Romney’s trip didn’t take place during spring break. My guess is because with it being such a small group going, family vacations might take away too many of the students during the actual break. So instead, they took off on the Wednesday after break and got back on Sunday night.
I had actually volunteered to go on this trip as a chaperone. It sounded pretty fun to be a part of. I don’t think Romney was particularly excited about that idea though. (When I say ‘particularly’ I mean ‘definietly totally was not’.) Mr. Logan let the parents know that too many of us were willing to go and he needed some of us to opt out. I declined my spot, but I don’t think Mr. Logan got the message. I was later on the list of chaperones even though I had made other plans to take Emma to St. George to see her cousin in a play. I was sad to turn it down! Romney was not sad. At all.
We got her all packed up and took her to the school on Wednesday evening around 9, and she set off on quite the adventure. I really should have her write about it because of the fact that I wasn’t there. But that is not something that will happen, so I’ll summaraize as well as I can.
Here are the highlights I can remember:
* I think her night on the bus was rather terrible.
* The first day was a beach day and then dinner at Medeival Times that night, where the kids enjoyed wearing paper crowns, watch hot guys pretend to be knights fighting in a jousting tournament, and telling the announcer that Mr. Logan was celebrating his 30th birthday that day (even though he wasn’t and is in fact only 36).
* The Next day was a morning spent in the choir and orchestra competitions in Los Angeles, and Romney said it was a little crazy but they felt good about their performances.
* That afternoon the group went to California Adventure where Romney discovered that she adores rollercoasters and had an absolute ball running around with a huge group of friends and her teacher. She felt like people did a great job of including each other, and the cirlces of kids kind of ebbed and flowed into each other. She loved loved loved it and they stayed late into the night.
* The final day was spent entirely at Disneyland, where Romney hasn’t been since she was 5 or 6. She adored every moment of it, especially watching her friend Max nearly weep when he was finally able to eat a much-longed-for creamcheese-filled pretzel. Her madrigals group of friends bonded more than ever. Romney loved Disneyland so much that she later declared to me that she was going to be a Disney-Adult, even to the point of wanting to go there with just herself and her Aunt Sheri, the official Disney-Maniac.
* Best moment of the day -Romney was in line for I think the Thunder Mountain Railroad and she saw in line behind her a man wearing a button down shirt that was the same print as the swim trunks she brought with her on the trip. After being dared by her friends, she gathered up her courage, and just as she was about to get onto the ride she asked the man how much money it would take for her to buy the shirt off of his back. Turns out it was $25. She gave him the cash, got his shirt (luckily he had a shirt underneath it), put it on, hopped on the ride, and zoomed away and laughed her head off for the rest of the day.
* Actual best moment of the day - there was a ceremony in the evening for all of the participants in the competitions to hand out awards and such. The EHS orchestra did well and I think got 3rd place in their category. The EHS madrigals did even better and got first place in theirs! It was very exciting. But the excitement wasn’t done. At the end of the ceremony a special award was given out, sort of like a “best in show” type award. I just remember getting a phone call while I was in St. George. It was from Romney, and when I answered the phone, all I could hear was a lot of screaming. Then Romney, who was basically sobbing, gushed out, “Mom! We won the whole competition and we are going to New York!!” Then she hung up. Needless to say, I was anxious for more information. So basically, the EHS madrigals choir did win the overall gold medal award, which was a huge honor. (Yay for Mr. Logan!) And there is an available trip to New York. HOWEVER, it’s not like an all-expenses-paid trip. No, it’s like an opportunity to join the next level of competition sometime in the next school year, and will cost like 3 times as much as this trip did so it will probably not happen. But still, it was pretty exciting.
* Sunday was a long day of travel, and the bus didn’t pull up infront of EHS until 10:30 or so, which made the next day of school a very bleary one for our daughter. But it seemed totally worth it. The trip was one of those things that high school memories are based on, and I’m happy to say that Romney seemed to love hers, to grow even closer to some wonderful friends, and to recognize in herself the love of roller coasters and the wonderful world of Disney.
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