Monday: Arriving in Chicago

Monday began in Louisville, Kentucky, just where Sunday had ended. When I made rounds in the morning, all the tape was in place. Our hotel in Louisville actually had us all on one floor, which was a delight. In 20 tours, I'm not sure any hotel has had all our rooms on one floor. It made untaping a dream!

I went ahead and went downstairs to grab some breakfast, waiting in anxious anticipation for what I knew laid ahead.

(To the tune of Margaritaville):

Wastin' away again in Hampton waffle-ville.

Searchin' for my lost syrup and fork.

Some people claim that there's a youth choir to blame, but I think,

Heck it could be my fault.

Breakfast time on tour. I ate a waffle, as is my custom. But also breakfast time is for doing hair, as demonstrated by Morgan and Elizabeth.

Our first order of business (post waffles) was to sing a concert at Magnolia Springs. When I walked in, I suspected the concert would be good because the space where we sang was a 3 story atrium.

What that meant is that we had the audience in front of us, and then we also had some audience around us as our sound wafted around the whole facility. We weren't in optimal configuration because we had to condense to 4 rows instead of spreading out in 3. But the kids sounded so good. They were just...on. Several of them are claiming I was crying during one of the songs...but to be clear, I deny this. It doesn't count as crying if you don't have a tear actually fall.

Bishop (now going by his callsign, Bravo Cadet), enjoyed the concert.

Shout out to the work crew who brings in whatever equipment we need for our concerts. Today it was just a chair and a couple of music stands, but it can include our whole sound system (as it did on the first day). This well-oiled machine just gets what we need where we need it.

I mentioned the atrium had multiple levels with audience on all of them. If they're going to come to listen to us, we'll seek them out and visit them! I actually found this moving. They saw her up there, and she waved at them during the concert. So after the concert, they said, "We're going to go find her." It just showed me they had a real connection that started with the music but didn't confine itself to the music. And that's what we're here for.

Always nice to see family when we are singing! Hadley's grandma popped over to hear our concert.

We stopped to eat at a place that is a geographical anomaly. Google says there's a McDonald's, but the satellite view shows it's an open field. I was curious as to what we'd find. Fortunately for our appetites, maps was correct, and there were a number of restaurants. Including, as it happens, a Krispy Kreme. And the light was on. So these girls went on over there and picked up donuts for the chaperones. Nicely done.

Also, twinning, as they say, is winning!

After lunch we set our face to Chicago. The drive into Chicago was pretty cool! Here's a great shot of the skyline form a distance.

None of the kids have seen Married with Children.

For the second day in a row, a member of Gwyn's family magically appears with a sign for her. I wonder if she'll threepeat.

Our first stop was Giordano's for deep dish pizza. Photos here of some of the groups (not all) before the pizza arrived. I thought the salad was good.

This Georgian was disappointed right here, though. That dark cola is Pepsi. Gross.

The pizza did not disappoint. Honestly I didn't expect to like it, but it was delicious. Ginny is here modeling how to take a piece of pizza off the tray. Immediately after this picture was made, the cheese stretched long, and I put the phone down to help cut the cheese. Ha! The dad is strong with this one.

This is the aftermath. Everyone was full. The Loadout (Jackson Brown) started playing in my head.

After dinner we went to the Willis Tower, or as I prefer to call it, the Sears Tower. The observation deck is on the 103rd floor, and they have these ledges you can walk out on. Completely enclosed. Honestly to me it didn't actually feel high up, but to a lot of people it does. How does my scared face look?

We'll be going to that church on Wednesday! ("I can see my house from here!" -God)

When we got to our hotel we started writing our thank you notes. So many people contribute to making this trip possible, and we want them to know how much we appreciate them. So we talk about that, and we talk about how to write a good note.

These two are seasoned pros.

And that was the day! Not a terribly late night. Not a terribly early morning either. Sleeping on choir tour. This is a novel concept. Looking forward to a concert and Six Flags tomorrow!

Sunday: Let's Get This Party Started

In the spirit of full disclosure, this blog post actually starts on Saturday. We call it our Local Music Mission day. We begin with rehearsal in the morning, then lunch, and then we sing three concerts at local places in the afternoon. The last rehearsal is a dress rehearsal, for which I take the choir to another part of the building and treat the run-through like a concert. It has a way of revealing what...needs some work. So here we are in the Grand Hall.

From time to time you'll see this guy on the blog. Sir Trots-a-Lot has been with us ever since my first tour at Oak Grove! If we're lucky, he'll comment on the blog and give us some of his wisdom. I asked him if he thought he would be able to sing with us this year, and all he said was, "I'm sorry, John, but I can't. I'm a little horse." Hal Jones, that one's for you!

We loaded up the church buses and a couple of rental vans, and we headed to our first concert at The Holbrook. I have sent groups to the Holbrook on our Christmas Music Missions in December, but this is the first time I've brought the youth choir there. It was a great venue! Very responsive audience that just kept growing the longer we were there.

As is our custom, we visited with the audience after we sang.

For our second concert, we headed to the Mansions of Decatur. Shout out to Ruth, who is for sure my hero because she always makes arrangements for us to be there and makes sure chairs are set up as needed. I've known Ruth a long time, and she's absolutely salt of the earth.

Each time we arrive at a venue, I go in with 2-4 people in a sort of advance team. We scout the venue to figure out what equipment we'll need and where the choir is to be positioned, and then I send one singer to get the choir and another to get whatever equipment is needed. This year is a special year for me because my children fill these roles: Lucy manages the equipment with a crew she organized on her own, and Wesley bring the choir in and lines them up.

This job isn't as easy as it looks! As a large choir, it can be a challenge to get us into some of the spaces, get the sections mostly together, make sure we can see everyone, etc. But he's doing a good job.

We had a little extra time between the Mansions and Clairmont Place. Robyn put the time to good use, taking this amazing photo.

Last year we were in a small community room, and it was quite tight. This year they moved us to the dining room, and it was much more comfortable!

Good to see some friends and family in the crowd. That's one of my favorite parts of the local music mission!

Returned to the hotel, and the Local Music Mission was complete. It was just over 12 hours before the trip began in earnest.

We started in the 8:30 worship service. Barely. We were there at 8:30, listened to the announcements, had a prayer, and then sang our way out of the service and onto the bus. The kids were not super excited about singing "This Little Light of Mine." It kinda sounded like "this little light of mine, it's running on fumes, and I'm going to try to keep it from going out." I mean, it was early in the morning I guess.

We stopped to see a beaver about some beef jerky. Most of the choir loves stopping at Bucee's. Not my jam.

But my spirits were lifted when I bumped into our newest and youngest singer! Oh my gosh he's sooooo cute! Choir Director Fail: I didn't get him a tour uniform onesie. Choir Director Win: I did pick him up a Bucee's onesie.

Allow Gwyn to introduce Mary Lynne and Lauren. These two seniors couldn't come on the trip, so I made it so they could!

And you know what, they're always smiling in the concerts!

Our first concert was at a Veteran's home outside of Knoxville. Loyal readers may recognize this as the same place we sang first last year. Outside can be a little difficult because of temperature, bugs, and the proximity of the home to the approach for some airport, but all in all, it went great.

Bonus! Allow Gwyn to introduce her cousin, Annie. Annie came to see us! She sang in the choir when I started at Oak Grove. She even made this delightful sign for us.

Lucy talks with her hands.

Then back on the bus. We stopped for dinner in Lexington. As it turns out, this was also the same place as last year. In fact, the guys in my room wanted to go to the same Chuy's I ate at last year. A couple of times during the week, we'll have chaperone dinner. We eat with our rooms to get to know each other. This is my room. They're great. Best room ever.

I took pictures of all the rooms, but I'm not going to put them all on here. Just a couple to show you some of our amazing singers and chaperones!

Back on the bus, where I showed Moana...

...and there was an impromptu singalong! I do love the music in Moana.

Hotel was great. They were ready for us! Had water for us and a welcome sign. And most importantly, they had our keys ready so I could send the kids on in! Solid experience here.

I once again forgot to get pictures of our devotional time. Bruh. But we talked about being thankful (it's the first steps of getting ready to write thankyou notes). We also talked about our day. I encouraged them to be present and aware this week. It can be a rich experience.

After that, final room checks and tape on the doors. The chaperones check them into their rooms, and then I come by as well to chat for a minute, make sure they don't have any questions, and put tape on the door.

Once the tape is on the 12th door, I'm finished. They're in their rooms, and they won't be out until I untape the doors in the morning (because if this tape is broken in the morning, I'm sending them home!). Then it's back to my room to start working on the blog. But maybe try not to stay up too late...I can finish the blog over a waffle in the morning!

Tomorrow we get to finish Moana, including a "You're Welcome" singalong as we make our way to Chicago.