We're back from our big trip... and it's niiiiice to be back home. Overall, we had a pretty good week at camp. It wasn't our absolute best trip ever for several reasons, but who wants to be a Debbie Downer? The hiccups along the way made it memorable for sure. Here's how things went down.
Friday the 17th
We left our house at 5:00 am, had an easy drive up through Iowa. En route, Andrew called our hotel and found out they messed up our reservation. Long story short, instead of the non-smoking double queen suite with pull-out-couch, we wound up in two separate single rooms with king beds. We only paid for one, which was cheaper than the original room we booked. We got into Minneapolis around 3:00, checked in to our room(s) and freshened up. The Mall of America was right next door practically, and we spent the entire night there and had a BLAST. All 3 boys loved the Lego store, of course! We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and got to sit right by a giant aquarium, which provided nice dinner entertainment. We mainly spent our time in the Nickelodeon theme park inside the mall and the boys rode rides till the moment we left. We took breaks to peruse the mall a little bit and I got some goodies from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Williams Sonoma.
Saturday the 18th
Found out that you get what you pay for with cheap hotels... the "continental breakfast" was just packaged donuts/cinnamon rolls like you'd get out of a vending machine. That's all. Denny's got our business that morning!! We then took our final 2 hour drive to Alexandria. Since it was too early to check in at Mount Carmel, we wisely took advantage of the gorgeous weather (we knew the forecast wasn't promising for the week) to take the boys mini golfing/go-karting at Casey's, the place Andrew's been visiting every summer since his fam started attending Mount Carmel over 25 years ago. We got settled into our cabin, had dinner in the lodge, walked around the grounds with the boys, and got them to bed.
Sunday the 19th
While this was Father's Day, we didn't really "celebrate" it because of our busy day. The normal Sunday brunch at camp still happened and was extra fancy for the big day. We spent the morning at worship, hanging in the cabin a bit, and then starting off the Fine Arts week with meeting our choirs that we'd all be a part of.
Monday the 20th
Andrew had his first rehearsal with his adult choir, which I also sang in (his dad normally conducts this choir, but Milt and Carla are in Europe right now, hooray for them!!). Ben started his children's choir for the week, and Joey was doted on by the college girls running the nursery (had to be 3 to be in the children's choir). We also got to attend a neat class (for the duration of the week mornings) covering the ideas of art and architecture used in churches/worship. The teacher is a college prof of religion and philosophy, so needless to say we had great discussions! After just one 1 hour rehearsal, our adult choir sang a piece a capella at evening worship. I might be biased, but I thought we had a pretty awesome director.
Monday night turned into a pretty ugly night for me... I don't want to say I had an anxiety "attack," but more of an "episode." Does that even make sense? Anyways, it was the worst experience with that I've had since Nov. of 2009 when I started having anxiety issues. I haven't been on my anti-anxiety meds for over 2 months now (hooray!), but I think the lack of sleep (Joey was waking up a lot over night) and busy days were the main culprit. I also over-ate that day, had too much caffeine, and was dehydrated. It was a perfect storm. Rest, my meds, and tons of prayer and reminding myself of God's faithfulness to me got me through the night, and I felt much better - although tired and without appetite - on Tuesday.
Tuesday and Wednesday 21/22
Nothing too notable on these days... except it rained and rained and rained. It was so chilly that we were wearing jeans, socks and shoes, and sweatshirts and using our space heater at night. Definitely a departure from STL summertime weather!! We quickly discovered that the boys were most entertained by the ping pong and fooseball tables in the chapel basement. When we were in the cabin winding down for naps/bed, they did Leapster games and movies on the portable dvd player. Wednesday night I got to be part of a special worship experience that night during chapel. This year, Mount Carmel has a resident artist who paints scenes of Bible stories while someone narrates the story. I was asked to play flute (along with piano, violin, and cello) during some of the painting. Words can't describe how amazing it is to hear the words of scripture come alive, brush stroke by brush stroke, on a blank canvas, and I enjoyed using my God given talent to help others come into a spirit of worship.
Thursday the 23rd
Less rain... breaks in the clouds... a hint of sun! Had a full scale Scandinavian buffet for dinner (ahh-mazing!) and my favorite was and always will be lefse. It's a thin potato pancake rolled with butter and sugar. I have to learn how to make those things!! Andrew gave in to the request for his crazy finger dance at the talent show. He puts on techo music and bends his fingers backwards (loose connective tissue - or what some might say is being "double jointed" - lets him do it). His reputation precedes him and he had kids asking him all week if he was going to do it. Ha!
Friday the 24th
Joey was on the MOOOOOVE all week and everyone saw him running, talking, trotting, bouncing, and darting around (with his poor parents trailing behind him). WELL, it was no surprise that, at about 8:15 am, the fire alarm in the lodge went off and Joey was nowhere to be found. He came RUNNING down the hall, hands on his ears, tears running down his cheeks. He pulled it. Ohhhh, Joey!! Good thing is that ... it's Mount Carmel .... no big deal! Thankfully the alarm isn't connected to the fire dept., so it just got turned off, everyone had a good chuckle, and we pretty much think Joey won't ever do that again.
Last day of Fine Arts week and the big concert at 1:00. It was very emotional for Andrew given his nearly life-long relationships he's made at Mount Carmel, and the fact that he was standing in for his father. The concert was amazing... Ben was DARLING in his little choir... said our good byes, and we hit the road at 3:00. Had the privilege of meeting two friends at a McDonald's playland for dinner in St. Paul on our way home. Katie (who has 3 kiddos) and Ruthanne were co-workers when we were on staff at Mount Carmel in our college days. While at McDonald's, Joey was suspiciously not eating, was kind of whiney, and was lethargic. When he started crying saying he wanted to go, I went to scoop him up and felt that he had a fever. We assumed ear infection b/c he said his ear was hurting. We drove all the way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and got to our hotel at 11:15. Right before we got there, Joey started tossing his cookies in the car. Once in the room I had a feeling that it was because he had Motrin on an empty stomach. I slept in bed with him so Andrew, our trusty driver, could get as much sleep as possible.
Saturday the 25th
Joey slept pretty well and threw up a little again due to the second dose of Motrin on an empty stomach (we couldn't get him to eat). This was at 4:30. Andrew woke up with that, felt wide awake, so we just decided to leave and try to get home early enough to get Joey in to his doctor before they closed at noon. We got home at 9:30, and Joe saw the doctor. Turns out he has strep throat - no wonder the boy wouldn't eat - and now we all need naps. :-)
Tons of pictures exist on my camera and will appear on Facebook very soon. Thanks for reading our week-long saga of fun/excitement!
Friday the 17th
We left our house at 5:00 am, had an easy drive up through Iowa. En route, Andrew called our hotel and found out they messed up our reservation. Long story short, instead of the non-smoking double queen suite with pull-out-couch, we wound up in two separate single rooms with king beds. We only paid for one, which was cheaper than the original room we booked. We got into Minneapolis around 3:00, checked in to our room(s) and freshened up. The Mall of America was right next door practically, and we spent the entire night there and had a BLAST. All 3 boys loved the Lego store, of course! We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and got to sit right by a giant aquarium, which provided nice dinner entertainment. We mainly spent our time in the Nickelodeon theme park inside the mall and the boys rode rides till the moment we left. We took breaks to peruse the mall a little bit and I got some goodies from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Williams Sonoma.
Saturday the 18th
Found out that you get what you pay for with cheap hotels... the "continental breakfast" was just packaged donuts/cinnamon rolls like you'd get out of a vending machine. That's all. Denny's got our business that morning!! We then took our final 2 hour drive to Alexandria. Since it was too early to check in at Mount Carmel, we wisely took advantage of the gorgeous weather (we knew the forecast wasn't promising for the week) to take the boys mini golfing/go-karting at Casey's, the place Andrew's been visiting every summer since his fam started attending Mount Carmel over 25 years ago. We got settled into our cabin, had dinner in the lodge, walked around the grounds with the boys, and got them to bed.
Sunday the 19th
While this was Father's Day, we didn't really "celebrate" it because of our busy day. The normal Sunday brunch at camp still happened and was extra fancy for the big day. We spent the morning at worship, hanging in the cabin a bit, and then starting off the Fine Arts week with meeting our choirs that we'd all be a part of.
Monday the 20th
Andrew had his first rehearsal with his adult choir, which I also sang in (his dad normally conducts this choir, but Milt and Carla are in Europe right now, hooray for them!!). Ben started his children's choir for the week, and Joey was doted on by the college girls running the nursery (had to be 3 to be in the children's choir). We also got to attend a neat class (for the duration of the week mornings) covering the ideas of art and architecture used in churches/worship. The teacher is a college prof of religion and philosophy, so needless to say we had great discussions! After just one 1 hour rehearsal, our adult choir sang a piece a capella at evening worship. I might be biased, but I thought we had a pretty awesome director.
Monday night turned into a pretty ugly night for me... I don't want to say I had an anxiety "attack," but more of an "episode." Does that even make sense? Anyways, it was the worst experience with that I've had since Nov. of 2009 when I started having anxiety issues. I haven't been on my anti-anxiety meds for over 2 months now (hooray!), but I think the lack of sleep (Joey was waking up a lot over night) and busy days were the main culprit. I also over-ate that day, had too much caffeine, and was dehydrated. It was a perfect storm. Rest, my meds, and tons of prayer and reminding myself of God's faithfulness to me got me through the night, and I felt much better - although tired and without appetite - on Tuesday.
Tuesday and Wednesday 21/22
Nothing too notable on these days... except it rained and rained and rained. It was so chilly that we were wearing jeans, socks and shoes, and sweatshirts and using our space heater at night. Definitely a departure from STL summertime weather!! We quickly discovered that the boys were most entertained by the ping pong and fooseball tables in the chapel basement. When we were in the cabin winding down for naps/bed, they did Leapster games and movies on the portable dvd player. Wednesday night I got to be part of a special worship experience that night during chapel. This year, Mount Carmel has a resident artist who paints scenes of Bible stories while someone narrates the story. I was asked to play flute (along with piano, violin, and cello) during some of the painting. Words can't describe how amazing it is to hear the words of scripture come alive, brush stroke by brush stroke, on a blank canvas, and I enjoyed using my God given talent to help others come into a spirit of worship.
Thursday the 23rd
Less rain... breaks in the clouds... a hint of sun! Had a full scale Scandinavian buffet for dinner (ahh-mazing!) and my favorite was and always will be lefse. It's a thin potato pancake rolled with butter and sugar. I have to learn how to make those things!! Andrew gave in to the request for his crazy finger dance at the talent show. He puts on techo music and bends his fingers backwards (loose connective tissue - or what some might say is being "double jointed" - lets him do it). His reputation precedes him and he had kids asking him all week if he was going to do it. Ha!
Friday the 24th
Joey was on the MOOOOOVE all week and everyone saw him running, talking, trotting, bouncing, and darting around (with his poor parents trailing behind him). WELL, it was no surprise that, at about 8:15 am, the fire alarm in the lodge went off and Joey was nowhere to be found. He came RUNNING down the hall, hands on his ears, tears running down his cheeks. He pulled it. Ohhhh, Joey!! Good thing is that ... it's Mount Carmel .... no big deal! Thankfully the alarm isn't connected to the fire dept., so it just got turned off, everyone had a good chuckle, and we pretty much think Joey won't ever do that again.
Last day of Fine Arts week and the big concert at 1:00. It was very emotional for Andrew given his nearly life-long relationships he's made at Mount Carmel, and the fact that he was standing in for his father. The concert was amazing... Ben was DARLING in his little choir... said our good byes, and we hit the road at 3:00. Had the privilege of meeting two friends at a McDonald's playland for dinner in St. Paul on our way home. Katie (who has 3 kiddos) and Ruthanne were co-workers when we were on staff at Mount Carmel in our college days. While at McDonald's, Joey was suspiciously not eating, was kind of whiney, and was lethargic. When he started crying saying he wanted to go, I went to scoop him up and felt that he had a fever. We assumed ear infection b/c he said his ear was hurting. We drove all the way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and got to our hotel at 11:15. Right before we got there, Joey started tossing his cookies in the car. Once in the room I had a feeling that it was because he had Motrin on an empty stomach. I slept in bed with him so Andrew, our trusty driver, could get as much sleep as possible.
Saturday the 25th
Joey slept pretty well and threw up a little again due to the second dose of Motrin on an empty stomach (we couldn't get him to eat). This was at 4:30. Andrew woke up with that, felt wide awake, so we just decided to leave and try to get home early enough to get Joey in to his doctor before they closed at noon. We got home at 9:30, and Joe saw the doctor. Turns out he has strep throat - no wonder the boy wouldn't eat - and now we all need naps. :-)
Tons of pictures exist on my camera and will appear on Facebook very soon. Thanks for reading our week-long saga of fun/excitement!
Boy, it sounds like quite the trip. Poor Joey, I hope he mends quickly. Now, do you need a vacation from your vacation? haha I want to go to the Mall of America and am hoping to make it a girls only getaway. :) How did Ben enjoy the trip?
ReplyDeleteI DO kinda need a vacation from the vacation!! Ben did great on the trip - both boys have always been great travelers. BUT... it is only because we have the portable DVD player, library movies, snacks, Leapster games, etc. As long as they're entertained, it goes well.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. I couldn't live without those same things for long trips. I feel for our parents who didn't have those luxuries.
ReplyDelete