HSA National Reunion {day 4}

Finally! I am getting this posted! I like to think of it this way - I haven't procrastinated, I've extended my enjoyment of the reunion.

Well we woke up Sunday morning knowing it was the last day of the reunion. Horrible feeling really knowing that everything wonderful about the reunion was soon to be no more. But we crawled out of our beds and got ready and headed off to the mess hall for breakfast. Then we went back to our dorms to pack up. I helped load up the van. All that experience helping Daddy load up the camping gear payed off. Especially now that we had more luggage to pack in because a couple more girls were joining us for the trip home. After that we had our last Hymn Sing.

Then we trekked down to the Bear Claw one last time for the closing ceremony. *frowns* I didn't want it to end. It was a strange feeling, part of me wanted this to go on and part of me was ready to go home. But we still had a little time left together and that was solace enough. Next we ate lunch. One last meal of some of the best campfood in the world with some of my favorite people in the world. After that we milled about saying our goodbyes and taking pictures with our friends.

people saying their goodbyes in front of the dining hall

Before we knew it it was time to leave. We piled into the van and set off, on our way to Garden of the Gods where quite a few of the reunion goers were going to spend a little extra time. It was supposed to take us about 30 minutes to get there, but due to construction and the effect on traffic it took us about an hour and a half. Creeping and crawling our way along we were able to carry on a couple of conversations with other HSAers in their cars next to us. One of the girls even took a nap in the back seat. And much to my astonishment, I learned that the Paul sisters knew the Willie Nelson song "On the Road Again." Just as a joke I sung the only lyrics I knew, "On the road again...." and they took off and sang the whole song! *laughs* I wish I had a picture of the shocked expression on my face.

We finally arrived at Garden of the Gods and were glad to get out and stretch our legs. Wow! What a view! We were not able to explore much of the park due to time constraints, but that is a place I would like to see again. It was absolutely incredible to see these huge red rocks. So much to see, all the varied shapes and textures of the rocks, it was a gorgeous scene.

yours truly at Garden of the Gods

Let the homeschool invasion begin! We set off as a group on one of the trails and stopped part way into the park to explore and wander about in one of the rock groupings. We stayed there for a while actually, and our carpool group didn't go in any further because we had to leave. *sighs* Stupid clock and schedule.

a few of the carpool girls and other friends

more people, including some of the Naylors and Noel in that adorable red hat

Pretty soon the van and Justin's cranky car were back on the road. Back to Kansas and Iowa and Arkansas and Missouri. We got in really late to Erin and Amber's and snuck downstairs to the basement. Oh wow, did sleep feel good that night. Thanks to a dark basement we were able to sleep in the next day. Got up and dragged ourselves upstairs for breakfast. The girls had made scones! Yum! We called Justin to see how he was doing. His car refused to start after we got a bite to eat before we made it out of Colorado. He was fine and getting the car worked on that morning. I called my parents to let them know they could start driving up to get me.

Last time in the carpool van as we made our way to Salina where they would drop me off. Said our last goodbyes and we went our seperate ways. We didn't get very far before I realized I had left my expo box and Keen shoes in the van. Too late! Oh well, I knew who had them and could get them back in little while. Home bound now and it felt good.

I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend with my homeschool family! All the wonderful memories, blessings, and fellowship I will cherish for the rest of my life. And it is my firm belief that roadtrips are the best!

Now, as promised, here are the links to the videos from the reunion.

If A Bear Is Running At You Clap Your Hands - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p5DfnyhmRk

And the dance off - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLak10jw82Q

Enjoy! And you have my permission to roll on the floor laughing.

HSA National Reunion :day 3:

Hello, dear readers! Good news for you, since the reunion is a few months behind me, I no longer remember every little detail. But that's okay because I want to finish this and move on, so here we go...

Woke up Saturday to another gorgeous Colorado morning. Got ready and called home. Then ate breakfast. I'm liking this short version a lot better, how about you? :o) Had another Hymn Sing. The morning session was Eric & Leslie Ludy, who brought us a message about living your life, a sold out life, for Christ. It was awesome! Eric and Leslie touched our hearts and urged us onto higher spiritual plains. I'll never forget Eric's version of David fighting Goliath. I think there's a video of it on youtube, if you can find it watch it! Or I'll find it in a few days and post the link here.

the lovely ladies

After the message from Eric and Leslie, Jill asked a few of us ladies if we would like to go on a walk with her. So, we did and here are the pictures of the scenery and some of the girls. First pic is of the mountains in the distance. Second pic is most of my walking companions and the next pic was taken on our way back.

isn't Colorado stunning?!

Next thing we knew it was time for lunch and I'm sure it was yummy even though I don't remember what we had. lol! Besides, I was too hungry to care. After that I went to get ready for the second, and final, day of the Entrepreneur Expo. Which was less busy due to the Swing dance and a couple of "breakout" sessions. Oh well, it gave us a breather.

Afternoon session was the Roundtable Discussion. Interesting as always. Stick a bunch of homeschoolers in a room together and ask them what their opinion is on various topics and you're sure to get some new perspective to ruminate over.

Time to eat again! Our last supper at the reunion. After supper we took the group picture. Then we meandered over to the Bear Claw for the HSAIR Talent Show. One of my friends decided to mix things up a bit by declaring he would wear a kilt to the next reunion ECD and asked who would join him. *laughs* You can imagine the mixture of responses! One guy said he would, he already had a kilt and was looking for an excuse to wear it. Several guys gave flat out refusals. Girls, too, were a mixed bag. Some thought it would be cool, some thought it would be horrible. Anywhoo...the talent show was great, but the highlight of the evening came from somthing other than what was actually part of the talent show. So, the previous couple of days people had been nominated for several yearbook type questions with decidedly homeschool twists. To cut to the chase, one of them was, "Most likely to make people wonder why 'socialization' was ever a concern with homeschoolers." And the vote was Riley Spiller with 25% and Doug Plagemann right behind him with 24%. Well, Camden got the brilliant idea to have a dance off between Doug and Riley. And they did. We were in stitches it was so hilarious! I'll post the video link for this too.

Moving on, after the talent show a lot us stayed at the Bear Claw to hang out and listen to more awesome jazz music and sign more autograph books. I tumbled into bed just before midnight. About the same time, the chocolate party in our dorm was getting started. I thought about joining them for just a little bit, 15 or 30 minutes, but then told myself "yeah right, once you get in you're not going to want to leave." Wise choice. Not long after I turned in I heard singing drift up from the lobby. First it was "Sisters" by Irving Berlin, then it was "White Christmas", and then a hymn and I finally started to doze. I learned the next morning that the girls had stayed up until 3am singing! Since it was the last night of the reunion they decided to go all out. Whew! And it was just my luck that I missed their singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Who wants that stuck in their head as they try to sleep!?

Well, this is all for now. The next post will be the final day of the reunion and our trip to Garden of the Gods. Stay tuned...