Children's Music Mission Blog: Saturday. It was a fuuuullllllll day.

I had forgotten how full these days are.

Some of you who have followed one of my blogs before will recognize this:

That, friends, is a hotel waffle maker that lacks just two minutes and two seconds of rendering an epic hotel waffle. Look, it's like the movie Roadhouse. I can't really explain why I like it. I just do. And pretty much the only time I ever eat hotel waffles is on the music mission.

It wasn't a particularly early morning today. We didn't have to leave until about 9am, so there was plenty of time (but...tomorrow will be quite another story). There was so much time, in fact, that it seems Wayne (our bus driver) had enough time to train a replacement.

You know he's qualified to drive because he's wearing a blazer.

Our first stop this morning was at First Centenary UMC, where we will be singing in the morning. We met with the music director there and did a little rehearsal/getting used to the space. "Ms. Jan," as she told us to call her, is amazing. She helped me a whole lot with the trip, including inviting us to sing with her choir in the morning. [Programming note: you can actually stream the second service either live or later: https://firstcentenary.com/the-sanctuary-livestream] We are singing throughout the service. The sanctuary really is beautiful.

We'll have some more pictures tomorrow when we sing. 

Next we headed to our first concert of the day: Morning Pointe. I have to say we sounded particularly good there. The room was pretty open with a nice hard floor. I really feel like they got our best, which you'll recall from yesterday's singing in the portico outside with no piano represent something of a change. Not true. They got our best at the Benton House too...it's just our best at Morning Pointe was better due to factors beyond our control.

If you look to the right of the choir in that picture, you'll see a lectern, a chair, and a table. I saw something curious on the table, and I want to share it with you:

Shhhhhh. Can you hear it? That's the sound of Berlin singing "Take My Breath Away." Or maybe it's Kenny Loggins singing "Danger Zone." You can actually leave this in the comments below: what do you hear when you see this? For bonus points, you can tell me why the fine folks at Morning Pointe are watching Top Gun. I don't know. Maybe they feel the need, the need for speed?

After pondering the Top Gun mystery for a few minutes, we left Morning Pointe and headed to lunch. As is typical on tours, we stopped at a place with multiple choices, and parents took their kids wherever they wanted to go.

I didn't go to Firehouse, but they did, and it looks delicious.

Then it was off to our second concert of the day. Now listen. I told you yesterday how they said we were going to sing outside with no piano. When we got to the Bridge, they met me at the door and said, "We've set you up out here." We walked around the side of the building, where there was a small handheld microphone and a little speaker. And a keyboard. On a table. I can tell from the way you're reading this you don't believe me.

Having left our nice keyboard with the theater folks for the weekend, we had no choice. We used it in all its foreshortened glory. And I have to say that among Leanne's many gifts lies this lesser-known talent. She can make any keyboard, no matter how small, sound like a million dollars.

You're probably tired of hearing it by now, but I was so proud of the kids here. They really overcame. Here we are, outside and about 100 yards from the freeway singing with a keyboard that isn't at all loud and doesn't really sound like a piano, and they just absolutely crushed it. At one point, a resident walked by and said, "It needs to be louder." To which I said, "We are trying, ma'am. It's just they can only sing so loud." And they promptly made a liar out of me, singing even louder without shouting. They were focused and really did a fantastic job.

From the second concert, we went to the hotel to change and then headed to the aquarium for some fun. We met up with Ms. Debbie, who is a friend of Ms. Jan's (remember I told you how much she helped us???). Ms. Debbie is a volunteer docent at the aquarium. She did NOT give us a tour. She did accompany us through the entire aquarium and answer any questions we had as well as telling us some interesting information along the way. Here are some pics the chaperones got while I was picking up our tickets.

A few other notes from the aquarium:

Apparently they heard about our concert closer, and they set up a little plaque here to commemorate it? That's definitely what this is.

<Dad mode>

The otters were not out when we went by. They're so cute...this was otterly disappointing.

Just a bit later, several of the kids posed for this eggcelent picture:

</dad mode> 

(and 100 points for those of you who recognized what < > and </ > meant there)

We had a little break between the aquarium and dinner, so we hung out around the aquarium plaza. I heard a familiar song wafting through the air, and I had to check it out.

When I turned around, I realized they had placed a cup in front of themselves, and one person had assumed the role of "Mr. John."

Mrs. Tweedy, they's organized! They took in about $2.50 in tips. I applied it to the dinner bill, which was just a block away from the aquarium.

Yes, that's me at the end of the table attempting to keep my sanity. Just kidding. These kids are great. A little loud, maybe, but great. A few of them asked me why I was sitting at the kids table. I said, "It's because I'm here for you!" Out of frame: parents at the next table questioning my sanity.

I handed out some awards tonight. One of our singers didn't miss a single rehearsal or event this year. Two of them missed only one, and nobody missed more than four, so we celebrated those appropriately. I have 2 fifth graders on the trip, and I gave them a hymnal with their names on it. I have hymnals for all my fifth graders, it's just not all of them could be with us this weekend. I'm optimistic those guys will join the youth choir in the fall...and then you'll see them on next year's youth music mission blog! 

After dinner we walked across the street to Ben and Jerry's. Because it was there. And because what a bunch of over-excited kids who have been having a blast all day long really need at the end of a long day to wind down and get settled for the night is an ice cream cone.

And then we returned to the hotel, where I once again made it to my room by 9:30pm and [checks clock] will be finished with the blog by around 10:30pm. Good thing, because we have an early morning tomorrow: we have to leave at 7:30 to be at church by 8:00 to warm up for the first service. It might rain tomorrow, which would have an effect on our plans, but I know whatever happens it won't phase these great kids.

One more thing.

After we sing for an audience, we typically head out to greet them. For the youth, I ask them to engage in conversation. For the kids, I suggested they simply say, "Hi! I'm Mr. John. Thank you for coming out to hear us sing today." Of course they immediately asked if they should really tell these nice people that their name is Mr. John. Anyway, I told them they were not required to do that if they weren't comfortable, but a lot of them did, and you can see on the faces of the audiences we sing for how much it means to them. Not just the concert, but the moment someone cares enough to stop and say hello. I've missed that.

So...to bed. I'll post one more update tomorrow night. Your Music Makers are remarkable kids, Oak Grove.