The Chicken Launch and MURDER!

So it's been awhile! We have Internet again, so I'm going to post what's been going on for the last month, or so... but I think I'll do it from the most recent thing to the earliest... (on account of me needing to get photos from a couple things for you!!!)

Matt and I wanted to sign up to help out at FBC's Farm Fair. Farm Fair is a HUGE hit with Longview, and it's the church's alternative to Halloween. Matt and went out into the foyer of the church after a service a couple weeks back, and offered to help. The woman said we could sign up for anything. We looked at a bulletin board full of games with time slots next to the name. I liked the bean bag game and a couple others, but one in particular caught my attention. I KNEW Matt was going to see it. I told him that he could pick, so he said, "Let's do the Chicken Launch!!!" (Sounds like a "Matt Game," doesn't it?)

I said "okay," like a good sport, and we arrived on Halloween at 4:00 (when Farm Fair began). There were just a few people, but a man and his wife were very concerned that the Chicken Launch wasn't manned yet, because THEY were going to do it at 5:00, and didn't know if someone had messed up the schedule. :) Well, there we were, no worries, friends!

I'll bet you were oh-so-curious about how the game works.

Well... You get a rubber chicken...

Then, you place it like so...

Finally, you let the kids pound the handles down to the table, and off it FLIES! (Then you encourage them for their strong muscles, as shown in the following picture!)

It's a little hard to explain... so here's a video representation:

(That's Matt and Joel Givens practicing before the kids arrived.)

Matt picked a good one for our game! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed listening to the music after we worked at the booth!

One more thing! When we arrived, our friend Dan approached us and said he had the things in his car. We looked at each other. "The things?" we asked. "Yeah... for the murder mystery!" he answered. Oh? We just waited for an explanation. He said, "Your roles! They're in the car! They're supposed to stay secret."

I was nervous that this murder mystery had been a secret from us! But we realized later that Katie, Dan's wife, and I had talked about how fun it would be to do a murder mystery! We didn't know any details of a REAL one, though! We were surprised... AND excited! It is going to be tomorrow, and Matt and I are King Kyle and Queen Genevieve! Wanna see my crown, scepter and fancy necklace that I made?

I used these expensive plastic gems, a Christmas ornament, wooden dowel and gold ribbon (plus a 78 cent foam visor)...

...to make this:

(a closer look)

(a little detail at the base of the scepter)

Well, the murder is tomorrow night, on Matt's birthday, so we're excited to celebrate with friends! :) We'll have to let you know who did what to whom tomorrow! (We don't even know if we're the murderers!!!!