The Knight's Tale

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Created on Wednesday, 02 November 2016 19:54

Has your mom ever made you do something you really didn’t want to do?  My mom made me go to a play called, “The Knight’s Tale” and I didn’t want to do it, but I’m glad she did because my friend Brendan was there and it ended up being pretty good.

The curtain opened to a happy kingdom scene when almost immediately dragon warriors and a dragon swooped in to steal the villager’s Lantern of Purest Light and kill the King and Queen. The sword fighting was very realistic because they actually hit each other and used real steel swords. As the play progressed, we learned that the Prince of that kingdom had escaped to a neighboring kingdom that was equally happy. All was fine until that King decided to order one last quest of his bravest knight to find the Lantern of Purest Light. Sir Everheart was accompanied by Squire Gareth who had been raised by the wisdom of the Scroll.  On their adventure, Gareth saved the troops many times by using guidance of Scripture from the Scroll. In the end, Squire Gareth defeated the dragon. This was my favorite part because the dragon was so cool.  She was huge, taking up almost all of the stage and mechanical with wings that moved and smoke came out of her nostrils. All the King’s men were released from the evil spell and returned to their kingdom which was under attack from other dragon warriors.  Here was another fantastic sword fight. After they won the battle, the grossest part was when Squire Gareth became knighted and married Princess Alexandria and the Prince from the first kingdom discovered his heritage and married Princess Catherine.  My mom really loved all the parts with the princesses because they talked a lot about purity and saving their first kiss.

Overall, the acting was perfect, the sword fighting was amazing, the singing was inspirational, and a lot of the parts were funny.  I also thought it was neat that I knew two of the actors, Ethan Rite and Mrs. Crawford.  It was pretty cool that one of the actors let me hold a sword that was used in the play.  Now that I’ve seen this play, I’m more open to seeing other plays as long as there is no kissing or wedding scenes.

by Zachary Ellis

Tyler State Park

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Created on Friday, 07 October 2016 19:31

Early Friday morning, I was so excited to climb into the van and drive to Tyler State Park for the Holy Hearts fishing field trip!  Everyone arrived at 9:45 and drove to the boat ramp to meet Ranger Sanders.  He was very nice and brought along a fishing game to teach us how to cast.  We practiced on a plastic blue tarp and plastic fish.  We were practicing pole safety as well. Some people “caught” one, like J.T. and some people didn’t catch any, like my sister Claire.

After we finished that lesson, he taught us about different fish and what we could and couldn’t keep. Plus, we learned some Texas state facts like the state flower, tree, large and small mammal and the state fish.  After that, we were released to fish in the lake.  Most people fished off the bridge and some , like myself, fished off the boat ramp.  We all used corn as bait and I used my lures.  I’m pretty sure at least three people caught small fish, but hardly anyone else was successful. However, it was thrilling to be outside with friends in nature. Overall, we fished for about thirty minutes and then headed to the playground for lunch. We ate quickly and then started a group wide game of tag. It was a sensational time and nobody got hurt.  God blessed us!  In the end, Nicholas, William, and I went to feed ducks.  One duck came up and ate out of my hand! Guess what?  I found two fishing lures and Nicholas found a piece of Redwood tree.  Also, we witnessed two people flip their kayaks over.  I felt sorry for those guys. Before everyone left, the moms had a small meeting and prayer and all of us signed cards for kids who were too sick to make it.  That evening before crawling into bed, I thanked God for providing such a great Holy Hearts group and an excellent day.

- Written by: Zachary Ellis

American Freedom Museum

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Created on Friday, 07 October 2016 19:31

Our Holy Hearts participated in a guided tour at the American Freedom Museum about the presidents of The United States.  We journeyed through the Hall of Presidents on a scavenger hunt that lead each child to a specific U. S. President.  We viewed documents written and signed by each U.S. President.  We learned a lot of information, even some fun facts, about each U.S. President and our American history.   After our tour we gathered together at a nearby park for lunch and play.  

Civil War Reenactment

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Created on Wednesday, 21 October 2015 00:20

Brendan JMJ 10/6/15

If you are wondering if you should go to The Major Battles of the Civil War Reenactment with the Gum Springs Heritage Festival in Longview, Texas, this might help you make up your mind. They perform a couple of gun tricks, and they told us not to do what they were about to do. They also show you how they performed surgery on the battlefield. It was too hot for a full battle so they just performed a little skirmish. So this is what I saw, and learned, from the field trip.

They were talented with their guns. They put a Styrofoam cup at the end of a stick and shot at it, the cup broke into a bunch of pieces. They also made a person hold a cast-iron skillet and they shot at it (probably with fake guns), I heard the bullets hit the cast-iron skillet at twenty feet away! Lastly, a person held a small piece of metal about the size of a watch face, and they shot at it. Then they revealed the piece of metal with a hole in the middle of it! These people are really talented!

Next they showed us how they got a bullet out of a patient’s leg. They said that they stuck their finger into the hole in the patient’s leg, caused by the bullet, and felt for the bullet. YUCK! Once they found the bullet they used some sort of surgical tool, to get it out. It was really tough to get a bullet out of the patient’s leg on the battlefield.

Then we got to the skirmish part of the field trip. They showed us the positions of the armies. They teach you that boys had to fight sometimes in the Civil War. Lastly, they fired a few guns and canons (not for real) at each other. It was really loud!

The Reenactment and Heritage Festival is really quite a rip-roaring and educational place to go for a field trip. They entertain you with fake guns. They teach you about a bunch of different things. They also get you interested in a little skirmish. I am only twelve, and history is not always my strong subject, but I do know this, the reenactment and festival are the place to be on field trip-day.