The silly girls stayed in the hot tub until it was dark so they could have the fun lights on.
Mason kept trying to crash the party. He was the cute/pesky little brother. He really wanted a swim shirt like we got for Cord. Doesn't he look handsome?
It was amazing how close these animals would get to you. You can tell they have been there awhile and are used to humans. We had a great day being together with family and friends. After the picnic we went home (Sam and Julia came over to play) and I took a nap with Cord because I have to work tonight.
But he wasn't so excited about actually getting in with the kids. They found a ball to toss around to keep him entertained, but he didn't stay in very long.
The activities they got to participate in included canoeing on this lake, walking through the woods looking for signs of beavers including an old beaver dam, several team-building exercises, a rock climbing tower, and a fun game called "predator & prey" which had them running all over the camp looking for food, water, & shelter while trying not to get eaten by something higher up on the food chain. Thursday night they had a group activity in which the group was divided into 2 "cultures". They spent time learning about & practicing their culture. Then they got to visit the other culture. Afterwards they discussed about how other cultures are different, but not bad just because we don't understand them. I thought it was an OK activity, but they were supposed to be doing a reenactment of the underground railway to learn about how the slaves ran away. That would have been awesome, even though it was raining.
This was the cabin we were assigned to with 5 of her friends. There was no electricity, which meant no light or heat. I know all you in Utah are getting used to the heat, but we when it's rainy (which happens often and all day the first day), we are in the 50-60's. We were wearing our winter coats and still freezing our noses and hands because I didn't think to bring gloves. It's a good thing I brought extra blankets because I used all of them to keep us warm. The other chaperon in our cabin happened to be the principal. I thought this would put a damper on the fun, but in the end it turns out she was more fun than I was. When it was time to settle down and get to sleep, I snuggled up in my bunk to read my People magazine, while she got cards out and played with the girls in the middle of the hardwood floor with the lantern. The girls were in one village while the boys were in another. They kept trying to play tricks on each other throughout the days. At 5:00 am Friday morning, all the boys came around the cabins singing very loudly, waking everyone up. I, however, was dead to the world I guess because I didn't hear them. But that was all everyone talked about the 2nd day.
I was so proud of Brianna as she climbed up this high wall. She was nervous to try it, but she didn't let that stop her. She made it all the way to the top and then walked down.
We had a great time being together. On Friday the sun came out and warmed us up into the 70's, which was great, unless the wind blew. We were anxious to come home and take a hot shower!!!
Saturday night we were able to go out on a real live, grown up date with 2 other couples from our ward. We dressed up and started the night with dinner reservations at an Italian place called "A Touch of Garlic". The food was good, the atmosphere was inviting, and the company was a lot of fun. From there we went to symphony hall (seen in pic) to listen to the Springfield Symphony play some pieces for the "Russian Spectacular". I was very impressed with the quality of sound coming from the orchestra. I guess many of the musicians actually play in Boston, but they travel here to play more classical pieces. I was also blown away with the beautiful details inside this building. I couldn't find any pics of the inside, but it was truly amazing. The last song was more contemporary and not as enjoyable, so we snuck out early and headed back to the restaurant. I felt like a kid sneaking out of class or something. Just as we pulled up to the restaurant, they turned the open sign off. We convinced them to let us in for dessert. So we ended the evening being the only ones in the corner of the little restaurant, enjoying dessert, while laughing and talking with friends. We had a very enjoyable evening. Chelsea was a trooper by watching all the kids at our house while we had fun. Thanks Chelsea!!
Brianna made this beautiful card for me all by herself. I think it is absolutly the best card ever! I'm really proud of her creativity. This is the best gift ever! Chelsea has been working hard on a violin solo to play in the mother's day program. She did fabulous! I videod one of her practices so you can see her progress. She did so good in the actual preformance even though she was really nervous. She made me cry. I just kept thinking that she has only been playing since August and she is doing so well. I hope you enjoy!
I have been meeting with a group of fabulous sisters from the ward every week for a couple months working on this song for Mother's day. We have a brilliant sister in our ward who has taught us a lot about music. The arrangment was so beautiful and included a cello solo and I really wanted to get it recorded since I knew my mom couldn't be there. Since I had my camera with me, I asked Brianna to just push play so we could hear how it sounded. That is probabaly illegal-ish, but this is for my mom! You have to fast forward about a minute because she pushed play as soon as we started walking up there instead of when we were ready.
