Wow…I feel like our world has just been spinning this weekend. For starters we went to the Charlie Elliot Wildlife Center for our church choir retreat. Although it’s a “wildlife center”, they also offer 28 hotel-style rooms, a banquet hall, and conference center. The facilities are nice and very clean(I’m a germ-freak when it comes to hotel-type places). The food was delicious! And the surroundings couldn’t be beat. Eventhough we arrived in a stinkin’ monsoon, we were able to enjoy the beautiful views on Saturday morning. Just brisk enough to be chilly but not cold; leaves at that perfect state of “fallness”…It was beautiful! My only complaint was that the bed was supa-hard. I know some people like that, but I like to kind of sink into a bed. The fluffier, the better in my opinion!
We arrived Friday night, ate and had a rehearsal. Then we played my favorite game ever: What Were You Thinking? Unfortunately for you…the game is out of print. You’ll have to check eBay to see if someone is silly enough to get rid of their game!
On Saturday morning they served an oh-so-yummy breakfast, we rehearsed some more, and ate yet another delightful meal. We had a lot of fun, covered a lot of ground on Christmas music, and ate A LOT of food! 🙂
My brother was awesome enough to keep the kids for us while we were gone(Thanks, RAM!). When we left them on Friday, they’d had late naps…so I kind of set him up for disaster. Not on purpose…but none-the-less, he put them to bed around 10. They were sharing a bed, which almost always leads to a lack of sleep anyway because they feed off of one another, and laugh and giggle(and bicker and whine) like 3rd grade girls at a sleepover. Anyway…Richard’s a night-owl anyway, so he just let them go. They stayed in the bed, but they didn’t go to sleep until ONE AM! Wow! I didn’t mind however, because it allowed me to take a fabulous nap with them in the afternoon AND get them in the bed early on Saturday night. AWESOME!
Today was a very family-centric day. This morning we all went to my Papa’s church(he’s the pastor, and my brother helps him out) for an “Old-fashioned Pickin’ and Singin'” If you’re from the south, you’ve probably heard of them. If not…all it means is that we got together and sang. We sang not only hymns, but some songs my brother wrote(one of which I was going to show you on video) and a song my Papa wrote. It was very different from our usual Sunday church routine, but it was fun!
After church we had yet another great meal, this time with my grandparents. After filling our tummies, we came home to nap. When we all got up, Marshall’s parents were here for a quick visit. It’s the first time they’ve been to the new house, so the kids had fun showing them around.
Like I said…it was chaotic and crazy, but it was fun. And now I’m exhausted, and going to bed.