GCYC Savannah Tour

 Carly had been looking forward to the Choir Tour to Savannah for Gulf Coast Youth Choirs all year!  It was the first time the Children's choir got to go out of state for their spring tour.  I got to go along with her, and we had a fun weekend together.  We sure missed The Boys, but they had plenty of fun at home without us.  Carly really had fun with all her friends...

We rode in a very comfy Tour bus (similar to the Fun Bus Ryan and I rode in for our WOLBI tours, only CLEANER)... our first stop in Savannah was at Uncle Bubba's restaurant.  Bubba is Paula Deen's brother.  My sisters and I and my mom ate here when we visited Savannah a few years ago.  Yummy food.  Not a bit healthy.

Carly and Makayla.  Buds.

Most of the group...

We checked into our hotel, the kids went swimming in the heavily chlorinated pool, then we got a good nights rest before heading out to meet up with the Savannah Children's Choir.

Part of the "fun" of tour, was to work with another children's choir (um, Savannah's) and put on a concert with them.  The kids from Savannah were really sweet and had a breakfast for our kids before their first rehearsal.  They kind of went out of their way to mingle with the other choir and make some new friends.

While the kids were rehearsing, some of the parents went for a walk to Forsythe Park, which is a really pretty park in Savannah... the one with the famous fountain.  And some pretty flowers...

It gave us something to do while the kids were working.

After their rehearsal, we went on a Trolley Tour of the historic district.  It was educational and interesting.  After going on the full circuit, we had the option to get off and visit various places on our own.  Several of us stopped at this little sandwich shop for lunch, and there was about a 45 minute wait for a table... And Carly had plans to tour a Haunted House and was worried about having enough time.  So I reminded her that We Are McGregor's and We Make Our Own Adventure.  So, we ducked out of the sandwich shop (in the rain) and ran across a couple of streets to a fun looking coffee shop and decided that drinking coffee and eating danish was a perfectly acceptable lunch when you are on "vacation"!!  

We were pleasantly surprised to find they served hummus with pita's, so it was actually healthier than we planned:)  The coffee (hot chocolate for The Girl) was DELICIOUS, and we didn't have to wait in line!

 After our fun lunch, we checked out the Haunted House Carly had picked out.

My Girl was trying very hard to be scared, and well, she was just funny instead.  The Guide really played up the "stories" because she was so into it.

The haunted window... sadly, we saw no ghosts.

At one point (probably the same time my mother-in-law was texting me about tornado's) The tornado siren actually went off (you are welcome for not telling you this at the time, mom!) and our guide said he was just going to ignore it because "We never get tornado's in Savannah"... just curious, WHY DO YOU HAVE A SIREN THEN?  anyways, I asked him what we were supposed to do, if say, there WAS a tornado... he said, "We'd go in the basement.... but the basement is REALLY haunted..."  Carly immediately said, "Let's go!"  I guess they have scary ghost tours at night in this house and particularly in the basement.  He was showing us all the equipment and cameras they use to try to see ghosts and Carly tried her hardest to summon a Ghost.  No luck.  Imagine that.

Here's one of the Creepy Basement Rooms.

After our tour, we jumped back on the Trolley to go to the Riverwalk so I could show Carly the Candy Store.  It really helped that I had been to Savannah before...   Watching them make pecan pralines...

A quick photo for Grandma.  

That evening, we ate dinner at Sticky Fingers, which sounds funner than it was...

Next day, the first stop was to for the kids to sing at Calvary Baptist Temple.  They sang several songs during the service and it was televised, so they were all excited to be on TV:)

Mrs. Smith, the director, giving a little pep talk...

After the morning services, we headed to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which is were the kids were singing with the Savannah Children's Choir.  It was a really pretty church that's over a 100 years old.

Beautiful stained glass windows (about 15 of them!!), and we all know how I love stained glass windows!

Loved this one of King David

There's the combined choirs... Ironically enough, their choir costumes matched!

 And a picture for the food bank that they raised money for during this concert (hence the holding of the food).  Amazingly enough, the concert (which I think was mostly attended by choir parents!!) raised over $900 in donations!

The directors took turns directing the kids...

Carly thought she was the star of the show, apparently.

With Mrs. Smith

And Carly and the director from Savannah... we got her picture because she reminded us so much of Aunt Randee.  With brown hair.  Looked and acted like her.  Only she doesn't have any cute Parker.

Our try at a self portrait...

 That night, we ate dinner at the Sisters of the New South and it was so delicious!  The kids sang for the other people in the restaurant afterwards, and it was actually pretty cute.

The Sisters (The Aunties) came out to hear them, which was great because we got to tell them how delicious their food was!  Seriously, if you are even in Savannah, YOU MUST GO HERE.

Heading home to Tampa the next morning, watching their big TV debut!

We had a fun weekend...

Thirteen

That's right folks...  Ryan and I are the proud parents of a Teenager.  How does this happen?  Seriously, it seems like it was just yesterday my sister was mad at me for not calling her on her birthday until 10pm, when she so graciously said, "There'd better be a baby or I'm never talking to you again."  Fortunately for me, she got her Birthday Buddy Wish.

Ben asked if he could plan out his whole Birthday Weekend, and since it all sounded very fun to us, we went along with it.  He really enjoyed getting to be In Charge.... Little Sister wasn't too thrilled, but trust me, she was taking notes for November.

Our weekend started off on Friday, with breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts.  When he was telling us his big plan, he said, "I'll get a bagel with cream cheese and an iced coffee, and I don't really care what you get".  Sigh.  You'll be happy to know that, Asperger's or not, we had a little discussion on a better way to express such information. 

Since the kids and Ryan were off school Friday (State Fair Day) we headed over to Disney.  We started at Epcot.  Every time we go to Epcot, we HAVE to start with SpaceShip Earth.  Ben didn't disappoint us... Then we went to the Coca Cola sampling shop.  We can thank the Warren Boys for introducing us to this "delight".  Ben tried really hard to get us to try "Beverly", which is apparently really gross.  Nice.

After a fun afternoon at Epcot, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to take the boat to the Fort Wilderness Campground for dinner... you know, in usual McGregor fashion.  Creatures of Habit. 

The Grand Floridian Resort.

The Contemporary Resort with Bay Lake Towers on our way back to the Magic Kingdom where we spent the evening.  A cold front was moving in, hence the dark clouds...

Ben was actually pretty happy to get his picture with his little sister.

We all thought the castle looked pretty cool with the storm clouds behind it.

We skirted around the castle once the fireworks were over and most of the people had left.  I guess we've never paid attention to the impressive light show that follows about half and hour later... they put all the pictures the photographers took throughout the day of people in the park, up on the castle.  It is really impressive.  They also change the look of the castle over and over, all set to music.  Very cool.

They say they get every picture up there, and these mosaics were pretty cool...

This cracked us up, since it looked like they blew up the castle at the end.  

... of course, the castle is fine:)

After getting on all our favorite rides, we headed to our hotel for the night.  I have to say, we were all VERY tired... 

Next morning we slept late:)  My kids NEVER sleep in, so I was really impressed they didn't get up until 9am.   We took our time getting going, ran an errand or 2, then got some lunch.  Ben's pick, of course... Taco Bell.  We rarely go since The Girls are NOT fans of TB.

Carlita decided taco's weren't so bad after all.

We moved on to Hollywood Studios.  Ben was kind enough to pick The Great Movie Ride for his Mama.  

Waiting in line for the Toy Story Ride... always worth the wait, and the line is entertaining at least!

We told the boys we were going to beat them, and we put on our Game Faces.  Of course, we didn't win.  Apparently, the Boys spend way more time practicing video games than we do.  

The Sweet Spells shop where we got candy apples.  Because they are healthy and good for you.

We were all pretty thankful when Ben got tired and just wanted to head for home.  He picked to order a pizza and then we watched a movie.  A nice ending to a busy time away!

The next day was The Actual Birthday.  After church, we met up with The Family at TGI Friday's for a yummy lunch.  

Uncle Steve and Carly.

See, he looks like his Mama.  Acts like his Dad, though:)

My parents... my dad is recovering nicely from his shoulder surgery!

Uncle Rodney came, too!

And Rochel and her little tribe.  Her little "We-don't-look-at-camera's" Tribe.

They kept us entertained while we were waiting for lunch... I always think it's funny when they eat apples for some reason.  And read menus.

Oh.  He's looking now.  And showing off his poor ear.  He suffered an attack from a mosquito.  Poor baby.

Rochel made the cookies for our dessert. Always delicious.

This picture just made me laugh, so I had to post... plus, Eli's eyelashes look awesome!  He'll be 13 before we know it, too!!!  Sorry, Rochel.  I bet you didn't want to hear that.

Ben enjoyed the Friday's girls singing to him!  Mostly because they brought ice cream!

Happy Birthday to our very cool son!  I'm so glad you are they way you are.  I wouldn't trade it for anything!!  Love you BEN!!!

EPIC Valentine's Day performance

Happy Valentine's Day to my lovely wife!  From the PJ's!

Jonah

So, I'm reading this book.  Let's be clear, I've been reading it for a while.  Anytime it takes me this long to read a book, it's because it's really good and really important and I just don't want to miss anything.  And so I don't pick it up unless I can read in complete silence, with a cup of coffee.  Which rarely happens.  But I love this book, mostly because Angie Smith is one of my favorite-people-I've-never-met.

Anyhow, when I first started reading this book, I got all excited because I thought perhaps she wrote Chapter 2 for me.  I'll be honest, I got this information from the fact that she made mention that she was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1988 (p33, 37) and we all know that is my Big Claim to Fame, and I'm quite certain she saw me and stared at the TV and thought, "someday I will write a chapter in my book for that girl".  Actually, I enjoyed Chapter 2 so much because she talks about Leah and Rachel and I just love that story.  I always loved it because of Rachel, with her son Benjamin and Joseph (Our Boy Name, had Carly been a Boy).  Jacob's love for her... and how he waited for her.  I never really thought much about Leah.  And how God blessed her.  So, good chapter.  (*Side story, Ben is NOT named after this Benjamin.  But Benjamin Sisko.  Captain of Deep Space 9, Star Trek.  Yes.  Fictional Person.  Yes, I was tricked into that.*)

Anyways.  Turns out, Chapter 2 wasn't really mine.  But hands down, Chapter 8 is.  Story of Jonah.  Another piece of Bible Lore I have passed over after graduating from childhood Sunday School classes.  But today?  I guess it's where I am at.  

I've been crazy struggling lately.  I'd like to say it's since my best friend got diagnosed with breast cancer and my friends got laid off from work.  But actually, it's been since before that.  I guess I've just seen so much suffering lately of people close to me.  My own emotions are raw from perceived hurt feelings for months.  And seriously?  The weeks I spent on my couch this past summer,  I could feel myself slipping down into a tunnel of ambivalence and numbness.  The sad reality is I knew it was happening, and I just got really comfortable in it.  At a time in my life when I thought I would have clung to God more, I chose ambivalence.   

So now. While I pray desperately to God for healing and comfort for Debbie, for jobs for my friends, for duct tape for my fractured heart.... what I think I hear, is silence.  

And Jonah.  I'm so surprised to find what I needed today in this story.  I would have thought it would have been Job, or David. Perhaps Moses. But no.  Jonah.   

But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah,

and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights

Jonah 1:17

and here's where I let my friend Angie take over... (p 142)

He provided the fish.

Not to harm Jonah, but to rescue him.

He knew Jonah's heart, so He did something drastic, something epic, something that to the naked eye looks like a tragedy, and He used it for His glory.

And Jonah's response...

So I said, I have been expelled from Your sight.  

Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.

Jonah 2:4

I want to live the "nevertheless" life, don't you?

Many times in my life I have seen an obstacle as the enemy, but looking back now I see it was an appointed mercy.

I believe firmly that God ordains everything.  But, I am for sure one of those people who sit back and say, "REALLY?? You thought THAT was a good idea??" you know, words I say to the Most High God.  Yes, I'm an idiot like that.  Small wonder I can even draw breath.  Rather than Back Talking (exactly what we lecture Ben and Carly about, ironically enough!), I need to embrace His Plan.  Which sounds good on paper (um, computer), but in practice is more difficult. 

So, it would seem I do have a New Years Resolution, after all.  I was trying to avoid one this year.  But it seems I need to work to be a Nevertheless person.  Pushing my "control" aside, accepting His.  More than that, I need to understand that what I think is His silence, is Him gently saying, "I've got a Better Plan.  Just wait."