Hello from Canterbury - The Kings School

....so I said internet was hard to come by.....well, we are now in Canterbury England staying at the dorms of The Kings School.....we arrived yesterday and the children have been rehearsing with Dr. David Flood. He is the choir director for the Canterbury Boys' Choir and is INCREDIBLE!   Originally, our choir was planning to take place in a choir festival here in Canterbury ....but due to hard times, the festival was cancelled and our trip had already been planned....so instead of cancelling the trip, our choir director quickly scheduled 3 days worth of intense time with Dr. Flood and it is unbelievable to see what he's doing with the children. (You should google him 'Dr. David Flood Canterbury')

I went to the afternoon practice today for about 30 minutes....teared up at least 5 times and had chills pretty much the entire time. To realize the opportunity that they are getting....in such a beautiful place...it's so great. Dr. Flood is energetic, knows them all by name, and is pushing their talent to the max and they sound beautiful.

I have more pictures but am not able to load from this school computer that is on again, off again. The weather is incredible here....it's been about 65-70 degrees and we are in jeans and long sleeves. Tonight we sat out in the cloister (kind of a courtyard area) with cheese, bread, fruit and wine while the children played tag throughout the grounds. We are all required to wear security bracelets because we are on the Canterbury Cathedral grounds so the children are safe and can have the run of the place.....It stayed light outside until about 10:30....barely, but enough for us to stay out and enjoy the night.

The children will perform a concert tonight in the Canterbury Cathedral....looking forward to it!

We head to Venice on Wednesday and I will just have to see what's there in terms of internet access. Until then, keep us in your prayers for safe travels and good times. Come Wednesday, there will be a total of 84 people on this trip.....the 'changed voices' boys will join us as well as some older girls. Until next time....

An update to this post - the concert in the Cathedral actually turned out to be a private rehearsal with Dr. Flood in the Cathedral - he let them sing right on the compass rose which is an acoustic sweet spot of the church.......beautiful.  They then moved into the choir seats and sang for about an hour.  He turned all the lights out and got them to sing in the dark....like it used to be....then he took them up into the old choir room where he rehearses his boys' choir and then he let them sit in the arch bishop's chair.  What we are getting to experience first hand is so great....I'm sure they don't realize it yet.

The castle-like picture is the entrance to our dorm area at sunset....

Greetings from London

Randolph (my oldest) and I set off on Tuesday for a 19 day trip to England and Italy with his church choir.  We arrived in London with a serious case of jet lag.  Neither of us slept a wink on the plane and we landed only to board a bus onto our first adventure to Windsor Castle.  Needless to say, we were cross eyed from exhaustion.  Despite the jet lag......we're having a ball.  

We have already had our eyes opened to another world so much, it feels like we left the US days ago.  We have recovered our sleep and have taken in many things London has to offer.  The traffic here is insane with the oncoming traffic on the opposite side of the street making crossing the streets quite dangerous and outright SCARY.  Pedestrians beware......ugh.

Here are some pictures from Windsor Castle, Greenwich Pier, Thames River, Greenwich Village, the chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul at the Old Royal Naval College - and, by the way, we stood on the eastern and western hemispheres at the same time today.  Very cool.  Pictures coming later - we just got caught in a major rainstorm.....gotta go!

Okay - back to accessing Wifi and in doors this time!!  Also, I need to apologize to anyone who got the cheesy email saying we were leaving the country - I tried to set up an auto-response for my email and clearly screwed it up because it shot out an email to anyone and everyone....sorry.

So far on our trip, the group has had one visit from the toothfairy...one surprise visit from an unexpected grandparent, one pick-pocket, an accidental tip of a mere $.03, a phone and camera left on a bus and LOTS OF LAUGHS.  It's a great group of people, only to be joined by more when we head to Venice in a few days.

Since communication is limited - we'd love some comments from anyone taking a look.  I'll continue to update with pictures as long as Wifi is available....which we're finding out is not so easy....

(Having major issues getting enough bandwidth to post pictures....still trying...)

Randolph is lying on the Greenwich Line - Zero Latitude...THE clock in Greenwich.....the candelabra picture is the dining hall in the Old Royal Naval College (just like the College of Charleston cafeteria!).... The Prospect of Whitby is a 978 year old pub on the Thames River....the beautiful ceilings are from the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul...the beautiful bridge.....the Tower of London...iconic Big Ben and telephone booths.....changing of the guards at Windsor Castle.....and Windsor Castle is the last picture.  

We're off to explore on our own today....nothing planned which is nice.  PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS - Randolph and I would love to hear from you.

Boonkashoonka

Got a call this week from a family vacationing in Wild Dunes - they are from Kentucky and here with Dad while he's on business.  A big Thank You to D. Rucker because they got my name from seeing the photos on Oprah....!!

8 year old B ..... more like 16 year old B ...... thoughtful and serious and full of information.  5 year old G....in a love affair with the big, swirly, colorful sugar on a stick that he'd had his eye on all week.  Hot Diggity - he gets to indulge at 10:00 am - and to our surprise, he chose the Superman ice cream.  Wow.

By the end of the shoot, mom and I felt like we'd known each other for a while ......enjoyed meeting you guys.  Your pictures will be up soon.

10% Shift!!!

I was asked to get involved in a local movement involving spending AT LEAST 10% of your expenses LOCALLY!  These guys are trying to jump start the local economy and, I must say, there were plenty of people coming out to support the Shift.....

Sweet and Serious Little C

I met little C and his mama at Hazel Parker the other morning to capture this little guy having some fun.....I think the strange lady with the camera in his face was puzzling.....as he kept looking at me like 'what - are- you - doing - and - who - are - you?  After a little time in the swing....he couldn't resist the smiles and I became a little more familiar to him.  He was super interested in the older boys on the playground....you know.....the 4 year olds!!  One day, buddy, one day.  You'll get there.

Summer Tradition at Seabrook!

This cute family got my gift certificate at the St. Paul's Academy auction.  We planned the shoot to line up with their annual vacation out at Seabrook Island.  Immediately, the little guy introduced me to his Roly Poly he had and his older brother was trying to feed it pop tarts....you know, vacation food.

We took off towards the beach to hunt for horseshoe and fiddler crabs and just play.  Great family, cool kids and a perfect day at the beach.