Kaleb has been participating in the advanced choir Uno Voce at FLEC last year and this, and this year they had a very fun opportunity to go on a weekend trip to Tennessee to perform. They needed adult chaperones, so Amy volunteered to go - which ended up being such a fun weekend!
The departure morning was very early - so it was still dark when we went but the good thing that it was so early was that Karis could take us on his way to work.
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| Smiling, but inside we were definitely still wishing to be in bed! |
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| Love these fun experiences together! |
The itinerary for the weekend was 1) GCA stop on Friday for tour and supper, 2) sang at the Gordon SDA church on Sabbath, 2) sang at Merryville church for Sabbath vespers, 3) went to a 15 bedroom cabin which was incredibly beautiful for Saturday and Sunday night, and then 4) sang at Dollywood on Sunday before we headed back on Monday to Orlando.
One unexpected treat of travelling with a choir is that at any point, they would break out singing - it was like a private concert as we drove along - what a beautiful treat!
On Sabbath at the Gordon SDA church, they sang at both services and then graciously the church fed us a box lunch and we then explored their little rock garden which is on the premises - it was so quaint and interesting. It is a "tourist" spot for this little town - it was neat to see it.
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| The female chaperones waiting in the hallway as the kids were finishing up Sabbath School |
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| A group picture after church |
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| Thankful for nourishment! |
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| And one of the elements in their rock garden. |
After finishing our lunch, we boarded the bus and headed over to Merryville which is an incredibly quaint old church (that has a new addition) - the acoustics were fun to hear with the fact it was a small wooden church - no mics needed.
And while the kids waited for the appropriate time to get dressed, they entertained themselves with clapping hand games and a soccer ball.
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| Practicing |
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| Micah helping to fix Kaleb's cummerbund - it takes a village to keep everything straight 😂 |
After the vespers was finished, we headed off to the cabin (feels odd to call it a cabin as it was so huge - 3 stories, 15 bedrooms, pool, hot tub, game room, media room etc) -- we were spoiled for sure. The drive to the cabin took a lot longer drive than expected to avoid as many of the tiny, winding roads in a bus as possible but we finally made it (after going passed it accidentally which was a real crazy experience to try and find a place to turn the bus around!) -- but we finally made it safe and sound.
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| The main floor's kitchen area - 2 huge long tables that could fit our whole group! |
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| What a gorgeous view for sunrise |
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| We are feeling blessed! |
On Sunday morning, we headed to Dollywood where they sang at the entrance 3 songs including God Bless America.
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| Kaleb has grown big enough now that Amy can fit his clothes - he got a good laugh after he was finished singing when he saw Amy had put on his L/S shirt as she was a bit cold! |
Afterwards, they split the group into smaller cohorts (similar ride desires etc) and we ended with Kaleb's "Bible Bestie" group which was fun to get to know the kids better.
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| Tytus, Lily, Kaleb, Eva, Lena and Emma |
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| Off to the rollercoaster we went! Deanna and Amy were this group's chaperones (we both had a kid in the group) |
Kids these days have this "foot" game that is kind of like we old folks used to do with our hands when we were in grade school - Kaleb was doing it with one of the Bible Besties at Dollywood and Amy was able to catch it up video - it cracked Amy up watching
After a super fun day at Dollywood, we headed back to the cabin for the kids to play in the water, play games and just relax together. The kids had a blast, and so did the parents!
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| Game room downstairs had a card table, pool table, and arcade game |
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| The two moms doing lifeguard duty (Tracy and Mellie) |
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| Hot tub |
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| Evening worship - lead by Pastor Johnson |
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| Pit in the evening |
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| Followed by Dutch Blitz |
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| The girls decided to try putting make-up on Kaleb. He is good-natured so he went along with it but quickly washed it off afterwards! |
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| A final group picture as we left the cabin on Monday morning. |
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| Here was the chaperone group - such as great bond that we all made - new friends are such a blessing! |
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| We had funny joke with Larry (married to the chaperone in charge of cooking the love Miss Elizabeth standing beside him in pink pretending to grab his neck) and his "sister wives" with all of us - so we had a picture all pulling him in multiple directions) |
The bus ride made for some great interactions - kids and chaperones alike (Amy was fortunate, one of her best friends from college - Maria - was there along with new friends that she got to make, which was super fun!)
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Lots of walking around handing out food for the kids - especially mandarin oranges (not pictured here) which then became a joke for the chaperones about how we were all craving cold cuties (name for mandarin oranges down here) and kept seeing oranges everywhere we went! 😀
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| Playing "Would you Rather" |
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| Playing "Heads up" |
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| Singing happy birthday to Emma on the way back - cupcakes on the bus! |
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| This great lady was our bus-driver - she took us safely everywhere, was super patient with the kids, and was just an A+ experience- thank you Miss Q! |
One funny moment on the bus on the first day, was that Amy fell asleep (it was an early morning!) and when she woke up, she realized that we had stopped for a break at a rest stop on the highway and that everyone else had gotten off the bus! She went to get off, but wasn't sure how to unlatch everything so had to call for help! 😂
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| Help - someone let Amy off the bus! |
Thanks to the amazing folks who led out with cooking - the Campbell family, Maria and Tracy.
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| The food was delicious! |
While Amy and Kaleb were on the trip, the final meeting for Adventurers happened. Sorry to miss - we were there in spirit!
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| Miss Corey leads the class - she is a godsend and does an amazing job - thanks Corey! |
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| One of Addi's besties - Elin |
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| Love these two! Miss you all! |
