Uno Voce Trip to Tennessee

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.

Smiling, but inside we were definitely still wishing to be in bed!

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. 

The female chaperones waiting in the hallway as the kids were finishing up Sabbath School

A group picture after church

Thankful for nourishment!

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.

Practicing

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.

The main floor's kitchen area - 2 huge long tables that could fit our whole group!

What a gorgeous view for sunrise

We are feeling blessed!

On Sunday morning, we headed to Dollywood where they sang at the entrance 3 songs including God Bless America.

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.

Tytus, Lily, Kaleb, Eva, Lena and Emma

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!

Game room downstairs had a card table, pool table, and arcade game

The two moms doing lifeguard duty (Tracy and Mellie)

Hot tub

Evening worship - lead by Pastor Johnson

Pit in the evening

Followed by Dutch Blitz

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!

A final group picture as we left the cabin on Monday morning.

Here was the chaperone group - such as great bond that we all made - new friends are such a blessing!

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!)

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! 😀

Playing "Would you Rather"

Playing "Heads up"

Singing happy birthday to Emma on the way back - cupcakes on the bus!

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! 😂

Help - someone let Amy off the bus!

Thanks to the amazing folks who led out with cooking - the Campbell family, Maria and Tracy.

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!

Miss Corey leads the class - she is a godsend and does an amazing job - thanks Corey!

One of Addi's besties - Elin

Love these two! Miss you all!

Sun Outdoors RV Resort & Easter Fun

We haven't had a chance to go camping much this year with the group, and the schools magically aligned this year to have a long-weekend break over Easter weekend - so we jumped on the chance to take a longer camping trip and went to a new place - Sun Outdoors over in Sarasota.  It was FABULOUS - we highly recommend it - it had RV spots but also little cabins that you could rent (which is what we did) that were well-kept and very comfortable.  

Off we go!

The group was a little different this year with new families coming, which is always fun to get to know people better and create new memories together:  Penas, Zs, Reiners, Putts, Ellis', and the Js.

The first day we were there, we explored the grounds and then went to a pottery painting even they held that afternoon.

Not everyone came out early, so Thursday was just Reiners, Johnsons and the Zs

One of the things that we really enjoyed is that our little cabin had a very large screened-in porch with a table that we made good use of for games like Dutch Blitz and Pit - so so fun!

There was a large pool with a children's playground, waterslide in addition to the Olympic sized pool - so we used that as well a lot, in addition to just hanging out while the little kids swam during the evening hours.

This place really was incredible, so many things to do -- so for the first time the whole Z clan went out and played pickle balls - it was fun to learn!

One of the unexpected items that became one of our favorite activities was Shuffleboard.  It was so fun!  With a crazy stroke of luck, the international shuffle board president ended up crossing paths there with Kent, so we found out a lot more about rules and strategy of the game.  

Partners - and did extremely well that round!

It is always fun to get the whole group together for a meal, so we did a Haystack meal this year -- and through another stroke of luck, we ended up being able to reserve a room in one of their many buildings for our meal - it was perfect because it had air conditioning (so lovely), and all of the chairs and tables we could ever ask for along with long tables to set the food up on.  Wow - normally they charge to reserve those rooms but the lady at the front desk was feeling generous for which we were grateful.

Playing games while we waited for the group to arrive

The Logo game kept a big group happily playing - it is always good for some laughs.  It is kind of like Trivial Pursuit but all about different brands/logos etc.

And some deep thinking as you see Karis tracking to rack his memory for the answer!

Dutch Blitz was a fan favorite as well

We were there over Easter weekend, so on Sunday we had several fun activities that the group really enjoyed.

Sweet Erika brought little gifts for the moms

And a dressed up Easter Bunny drove around the sites

And then we decorated cookies

And no camp-out is complete with Spike-ball and marshmallows, along with just hanging out and really enjoying each other's company.  It was one of the best camping trips (even though we were in a cabin and not an RV) that we have had - so fun and relaxing!

And a few other random pictures: 

Finishing her craft with Elin in the Js RV

Keeping sweet little Taryn out of the road!

On Sunday, we jumped into the car and headed home in time to join the Grodack Easter brunch - so our weekend was just one highlight after another - the brunch was delicious, fellowship even better, and the egg hunt of course is always a fun highlight for the kids.  Kaleb ended up having a friend's birthday party so he wasn't with us for that part of the weekend, but he had a lot of fun too!

The brunch group

Being too old for an easter egg hunt, Zachary took part in hiding the eggs.

All the kids ready to go!

And it truly was a mad dash around looking for those eggs!

She appears delighted with her finds thus far