originally emailed June 29, 2008, 7:51am
Good morning from Austin, Texas!I'm happy to report that we arrived (late) but safe and sound last night [June 28]. We had a 1-hour delay in Minneapolis on top of our layover, and then once we boarded the plane, we sat for about 45 minutes on the tarmac while they changed the tires! Thankfully, this plane was roomier and had better seating than our first flight (which was 100% full). The kids chatted, napped, and played games till we took off.
In Minneapolis, the layover passed surprisingly fast. With the help of some parents, we bought a few Twister mats and after some warm-up rounds, held our own Twister tournament. It went of FOREVER and finally I declared Tara Kovacs, Adam Kratz, and Kaitlyn Hynes equal winners. We're a choir of Twister champions, what can I say? At one point, Tara was stretched from corner to oorner with Adam and Kaitlyn beneath her!
We also brought the game "Catch Phrase" and played for hours on ever-growing, ever-changing teams. This game is a combination of hot potato and Taboo where you try to get your team to say the phrase before the timer buzzes on you. It was a fun game and one that worked for all ages. We learned that sibling-combos, especially Mary Brooke and Blaire, can be dynamite. And that Adam Kratz knows a lot about Major League Baseball teams and has some zinger answers that happen to be right, a lot. We learned that the game works for (mostly) all ages as our youngest singers helped with clues like "In kindergarten when you sit down, the teacher might say BLANK BLANK applesauce." As the 6th graders (and Carly Wood) yelled CRISS CROSS, everyone over 14 reponded, "huh?" We learned that CC and Carrie Beall are fun team leaders and that really, there are worse things than being delayed in Minneapolis, as long as you're with a bunch of friends.
When we touched down in SAn Antonio, I called our bus driver, Daniel, and immediatlely liked the man. We were supposed to drive to Austin to have dinner at Fuddrucker's but with the delay, we'd be arriving there very very late. Daniel, realizing what would happen, called a Fuddrucker's near the airport in San Antonio, asked if they could handle our group (they could!) and negotiated a 10% discount for us! He reported this to me and I thought, "I lik you already!" We went to Daniel's Fuddruckers and met a Pastor and his family who were in line behind us. His mother in law was there and she happens to be from Bowie! At their request, we sang a song-- (the acoustics in Fuddrucker's were great!) and then I asked the Pastor to lead us in prayer. It was awesome.
We headed off to Austin and arrived at the hotel. I went in to get our room keys and they gave me packets and I said, "These have no names on them. Who is in what room please?" Ummmmm. They had put "Voices In Praise" on all the rooms with no names assigned!! Ay yi yi. Now keep in mind, I sent the rooming list 3 weeks ago when it was due. Called the hotel yesterday to make some changes, spoke with a front desk person, and faxed a revised list. And then, I called on Saturday from Minneapolis to let them know of our delayed arrival time and to confirm that our keys would be ready! Our scripture last night encouraged us to "Be joyful." And i can tell you that at that moment, I wasn't feeling very joyful. The good news is that we HAD hotel rooms and with a few clicks of my laptop, I was looking at my rooming list and quickly assigned the rooms. In case you call the hotel, Ask for them by room, not by name. :-) I am attaching a PDF of all the singers rooms.
I have to sign off now and get ready for the day ahead. One person on our first flight remarked to a chaperone, "I have never seen such a large group of well-behaved kids." If that doesn't make you beam, I don't know what will! Thanks, parents, for your support and for raising such awesome kids.
Love,
Holly