wonderful! They learned to tie up a horse. They learned to rope a nanny goat. They practiced roping calves and saddling a horse. They loved riding both bareback and in a saddle! Frankie and Caleb had both been riding before but this was Abigail's first time. They even had a mini rodeo on the last day and competed for the best time riding, roping! They even got a practical lesson on the bit that controls the entire animal from the book of James!

Caleb won a pair of spurs for first place!
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When we put bits into the mouths of horses
to make them obey us,
we can turn the whole animal.
James 3:3

Camp Ichthus

This week was church camp for Caleb. The 7th thru 12th headed out to Collin Creek Adventure Camp in Anna, TX for Camp Ichthus. They joined other youth groups for a week of fun and Bible study. Highlights of the week sports, swimming, canoeing, crafts, Bible Classes and Caleb's favorite: fencing! Caleb said the food was, "good, as far as camp food goes!" Dylan, Caleb and Blake had a blast together. The only pictures are the ones I snapped on the day I picked him up from camp! They all looked exhausted, it took him about 3 hours to unwind and tell me all his adventures and then he slept for 10 hours!

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12

Harry Potter 3-D with the Girls!

Now Caleb is off to camp and Abigail is home from church camp it is the girls turn to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Caleb and Abigail have read the books over and over, but it is not a book series that Frakie like. She has enjoyed the movies, but not the books. Today we saw the 3-D version. It made a difference in some of the scenes like when it was snowing or riding the dragon. It was a fun day with the girls, they giggled, cheered and booed thru the movie! They kept there Harry Potter 'round' 3-D glasses as a souviner of our day.

Peace to the brothers and sisters,

and love with faith from God the Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 6:23

Mountain Fork Christian Camp

Abigail spent this week at Mountain Fork Christian Camp located at Group Camp No.2 in Beavers Bend State Park, just north of Broken Bow, Okla. The junior camp session is for youth entering 3rd-6th grades. They spend their day with chapel periods, devotional time, class studies, gospel preaching, Bible Bowl balance with sports, and swimming. With the camp being in the Texarkana area they are surrounded in a wooded area with wild life and hiking trails! This year for the Bible Bowl section they studied the book of Jeremiah with Brother Billy. At the end of camp the girls presented Bro. Billy with a quilted they made for him! It was a very touching moment!

Do not rebuke an older man harshly,
but exhort him as if he were your father.
Treat younger men as brothers,
older women as mothers,
and younger women as sisters,
with absolute purity.

I Timothy 5:1-2

Midnight Premier of Harry Potter II

Ahh, the final installment of the Harry Potter series! I purchased tickets earlier this week and we arrived at 8pm for our 12:07am premier of the new movie. There were lines wrapping around both sides of the theater already. . . . at 8pm! We were fortunate enough that our group was let into the theater by 9pm. Caleb and Blake joined other teenagers in card games and texting friends who were in lines at other theaters! I'll take the girls in a couple of days to see the movie, Frankie is not a night owl and Abigail is at camp. Growing up, going to the 'midnight movie' meant something completely different than playing cards with book worms, waiting to see the latest sci-fi flick! I made need a nap tomorrow!

Return their cloak by sunset
so that your neighbor may sleep in it.
Then they will thank you
Deuteronomy 24:13

Fourth of July at Grannys

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The fourth of July is always a big celebration for the Kirkwood's. Each year we head to Oklahoma to Jon's mom, all the family, cousins and all get together for Donnie's grilling and Granny's brownies! With Donnie being a retired fire fighter, their is always a staging area for the kids to set off fireworks! Before the big show the cousins play a little ball and catch up! It is a great laid back time to spend with family!

when you look up to the sky
and see the sun, the moon
and the stars—all the heavenly array
- Deuteronomu 4:19

New Windshield

On a recent trip to Tulsa my windshield took a rock or some flying debris that chipped and cracked my front windshield. Today the glass tech came out to the house and removed the cracked windshield and install the new glass. It was fun to watch and he even gave Abigail tips on tempered, un-tempered glass, and the laminate layer between the two panes of glass in the windshield. All of it was one in about an hour or less!

I have given ability to all the skilled workers
to make everything I have commanded you
Exodus 31:6