Up and at it nice and early which worked out well because we were in our bus leaving our flats and the other choirs were waiting on the sidewalks with their suitcases. Gavin took care of us. As we pulled out he mentioned that we “didn’t mess about!” He then reminded us that we needed to fasten our seatbelts apart from the white stuffed swan that Sarah Cl. brought aboard. We waved goodbye to the Cathedral and our favorite candy store Hotel Chocolate.

As we traveled to London Gavin again was full of amazing information. Such as London being 620 square miles and 6.9 million people. There are 300 languages spoken in London and Gavin asked how many we thought we would hear. We also learned that the Queen has a dog named Holly which our Holly thought was pretty neat.

We traveled through many areas surrounding London including Westminster, Kensington, Rochester, Dickens. We learned the west end is the famous theatre district and the lower income part of town and has what they call social housing. We also drove through the financial district in which London is one of the three most important ones in the world including New York and Tokyo.

We passed by the MI 6 building that houses the investigative bureau that all the James Bond films were based on. We saw where Rudyard Kipling and Charles Dickens lived. We walked near Buckingham Palace and Gavin got us there at the perfect time. He took us first to the stable yard at St. James Palace where he knew the new guards would be walking to the palace to replace the guards currently in duty. Princes William and Harry have offices there. They are also working on beach volleyball courts on this property that will be the courts for the Olympics in 2012. We were right at the curb and got an amazing view of the guards leaving the stables. Once they turned in front of us we quickly walked closer to the palace where we saw the royal band pass by and the old guards leaving.

Buckingham Palace, we learned, has 240 bedrooms but only 78 bathrooms. And we worried about sharing bathrooms! The Queen has 12 rooms that are hers and this is the royal working office of the Queen. She wasn’t in because she was attending her granddaughter’s wedding. And yes, we saw the balcony where Prince William and Katherine kissed! Buckingham Palace also has over 50 acres of garden behind it. We also learned that the black plumes on the top of the guard’s hats have a meaning. In war time, different regimes had different colors so a ranking officer could look across the battlefields and find his men. And here we thought they were nice decoration. Gavin said that the red garments they wear have a tag inside that say to treat this garment carefully. Don’t they know they went to battle in these??!!

As we were walking around London it got a little crazy with people. I relate it to Times Square on New Year’s Eve. So many people. I think the kids finally realize why we make them wear the same colored shirt and stay in chaperones groups!! Gavin took us around so many places with so much history I would be up so much later than I already am to tell you all about it. We walked through alleys and streets where he would point out architecture, one street where one side was built in one century and the other side of the street another. We saw open air cellars that were used during the German invasion used for safety during bombing. We saw replicas of Sedan chairs that were used to carry the women from place to home because the streets were not clean from horses. We learned how people were ranked by the number of windows in their home. The more windows meant the more money they had and the more money that had to pay in taxes due to the number of windows.

We learned that the tune Ring Around the Rosie had to do with the black plague. Supposedly they would carry posies because they believed the smell would keep the disease away but as they carried their posies they still would “fall down” or die. The British sing it “tissue tissue they all fall down” meaning they would be using tissues as they are sick. We Americans changed it to ashes and Ali C. shared that she learned it was because once someone died of the black plague their body was burned to ashes so the disease could spread further from the body.

The houses didn’t have electricity and they needed a way to find their home at night because houses weren’t numbered. The windows had different wood carving decoration above the doors in windows and candles would be lit behind that and as people walked the streets, the décor would be illuminated and they would see which home was theirs.

Continuing on our walk we went thru Trafalgar Square which is used for many celebrations such as New Year’s. A celebration was held there to announce the Olympics. They have a digital countdown to the Olympic there which is fun to see. There is a campaign going on in London to nominate a torch bearer for the Olympics. We think we should all nominate Gavin. He jokes that we shouldn’t because he plans to visit Yellowstone Park in the US during the Olympics to get away from the madness!

We were at Picadilly Circus and Covent Gardens as well. We saw St, Martins Cathedral which we found out was having a music of Handel concert this evening and guess who was able to attend? Mr. C. and Mrs. Ator. Obviously they were thrilled.

We saw where Bram Stroker supposedly wrote Dracula, the famous Savoy and Ritz Hotels. Cesear Ritz was the original manager of the Savoy and he learned what he could and started his own chain, the Ritz Carlton. We saw the Australia House that is used in the Harry Potter movies as the Gringolt’s (sp) Bank and the London School of Economics where Mick Jagger is a graduate!

On to St. Paul’s Cathedral where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married. We continue to see many architectural gems of Christopher Wren. As we drove we saw a store named Jacobs. Jacob S. really liked that. We drove over London Bridge and glanced at the Tower Bridge which many mistake for the London Bridge. We saw an unusual building of vey modern architecture and found out it was the London headquarters of Swiss Re. How funny. We have a parent on the shadow tour that works for Swiss Re! The people of London call it the pickle because it is shaped like one although they tend to call pickles gherkins here. There is also a building under construction that is to be the tallest in London.

We saw Shakespeare’s Theatre and the story is told that there was another theatre, the Rose Theatre. Each theatre thought they were the best and competed. If you were associated with one you didn’t dare mention or be involved in the other. That, legend is told, is where Shakespeare got his line “a rose by any other named would smell as sweet”!

We drove we crossed the Thames five or six times. One time we stopped on the street by the Thames so we could get good pictures off the bus. It is easier to zig zag across the way we did to see what we saw which was a major amount of things. We learned looking at Big Ben that the minute hand measures about the length of our tour bus. Pretty big! We saw an animal memorial which is to honor the animals that have died during war.

We passed by the Royal Albert Hall which is just stunning. Across the street from it is a massive memorial to Prince Albert. Very huge, stunning and lots of gold. In the middle of all of the tour of London, we checked into our hotel. It is a very nice one and definitely built in a much newer century that the last two places we have stayed! Check in went well. We had the singers rest once we checked in before dinner. Dinner was at the hotel and we shared with another choir that is here. The rooms are wonderful and the beds are extremely comfortable. So nice to end the trip in luxury!

After dinner we took the tube to go out sightseeing since the bus drivers time was used up during the day. The kids did well getting on and off the tube and what a great experience. They realized finally what “ mind the gap” means! They kept seeing the double decker buses and want to ride those. We will see what tomorrow holds.

Off to bed by 10:30pm for another busy day tomorrow.

Again I apologize for these blogs being late. The only free internet is available on four computers in the lobby and there is constantly as line to use them. The times we can get on email is limited. So sorry.

Another morning to get ready for our last day in Canterbury. I hear Mrs. Reddy has had a great helper in Alexandra O. helping to get breakfast ready each morning. All the singers have done pretty well about getting up and being ready on time. The place we are staying has brought us fruit, cereal, croissants, juice and milk for our breakfasts each day. Of course Mr. Eby had to outdo some of the chaperones for breakfast. Eggs!! We hear he is a good cook!

Final rehearsal this morning had the singers rehearsing all of the songs one more time. During the Kyrie Mr. Leck was certain their Italian was a little off and he asked if they had put their Italian dictionary away. In another song he told them to “Mind the gap” meaning they breathed when they weren’t supposed to. He always has a great way to get a point across.

At the end of rehearsal Dr. Flood told the singers they had learned their music extremely well before coming here and their directors did a good job preparing them for this festival and the singers should give them a hand. He also acknowledged the accompanist and asked the singers if they realized how many notes he has had to play over the last couple days. He was going to release them early but Mr. Leck wanted to do one more! As we left one of the singers commented that they sang so powerful that they thought they were going to shatter the stained glass in the room!

Following rehearsal was the last concert of other choirs. Today it was the Australian Children’s Choir, The Children’s Choir of Carroll County and the Youth Chorale of Central Oregon. Again it was a treat to hear other children’s choirs and some sang familiar songs that FWCC has performed before.

Lunch was a treat today. Some of the chaperones left early and returned to the flats to prepare lunch for us so we walked back there. The chaperones prepared a spaghetti lunch for us. We all filed in to one of the kitchens, got our food and went outside to the courtyard and had a spaghetti picnic. Definitely a FWCC first. It was very good and a wonderful treat. Singers got a little down time before we headed back to the cathedral for our clinic with Mr. Leck.

We got to the room ahead of Mr. Leck so warm-ups had already started. When he came in he commented that he recognized the vocal exercise they were doing. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Leck was Mr. C.’s teacher in grad school at Butler University. He first asked the singers to tell him what they had learned at the festival. Grace said she learned about singing bright; Olivia said she learned to take risks; Cassie said she learned how to conserve her energy; Jacob A. learned that singing here is different than in Indiana; Grace N. Commented that she learned it is better to smile when you sing because if you don’t you look bored. All good comments.

The choir sang Tching Tchinga Ryah first. He asked them what the song meant. He told them to sing what it means with energy inside your body. He asked if they had seen the little bells that people in India use. The make the sound he wanted to hear them do when they sang the word Tching. Crisp, short, clear. Next comment was not to bump the last word in the phrase. Think about the important words in the phrase and what to emphasize and to do it with consonants. We are a small choir but we could be stronger. He asked if they wanted to play a game. Of course. The answer was yes!

They got in a circle. He asked them to sing like a 12 year old. It was very sweet. Now sing 16. Right away the tone changed and they had more courage. What happens if they become 18 year olds? Which did they like better..12 or 18. Of course it was 18. Then he told them to imagine they were in college and they were doing their senior recital and a scout was there from Julliard. How would they sound? It was a great sound and Mr. Leck said, “I think I’m liking this”. Now they are 26 singing and someone from the Met was there. Again the sound built tremendously. This time Mr. Leck said, “You probably didn’t think you had it in you”. Okay, now you are 36 and you are auditioning to sing for an Opera company in Milan how would you sound? The choir was just amazing and the sound rang beautifully in the chapter house. Mr. Leck’s comment was, “Now you’ve found your Tching Tchinga Ryah.”

He did another exercise with the same song and had Samantha S. and then Grace go around the circle while they sang and point out the people that had good expression and those who didn’t. Next it was a color game. What color do they want to sing? When they picked different colors and sang them their tone changed. They sang the song again and Mr. Leck called out colors and it was interesting how the sound changed. He also described different images as they sang and the sound changed as well.

It all comes down to knowing what you are singing, what you are singing about, singing properly and remembering the consonants. Where have they heard these things before?!!??

They then did Bist du bi mir. Mr. Leck was very proud of their German being German himself. Then the questions about the song, who wrote it, when was he born, when did he die, how many wives did he have and how many children. Wow, that’s really getting to know a composer. He was making a point about finding out what was going on in that time period and does it dictate how you sing the song? There are many versions of this song but the melody and bass line stay the same. It all comes back to knowing what you are singing.

Mr. Leck closed by telling them they did a good job and to remember to sing 36! He wished them luck and thanked them for coming to the festival.

One more chance for last minute shopping. The kids had been telling Mrs. Treadway and Mrs. Ator they had to go to Hotel Chocolat. Obviously a chocolate store. They finally made it and bought some tasty treats. We found out they have just opened a store in Boston. Next time we are there I believe we will make an effort to find the store! Such good chocolate!

Off to one more dinner at the dining hall. Then we walked back to the flats again to put on our concert dress uniforms, and then back to the cathedral. The concert was beyond believable. Spectacular. One of the songs The Voice, used soloists at the beginning of the song. Each director was to choose one singer to be in that small ensemble. Mr. C. chose Samantha B. She was so excited, especially since her parents are on the shadow tour and got to see her. The concert closed with Homeland and the chaperones agreed that if that song and the concert didn’t move you to tears, there must be something wrong with you. That about sums it up.

It was great to have the parents of Samantha B. Mom of Mallory, Mom and Grandpa of Holly, parents of Alexandra C. and parents of Grace. M. there. So glad we had some of our own there to share in this magnificent experience with us.

As we left the concert and said goodbye to the Cathedral it was very moving to see it lit up in the nighttime sky. As we walked back to the flats the singers were excited and hopefully very proud of themselves. When we returned, the singers packed suitcases and some had a chance to sit around and talk with friends in their flat. Not to be outdone, Mrs. Treadway did finally cook for her girls in her flat. Fried cornflakes! They girls loved them. You’ll have to try them sometime.

Off to bed and early to rise tomorrow to head for London!

Lights out was 10:00pm last night so the singers hopefully took advantage of that and got some good sleep. We were up and at it and left our flats by 8:00am for rehearsal. The morning rehearsal focused on the pieces they would sing at the Evensong tonight. Two of the pieces, Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis were written by Timothy Noon, a former assistant to Dr. Flood. Another piece, For the Beauty of the Earth (Which we performed at our bon voyage concert) by Philip Stopford was written by another assistant of Mr. Flood’s as well. He told them about the composers which it’s always a treat to learn more about the people whose music you are singing.

When they worked on the Magnificent Mr. Leck was a little disappointed that they weren’t showing much expression and asked what the song was about. He told them they were Mary and they should be smiling and happy knowing they were carrying the Son of God. They tried again and he stopped them saying “Come on you are Mary, you’re pregnant!” That got a chuckle out of the kids, especially the boys! I walked in rehearsal later when he was making references to dogs which I didn’t hear the beginning of it so you will have to ask one of the singers.

While the singers were in rehearsal, our wonderful chaperones did some grocery shopping and showed up at lunchtime with sandwiches, chips and fruit. One way to save the kids money and a welcome change to be able to stay near the Cathedral to eat and relax. Thank you Chaperones!

Following the fun lunch it was time for another performance of three of the choirs; The Calgary Children’s Choir, Roanoke Children’s Choir and The Kentucky Youth Chorale. Wonderful choirs and a great experience for our kids to hear other groups. Mr. C. is already checking with directors to get a repertoire to list to see if we might want to do some of the pieces in the future.

And what did we have to do next? Climb the circular stairway again to the choir room for our clinic with Dr. David Flood. It was described before how small the room is and that where the singers stand about fills the room with the grand piano. The kids were asking how the piano got there …if they had to climb a narrow spiral staircase to get there. “Was it built there?” was one of the questions. David showed them a secret stairway behind some music shelves which lead to a hall way which lead to another section of the chapel and to another normal stairway. Very interesting!

The choir sang Make Me a Channel of Your Piece as the first piece Dr. Flood would evaluate. This song has become a favorite since an FWCC alumnus, Greg Neumann, requested this be one of the songs the choir sang at his wedding in June. (Thanks, Greg) Right away Dr. Flood told them they have a nice sound but they could be so much bigger if they do a few things! First he worked on their projecting of the sound. He explained a lot of how they shape their mouth, how they breathe and their posture all affect their sound. They really have already learned this but how easy it is to forget! He described to imagine they had a mouth full of petro and they were to light it and let the explosion of fire shoot out of their mouth. In regards to posture he asked that they imagine they were guarding the Queen…how straight and proud they would stand. They worked on how they use their mouth for vowels by singing scales using the words ravioli and spaghetti. There were a few giggles but it worked!

As he worked he focused in on a few singers; Kyle had good posture and facials, Clark was singing well and expressive, Morgan was singing great low notes, Hayley had good posture. He commented that Mallory should imagine a string on the top of her head pulling up. She commented that she didn’t have good posture and he told she definitely can if she tried!! He also used the analogy of an Indian woman with a jewel on her forehead. They should project their sound from that jewel. Consonants were next, especially on words at the beginning of phrases. He used Clark several times for examples and after awhile he looked over at him and said “Yes, we’re friends!” He was very personable with them.

The next song was Bist du bei mir. He asked them if they knew what it meant. Wow, the looks on their faces. Caught them of guard! Diction really came into play here. He closed the session by telling them they sound beautiful, but the need to remember to sing more colorful. Use the colors to have more energy and always stand tall. He said they have a fabulous sound and 50 times better than an hour ago! He was pleased and impressed and so were we. We presented Dr. Flood with a CD and a FWCC coffee mug. He was definately excited about the mug !

Following the clinic we went to the crypt which was closed for a funeral during our tour. We had to be in silence and Gavin is not permitted to talk about it during that time. Only official guides of the Cathedral are supposed to be giving information during any tour! Gavin just told us info later!!

Next we decided the kids needed down time. Some went back to the flats and some stayed in town and found a place to just sit and relax. It was a short rest but much appreciated by most.

Evensong was next. The kids sat in the quire portion of the Cathedral. The Australian choir was the official choir for the surface to do responses. Adoramus Te, the Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis were sung as part of the service and Homeland was sung at the end as an anthem. Once the service was over, the organist played a postlude which Mrs. Ator told us later the same song was played as the recessional at her wedding. How sweet.

Again words can’t describe the sound in this magnificent place. Many of the chaperones had tears in their eyes. So moving. We again hope the singers understand the meaning of being part of this tradition that has taken place for 1400 years. (We talked to them about that when we got back to the flats.)

After Evensong, Mrs. Reddy and Mrs. Ceckowski arranged for pizza too be delivered. Dominos in England! A lot of choirs were passing by I think a little jealous!! It again gave our kids some down time without searching the town for a place to eat. Yes there was more rehearsal! They rehearsed in the quire section of the Cathedral to prepare for the concert tomorrow evening.

How are the chaperones and staff holding up? Not too bad. I think Mrs. Treadway must have been a little tired last night when she mentioned in the blog that Mr. Crest did something with the singers! We have a Mrs. Crist NOT a Mr. Crest!!! Today the chaperones took turns with the singers so that some could take some time off and relax and do what they wanted. During evening rehearsal, some took a break and had some time together in town while the other chaperones stayed in rehearsal and took them back to the dorms. I’ve e had a lot of chaperone groups in the many years the choir has been on tour and I must say this is one of the best groups! They are doing a great job filling in as “mum” and dad to the singers. They are well taken care of.

Tomorrow hold more rehearsal, a clinic with Mr. Leck and the concert in the evening which will surely be a highlight of the tour.

Hope these blogs are giving you a small taste of what the children are experiencing. Hope you are enjoying traveling with us on our journey.

The festival begins today. The singers had breakfast in the flats and made their half hour trek to the Cathedral this morning. We all have plastic wrist bands that are our entrance into the Cathedral. We are special and get to go through a separate entrance. The door to go in is an arched door that is about five feet high. Needless to say most had to duck to enter especially the adults!!

As we enter the grounds we are to be in the spirit of respect. Again, no walking on the grass. The singers were kept outside and brought into the rehearsal rooms by singing section. The room is called the Chapter House which is like a large empty hall. The rehearsal setting is lengthwise and the perimeter of the room is two stone steps surrounding the room. That is where we chaperones get to sit and it is a little rough on the behind!! The singers get the seats!!

The festival began with one of the priests giving some history of the church and wishing the singers luck. Mr. David Flood who is the music director of the church introduced himself and Henry Leck did the same. Each director introduced themselves and had their respective singers stand and be recognized. As the singers look around they see that all choirs are in t-shirts alike. We know our singers don’t like it but hopefully they understand now seeing others choirs do the same.

David Flood explained to the singers that this Cathedral was based on cathedrals in Normandy France and were built to be sung in. He wants them to fill this building with what it was made for…singing. He also explained that most of the singers are used to singing vowels a certain way and that won’t work in a cathedral such as this one. He went through exercises that showed the singers how they would sing their vowels. Mr. Flood also talked to the singers about singing in the Evensong tomorrow. This church has had an Evensong service every day for 1400 years. With their singing as part of that service they will become part of history and they should embrace that. We hope our singers understand the magnitude of that statement.

Mr. Leck was conducting Adoramus Te and seemed pleased with the sound this 250 voice choir was making. He talked a lot with them about understanding the text and singing with emotion. Mr. Flood directed two others that will be sung in Evensong. He talked a lot about dynamics and at one point asked the singers if their parents follow road signs when they drive. They said yes. He then says, “You have road signs in your music as a singer why aren’t you using them? Look at your music.” Wonder where they have heard that before! When it was time for a restroom break, the singers were told that there are not bathrooms in the cathedral that they would be directed to another building. Why aren’t there restrooms? We were told the monks did it differently!

Our choir was released early to warm-up for our performance at noon. They took us to the choir room which was in another part of the Cathedral and up a spiral stone staircase (more stairs!). Once we got there it is a choir room where there are no chairs, just the long wooden stands that hold music. While the singers the chaperones looked at the music library that was in music boxes surrounding the room. The room wasn’t very big to begin with but there are hundreds of boxes of music, many of which we have sung as a choir. When it was time we descended the stairs and went to the high altar section of the church to sing. Before we sang a priest had a blessing and prayer and all were invited to say the Lord’s Prayer or pray their special prayer whatever their religion to their one on high. This is actually done every hour on the hour. Our singers sang three songs, join the White Rock Children’s Choir for Can you Hear and then White Rock sang. The church was packed. We got a good response. The singers weren’t quite sure of their performance. In this space they were told that they would not be able to hear each other, not even the person beside them because of the acoustics of the church. You can hear it fine in the church but not as you are singing. Also everything must be acapella and trying to sing a song acapella that you are used to singing with a piano is a challenge. Our singers pulled it off! Great job! The next two days the others choirs will sing during this time.

After the concert ended the chaperone groups went to lunch at various places. Mr. Crest’s group convinced her to take them to McDonald’s! All these great food choices and they pick that!! Mr. C, Mrs. Treadway, Mrs. Ator and Jennifer went to Wagamama. It is Asian food and it was very good!

After lunch we had a guided tour of the Cathedral. Very informative. So much history in architecture. So many graves and tombs of important men. One shrine honoring Thomas Beckett is more recent and a wall hanging sculpture was commissioned. It is of metal with the tip of large spear straight up and down signifying the tip of the sword that was left in Thomas Beckett. Then a cross piece of metal representing the top section of his head that was sliced off and four swords around it representing the four knights that all had a part in murdering him. With the reflection from a window that shows behind the sculpture on the wall looks like the scene of the three crossed with Christ hanging on the middle one. Very moving actually.

There is also a tunnel that the monks built after Thomas Beckett’s death so they could move about the Cathedral and not be disturbed by the many pilgrims who came from afar. The stained glass windows are just unbelievable. Some depict stories of the Old and New Testament, celebrating moments in the lives of Saints and some telling the stories of the miracles believed to have happen following Thomas Beckett’s death. There is a lot of renovation going on, some being restoring some of the stained glass.

Following the tour we had a bit of free time so of course shopping had to happen! Some of the singers found a chocolate shop. Kyle found a tiramisu block of chocolate which was huge and when we returned to the flats he served each of his roommates a piece on a glass plate!

After shopping we went to the dining hall of the Christ Church University. Quite a modern place amongst the old buildings. The meal choices were many and the singers seemed to enjoy! There was beautiful garden we met in after dinner and there was a pond with interesting fish in it. Grace N. Especially liked watching the fish.

Guess what? Back to rehearsal. This time they were taken to the quire section of the church to rehearse what they would be doing for the Evensong tomorrow night. The quire is normally where a choir would sit and they face each other. Tough for the conductors to do this with 250 singers. The sound was magnificent. While they rehearsed, Mrs. Ator got to go above in the organ loft and check out the organ. Such a treat for her.

Rehearsal ended about 9:00pm and the singers were told that lights out for everyone would be 10:00pm. Some weren’t too happy but I know five chaperones that are!

Sorry, right off the bat that this is late! Very busy day and by the time we were settled in Canterbury, we figured out that the place we are staying will not give us internet access. I’m typing this Wednesday morning in Canterbury Cathedral listening to the sounds of 250 angels singing in a rehearsal!!

Back to Tuesday! We left Wadham College at 9:00am and had about a two and a half hour drive to Leed’s Castle. Before we left Oxford Gavin was asked how many of the buildings were of medieval time. Oddly enough most of them are. During Hitler’s time, he figured out which cities were of most strategic importance and Oxford happened to be one of them. Because of that, his orders were not to bomb Oxford. Canterbury, where we are headed wasn’t as lucky. Most of Canterbury was bombed during the war.

We also asked Gavin about his training as a tour guide. He had to apply to the Institute of Tour Guiding. 200 people took a pretest with questions like, where was Churchill buried and what time does Harrod’s open? It gets narrowed down to 120, then 65. Those 65 have an interview and are asked more questions and have to describe sights. Then 35 get chosen to be part of a two week session where they are taken on walking tours and they are tested as a guide. The teachers are supposed act like “bad tourists” to see if the guide catches safety issues as well. If they pass this they spend two weeks learning more history, architecture, legal systems and have to write essays to pass the final stage. Out of the 35, 12 pass. It is quite an honor to be chosen for this position. Gavin has a chain necklace with a badge on it that designates that he has this position. He is now doing some tutoring for upcoming guides. We are so blessed to have him. If anyone has plans to travel to England, we would highly recommend him! As we passes an exit to Croydon he got on the microphone and pointed out that this was the most important city because that is where he lives!

Before I forget, I put in an earlier blog that gas was 136 pounds a gallon. I realized that it really means 1.36 pounds per gallon. Sorry!!!

We were on the road M25 and as we “ring” around London on our way to Canterbury. Gavin says they call this round the inverted donut because with the cars driving on the wrong side of the road to us, the heaviest traffic is on the inside and the lighter is on the outside! Guess you had to be there!! Speed limit here is 70mph but 64 for coaches. (keep forgetting to call the buses, coaches!) There are cameras all along the road that are taking pictures and can catch speeders. They also have a system approaching London where each lane has digital signs every few miles that tells you the speed to go which may be different than what is posted. The traffic is being monitored and if it is getting heavy near London farther out these signs will post a lower speed limit to try and slow the cars headed to London so that there are not traffic jams. Seems to be a good system, since we didn’t end up in a jam. They also have signs that read “Tiredness can kill. Take a break”. Good lesson for us all.

Gavin pointed out also that there are foot paths and bicycle ways that span the country and you can easily travel from one part of the country to the other entirely on these paths. Mr. C. wanted to get off the bus and go!! We continue to see a lot of sheep and cows. England is one of the world’s largest producers of lamb. Lamburgers were on the menu at one restaurant in Oxford! Wool, as you would imagine is another large industry for England.

We arrived at Leed’s Castle. This castle was given to William the Conqueror’s son, who became King William II. This castle was built because it was an important passage between London and France. It has had many owners over the years and was also the home of six widowed queens. The final owner was Princess Bailey who died in 1974 and left the castle to a foundation to continue its upkeep and has been turned into a tourist attraction!

The castle itself is on an island and we had a twenty minute walk from the bus to the castle. It was so beautiful with the landscaping being the highlight. We saw the biggest rhubarb plants ever. It was seriously the size of Volkswagen bug! One even had a worn path through it that you could tell people had walked to the inside of the plant, which of course some of us had to do! It would make a very large pie! We also had white swans, black swans and peacocks greeting us along the path. We even saw a white peacock.

We reached the castle once we crossed over the moat. The castle has rooms that have been decorated as they believe it might have looked in early times. We found it to be an eclectic array of décor. There was an I Spy sheet that That Mrs. Reddy’s group took with them as they walked through the castle and were to find different flowers in the décor. I hear they did well.

There was a maze on the grounds as well. It was made of hedges taller than most of the singers. I think every one of our singers did it. As some successfully made it through they were up on a hill portion around the maze guiding those that were still in there how to get out. Mrs. Crist’s and Mrs. Ceckowski’s groups had a young French boy giving them directions in French by yelling over the hedges to them… There was a language barrier but they figured it out with hand motions, I believe! After the maze was a grotto they walked through. It was underground with water and it was lit with colored light to see. There were mermaid statues and beautiful mosaic pictures on the ceiling. Caroline really liked the ceiling!

There were beautiful gardens that had flowers that we have never seen before. So many colors shapes and sizes. Rachel and Rebecca especially loved the flowers and took many, many pictures and want to make a slide show of them.

We all made the twenty minute trek back to the bus. We said good bye to the beautiful landscaping and the black swan nesting in the pond.

We then had about another hour drive to Canterbury. When we got here we came to our lodgings that are flats in a student village. We have a motorize gate to go through to get to the buildings which the kids thought was cool! We got settled in our rooms and it was pretty quiet until the next group got there. Then came a group from Roanoke, Virginia and our kids quickly made lots of new friends. Caroline met a girl named Caroline and our Carline says that is now her new best friend! When it was time for us to head on our walking tour, we got the children’s attention as we normally do singing “lu, Lu, Lu”. They kids responded back and then got quiet waiting for instruction and the Roanoke girls were amazed and thought it was cool!

Gavin took us on a mini tour of Canterbury on our way to dinner. As we walked we timed our journey to the gates where we will enter the cathedral each day and it was nearly a half hour! If the kids thought they were already tired, they have another thing coming!

Canterbury has been a place of Christian worship for almost 1,500 years. In 597 A.D., Pope Gregory the great sent a monk, Augustine, to England as a missionary. Augustine established his seat in Canterbury and became England’s first Archbishop. In 1170, after a long dispute between King Henry II and Archbishop Thomas Becket, the King is said to have exclaimed “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”. Four knights set off to Canterbury and murdered Thomas Beckett in the church. Soon after miracles began to take place, the Cathedral became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centers.

The Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and still very much a working living church, where services are held every day. The building has been added on to and rebuilt after a fire. The length and magnitude of the church is hard to describe. Our best guess is that from one end to the other would stretch from the bridge at IPFW near Coliseum Blvd. to the Rhinehart music Center where the choir rehearses.

Dinner was at an Italian place called Zizzi’s. Our places were set with a napkin that had the quote by Virginia Woolf, “One cannot think well, sleep well, live well, if one has not dined well”. Sounds like the advice we gave the kids about taking care of themselves on this trip! The tables had scripts from various Shakepeare plays under a clear coating. We were given pitchers of water which turned out to be like lemon or lime water. We really couldn’t decide which. There were also pitchers of juice which some said tasted like watered down Kool-Aid! The singers had either pizza, spaghetti or penne pasta. We all agreed it was very good. Then the dessert came…tiramisu or gelato. Yum, yum.

We asked some of the girls what their favorite part of the day was. Sangeeta loves the flats we are staying in. Cassie saw a street named All Saints Lane that she thought was a great name. Mallory liked the bus ride because she got a chance to talk more with her friends, Ali C. like the soft serve ice cream they had today. Sarah C. enjoyed spending time and sharing the sights with friends. Hayley and Vivienne took enough pictures through today that they think they have enough for their photography class project come the start of school.

Mr. C and Mrs. Treadway left dinner separately for a meeting with Mr. Leck, Dr. Flood and the other choir directors and tour managers. It was a lovely reception getting to meet all of the directors, tour managers, and the English guides each group has. One of the guides we met had been a personal body guard of Princess Diana. Wow!

The singers returned to the flats, had a little social time and went to bed for much needed rest.

I hope the info from this blog was worth the wait.

Had breakfast this morning with the White Rock Children’s Choir and then off to Warwick Castle. We noticed today that the bus we are riding is a stick shift, not like the automatic transmission of the ones in the states. They are very new and modern though! Our bus driver Phil is a nice guy!

The drive to Warwick Castle was about 45 minutes and we had wonderful views of the countryside, the wheat fields and the sheep and cows grazing. We arrived at Warwick Castle which is a medieval Castle that sits on a hill on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. We were told that there would be actors around the grounds and we ran into our first ones while waiting at the gate to enter. Several of the girls had their picture taken with them. They call crack jokes with you. There was a woman on the path where we first walked in and she was sitting on the ground and telling us all she wasn’t going to work today and that women shouldn’t have to work! Mrs. Actor and Mrs. Treadway agreed. We found out later that when she talked to Mr. Eby he offered to go get her a pint of brew and she thought that was a great idea!

Walked through the first exhibit of preparing for battle and the mannequins they had were so real looking it scared some of the kids at first! You walked through each of the rooms and there were displays on their lifestyle, living and working. In the first gift shop in the middle of the castle the kids were already finding fun things to buy! We found out that the song “Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do” originated in Warwick. She was a wealthy countess and many men wanted her hand in marriage. She was very stubborn but the men kept trying. Think of the lyrics to the song and it now makes sense.

As we entered the great hall there were more character actors one of which was the queen. Two of the chaperone groups of girls got to sing for the queen! She was impressed. The displays of armor, shields and weapons were quite impressive. The castle has many towers and there were places to climb to them. The stairs totaled over 500! I think everyone made it, even the weary chaperones!! As Mrs. Ator and Mrs. Treadway were climbing down the towers a little English boy was in front of them and he was pretending to shoot arrows out of the ramparts and said he was protecting us!

The castle was definitely a hit. Morgan wants to move here and work at the Castle. She would be a good actor!

Off to Stratford on the Avon. Stratford is where William Shakespeare was born, lived most of his life, died and was buried here. There is question that he was born here. The family has a house in the country and when his mother was due to give birth, some believe they were at that house away from Stratford because a plague was occurring at the time. Legend or true we don’t know. We got to see his house and where he went to school. Gavin kept calling him Will the Quill in reference to him being a writer and using a quill as his pen. Some of the singers bought quills but they are modernized with an ink pen on the end of the feather!

Gavin took us on another fast walking tour when we first got to the town. Such history and so beautiful. Many of the buildings look like cottages. Most are built with wood beams and some don’t look very straight or even! The end of our tour took us to the Holy Trinity Church where we would sing later.

The kids again explored with chaperone groups and the first thing they wanted to do was go to a shop that sold butter beer like Harry Potter drinks! Cassie couldn’t wait to find a bookstore to get books about Shakespeare. Grace, Alexandra C. and Jacob were referencing Shakespeare writing Midsummer Night’s Dream that they had performed the musical version of the play with Heartland Chamber Chorale. They also are doing an archeological dig beside the site of Shakespeare’s home and finding quite a few interesting things. You could view the dig from a fence around it. As we walked around we saw an ambulance drive by and several commented on the size of it, it looked like a station wagon car!

After a day of shopping and food we headed to the church and changed into concert dress before rehearsing with White Rock Children’s Choir. Once rehearsal was done the singers got to view William Shakespeare’s grave site which is in the Holy Trinity Church. The baptismal font where he was baptized is there as well.

We had a very nice crowd for the concert and we are very proud of the kids! The Minnicks and the Carrolls are here on vacation and it was great to see some familiar faces. We have also had the five adults on our shadow tour with us through today, Mr. and Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Levine and Mrs. Hassenzahl. It’s been fun to share some time with them but they will leave us tomorrow for the shadow tour.

The ride back to the college was about an hour and I don’t believe anyone slept. Hope they do tonight! We came back and have to pack before we leave tomorrow after breakfast.

Be assured we have had four very busy days and everyone is holding up quite well so far. We leave for Canterbury tomorrow and start the festival which means lots of rehearsing!

Will catch you us tomorrow!

Started our day with a marvelous breakfast in the dining hall. Have any of you ever had baked beans for breakfast? How about fried mushrooms or roasted tomatoes? Yes it sounds strange and yes we did have eggs, Canadian bacon, cereal, croissants, etc. Such a spread. No one should have gone hungry. We definitely needed it for our walking tour of Oxford. We found out very quickly that our tour guide Gavin loves to walk fast!! I guess he’s just trying to get in as much as possible as quick as possible.

Oxford is a town of about 150,000 of whom approximately 20,000 are university students. Oxford University has no campus, per se, but consists of a federation of 39 independent colleges. The University provides libraries, laboratories, housing and services. For this students pay one fee of about 3000 pounds. Then the “college” you attend will have tuition of about 5000 pounds. As you walk the town the colleges are extremely old buildings, each of which is different schools of study. In the center of town it is scarcely possible to turn a corner or glance down a side street without coming upon a new perspective of Gothic towers, ancient cloisters and charming quadrangles. For the harry Potter fans, there is a lot of this town that was used for reference or filming we understand.

There is a beautiful round theatre called Sheldon Theatre which was designed and built by Christopher Wren while he was professor of Astronomy at Oxford. This is used for many concerts and plays. It is also used for University graduations. There are posters all over town advertising multiple concerts. It is a very artsy town.

The original King James Bible was written here and Gavin says that the majority of these Bibles are distributed from Oxford Press. The Bible that Lincoln used was made here. Many famous people attended Oxford including C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, Haley (whom Haley’s comet was named after) and Lewis Carroll. We found out that Alice of “Alice in Wonderland” was actually his friend’s daughter and the girl’s father was always late! Remember which character was always late!! We saw the garden where he supposedly wrote the book. The Oxford Dictionary was written here as well, which Tolkien helped with.

St. Mary’s Church was the original church of John and Charles Wesley and facing the church is a huge round building called the Radcliffe Camera which houses a library with millions of books in tunnels under the ground! It is used as a reading room today as well. One of the churches is in the shape of a small “T”. It was to be in the shape of a cross but they ran out of money. Many churches after that were built the same way because people liked the design even though it was a mistake!

The town has many streets that are brick or cobblestone. The streets are very narrow and the sidewalks are even narrower. Bike lanes are marked on the road near the curb and it is barely two feet wide. It fun riding in the bus in the front seat and the bus tries to go around the bicyclist with a car coming in the other lane!! On the main street the parking is actually a row of spaces in the middle of the road! Bikes are everywhere.

We ended our tour entering the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral. There is a gate around the property and to enter the gate you must pass through one gate, close it and open the second gate. It is very narrow between and only one person can fit through at a time. Took us quite awhile to get 41 of us through! The grass here is only meant to be looked at on the grounds. We were told you would be fined 40 pounds if you stepped on the grass. There were signs all over stating to keep off the grass. We attended mass there and the church is quite impressive. As we were seated and ready for mass that was to begin at 11:15am, one of the ushers came around at 11:15 and told us that the service would start on Oxford time which meant five minutes late. There was a boy choir from Georgia that was the guest choir singing throughout mass. It was a lovely service.

I must say that Briana and Rebecca probably learned the most from Gavin as they were always up front to listen to him whenever we stopped to hear him tell us facts. Maybe they should be writing this blog!

Then we split into chaperone groups for lunch and shopping!! Gavin mentioned a milkshake shop called Moo Moo’s and many of the singers had that as a snack before lunch! The singers had fun with their first shopping experience! Later several of the singers went boating, or rather “punting on the Isis” as they call it here. Sangeeta, Cassie, Grace N., Grace M., Mariah, Alexandra C., Jacob S., Jacob A., Kyle and Clark. They had a wonderful time on the river (Which is actually the Thames!)

We came back to Wadham College to rehearse in their chapel. What a great experience for the singers. It was a small chapel and the acoustics were amazing. It was a tough rehearsal because the piano was in the front hall of the church and the singers were in the sanctuary and you couldn’t fit the piano into the sanctuary. She played in the hall while the kids sang in the sanctuary! Was interesting! The singers were also in benches that faced each other. Very beautiful.

Following rehearsal was dinner. The chaperones found a pizza place that could fit everyone so it was a fun dinner. When we returned one of the other choirs from the festival arrived to at Wadham as well, the White Rock Children’s Choir. They are the ones we will be sharing a concert with tomorrow. They all seemed very nice. They live in Vancouver Canada, but traveled to Paris first before coming here. We thought we had it rough!!

Off to bed to get ready for Stratford on the Avon tomorrow!

We have made it!! I will recap Friday and Saturday!

Friday’s trip to the airport was uneventful and the kids did a great job getting off the bus quickly and getting through ticketing and security without any hitches. It took us about an hour, so we had a little time once we got to the gate to relax. Of course there was a Starbucks nearby and of course singers wanted their coffee fix!

The airplane ride was surprisingly fast for a slightly under six hour flight. We got a meal shortly after we took off. Choices were chicken and rice or a cheese tortellini. Not too bad for airplane food! Then everyone got settled as best they could! We were seated alphabetically throughout the middle section of the plane. There were nine seats across the 777 with two aisles.

Everyone got settled with their pillow, blanket and headphones provided. There was a new thing that I hadn’t seen on a flight recently – a remote control device (like a TV controller) in the armrest of the seat. It controlled the tv in front of you. There was of course TV, video, radio and even games!! There was Battleship, Tetris, Casino and many more. The kids really enjoyed that. I even spied Olivia studying her music.

They didn’t turn the lights out but we all tried to sleep. We all tried but I don’t believe much sleep occurred! We got a good breakfast and landed shortly after. As we were waiting to get off the plane, Mariah commented from hearing all of the British speaking stewards and stewardesses that she wanted to speak British!!

Again, the kids were wonderful in the airport and we found luggage quickly. Our tour guide for the trip, Gavin met us once we cleared customs. We had talked to the kids on the bus about what customs would be like and how they shouldn’t joke but be very polite and answer questions. We got through it fine and off we went.

Once we left the airport, we went directly to Windsor Castle. Driving on the bus Gavin gave us tidbits of history of the area we were seeing. As we approached Windsor Castle you can see it on a hill. It was built there obviously as a fort in a strategic location. Windsor Castle was built over 900 years ago and the ground covers the area of 268 tennis courts. Windsor is about 20 miles south of London. Nine castles were built around London about 20 miles apart from each other. As we approached the castle we noticed that the English flag was flying which meant the queen was not in residence. Oh well!

We walked through the shops area before we arrived at the Castle. We split into chaperones groups for lunch. Some different restaurants, but all found food they liked. Alexandra C. had told us about a restaurant called Wagamama and we found one of those. We had all laughed at the name. We then headed to the Castle. Once we were in they gave each of us an audio tour radio so we could learn the history at our own pace and walk the areas separately by groups.

Words can’t describe how beautiful the place is. The grounds are magnificent and the buildings are amazing. We were taking pictures from every view and you still can’t take it all in. There was an exhibit of Queen Mary’s doll house. It is in a dark room behind glass and you went all around it to view it. The house is all lit up and is just amazing how intricate the furnishings were and how detailed everything was. Every girl dreamed of a dollhouse like this. Once you left the doll house there was a display of dolls and their clothing. These dolls wardrobes consisted of lots of shoes and fancy gloves, day clothes and evening gowns. I commented that I wanted their clothes in my size! While we were in line for the doll house the guards in their red regal attire were marching around. We didn’t see a formal changing of the guard but we did see one in his little “hut” that is not bigger than a phone booth.

Some of us when into St. George’s Chapel. The first of many historic chapels we will see. Again, I can’t begin to describe the beauty. Mrs. Ator was checking out the organ but unfortunately the guide couldn’t tell her any specifics about it. Cassie at one point had asked several deep questions of one of the guides and the guides was so impressed that she actually took her behind the ropes and took her over to Queen Victoria’s throne and she got to touch it. Don’t think Cassie is washing her hand for a few days!

I could go on and on about the castle. Please get on a website and view it and learn more!

From the Castle we had about an hour trip to Wadham College in Oxford, out home for a couple days. Once we got checked into our rooms we explored the area. You go through a huge door to even get in the complex and there are many old buildings throughout “quads” of gardens. They had to give us each a map to find our building we each were staying in. Once we got some key problems figured out they were ready for dinner.

Our dinner was in a huge dining hall that was the model for the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies. Big hit! Mrs. Treadway wanted to be an owl to fly over the tables and bring them mail from home!

The meal was a wonderful chicken served on a plate, then potatoes were brought in silver dishes to serve family style. The salad was also on the tables in big plates to help ourselves. Dessert was a fruit compote which the adults were proud that the kids tried it an actually enjoyed it.

After dinner we had a short meeting. Some of the kids were frustrated when we took them to a spot to meet…they had found the same spot early in exploring and had deemed it their “Secret spot”!! We then gave them a little free time and then off to an early bedtime! Not too many argued about that!!

The rooms are not air conditioned but the weather so far is chilly which helped!!! Once we got to bed I much admit I wore my fleece jacked to bed with me!!!!!

Tomorrow is our first full day in Oxford and it will be spent exploring all day and evening.

Last full day of tour! We started out early to get on the road to Fallingwater. Before we got on the bus someone noticed a turtle on the ground in front of the bus. It was a very beautiful turtle and Ana was afraid it wasn’t going to be able to get over the curb to get to the creek behind the hotel. She picked him up and helped him get on his merry way!

On the bus ride it has been so interesting hearing the kids interesting conversations. Nathan was teaching Cecelia how to tie a tie. The kids were singing songs and trying new harmony for some songs they knew. Mrs. Treadway came through with the candy bag a couple times. They really look forward to that each day!

Once we got to Fallingwater they split us up into two groups to tour the house. For those of you that may not know, Fallingwater was built for the Kaufman family by Frank Lloyd Wright. Such a unique house for it’s time. The house is actually built into a waterfall and the rock it is built on is parts of the house including the fireplace. There is a hatch with a stairway that you can walk down to the waterfall from the main level of the house. You should check out the website to see just how amazing it is. We were impressed with some of the questions the kids asked about the construction and the family. You cannot take pictures inside the house but they found plenty of outdoor spots to do so.

Off to Pittsburgh. We had bought groceries last night to have another picnic today. By the time we left Fallingwater, it was going to be awhile until we found a rest area so we found an empty parking lot and made a food line on top of coolers and a suitcase! The kids thought it was fun to eat a meal on the bus!

The road to and from Fallingwater was a winding road in the hills. The singers definitely are not used to these roads and a couple weren’t feeling well! After lunch and some food it helped!

When we reached Pittsburgh we went to Duquesne University to meet Christine Jordanoff for our vocal clinic. She conducts three choirs and teaches conducting, advanced choral methods, freshman voice and a children’s choir lab. She has a children’s choir that is in residence at Duquesne that she has been director of for 25 years.

She had Mr. C lead warm-ups and they sang “Hymn For America” for her. She then took the singers through several vocal exercises to help them open up their soft palette. She described the mouth as a room and asked the kids where in their mouth the walls, ceiling, floor and windows were. The lips are the windows, the tongue is the floor, and the checks are the walls and the soft palette. She then had them sing in different ways to help them understand how to use their soft palette to open up their voice and have a stronger sound without singing loud. They sang the song again at the end and you could see in their faces they figured out the difference. Such great learning.

She closed by telling them that they were a class act. She had worked with two other high school choirs recently and she knew from our kids that they knew what they were doing and cared about what they were doing. She could tell that they love to make music and that their art gives them a sense of self worth. Such a great compliment to these young adults. We had a Kodak moment with her and then headed out.

We went to Golden Corral for dinner and it provided a great variety of food for the singers to choose from. Then off to the hotel. We had some extra time so another pool party was in order! Zoe and Caitlyn weren’t swimming and they taught Mr. C a new card game. He claimed he didn’t understand it but somehow was winning. Kasey was busy writing her journal for her IB Diploma classes. She has had to journal about her concert experiences all week. She has been so dedicated to her assignment.

We ended the evening with our last night pow wow. In the beginning of the tour each of the singers and adults draw names and keep that name a secret. They watch that person all week. And at our pow wow they shared positive things about that person that they observed this week. This is always one of the favorite parts of the week. Then we give the singers an opportunity to share about their experience in choir this year and what choir has meant to them as a whole. We keep what they say in confidence, but I can assure you they all love each other, look at this choir as a family and feel safe to share their feelings in this environment. It makes us adults feel proud, especially the staff, to know we have this powerful effect on these young adults lives. They have made friends for life. We wished our graduates a fond farewell and after a few tears headed back to our rooms for bed.

Once again I have to compliment these singers for making this tour and enjoyable one and an easy one for everyone. We have had an amazing journey, endured challenges and persevered. Our theme this year for FWCC was “More Than a Song” and during this tour we have proven just that.

Hope you have enjoyed our journey as much as we have. We have a short day tomorrow traveling home and are looking forward to seeing family again.

YEAH!!!!! We got to sleep in!!!! We decided to head out at 10:00am this morning giving us all some much needed rest!. Today we went to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. First, we spent a little time checking out the main sanctuary. This church is the largest Catholic Church in the United States. The main sanctuary has many chapels surrounding the perimeter of the church and each one more ornate that the previous one. All of the pictures, for lack of a better word, are made of mosaic tile so they may look like painting but they are amazing works of art that just shine in the light. They are in each chapel and in the ceiling and domes everywhere you look.

We then attended a mass in the crypt sanctuary in the basement. During the beginning of the service one of the hymns was to the tune of “Homeland” that the singers have sung before. How fitting. Julia and Elizabeth were chosen to present the gifts to the priest. What an honor and they delivered so graciously. The priest also remarked on our presence in his homily.

Following the mass Mr. C and Mrs. Ator went to talk to the organist to see if we could sing a piece there. We were already scheduled to sing in the large sanctuary later but it was worth a try. He granted our request and they sang in one of the alcoves. They sang “When Jesus Wept” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You”. Very beautiful.

We ate lunch in the cafeteria and the singers explored the gift shop and bookstore. Then we had a tour of the church. The church was built to honor the Mother Mary and is completely supported by people from around the world. There is a section in the basement with walls and pillar engravings of the names of people who have given to support the building and continued works of the church.

There are 80 chapels in the church, some that are built and paid for by Catholics from many countries and the world. A request must be made to build a chapel and design approved before it is built. This church is not a regular parish rather built to honor the Mother Mary. There are no weddings funerals or baptisms held here. Bishop Shahan was an instrumental man who had a vision for the church and he died before he saw it complete. He is buried in the church. Pope Pius X gave permission to build the church.

As we toured the church we found a bust of Bishop Noll from Fort Wayne. When we told the tour guide she said he was a huge supporter of the church. There is also an alter in the crypt sanctuary that a woman from Fort Wayne was also instrumental in having built. The tour guide couldn’t remember her name. There is a wonderful bell tower that houses 56 bells and it rings daily every 15 minutes. The church is actually built in the shape of a cross. There is actually one dome that is not complete with a mosiac. The theme has been set but no design has been approved. Following the tour, a couple that had been on the tour with us commented to Mrs. Smith that they were very impressed with our kids and how they behaved!! We are always so proud.

After the tour,c it had been arranged for the singers to sing in the large sanctuary. All accapella music. We had family members in the audience. The Bressler family was there and Zoe’s aunt and uncle came in from Maryland. The performance was amazing. The kids were blown away with the reverb of their voices. Such a great place to have the last performance of the tour.

Off we go again on the bus! We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Museum of American History. Such great things to see…Fonzie’s jacket, Dorothy’s red ruby slippers, Archie Bunker’s chair (even thought the kids don’t know who he is!!), the First Ladies dresses and Julia Child’s kitchen. We didn’t know that there is a fallout shelter here from Fort Wayne. We couldn’t remember what part of town the display said it came from but we were impressed that a part of our town was there.
I think the most popular sight was the American flag. So big and impressive. So proud to be Americans.

Back on the bus for a couple last minute stops at the White House for a group picture and then off to Pentagon City Mall to eat at their food court. In and out pretty quick since we wouldn’t let them shop!! We made our last stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial. The singers were convinced that there is an extra hand in the display and spent quite a bit of time figuring out if there was one. The adults weren’t sure if it was true or not but it was great to watch them try to figure it out. If there is in fact one we believe it is the hand of God.

Back to the hotel in time for a pool party!! The swimming time was shorter that the last time. The pool was outside and it has been a little chillier today!!! Oh well, more time in their rooms to get packed to leave here tomorrow.

Off to Pennsylvania on Tuesday and another busy day. How much can we really cram into this week? Stay tuned!