Trip to San Francisco

I thought I would share with you a few of the highlights of our trip and some pictures and even a video of these amazing kids singing!  If I can get YouTube to cooperate!

It was an amazing trip.  I was very nervous to go.  I haven't done a trip without my husband in years-probably before I was married which was almost 18 years ago.  I don't have a lot of girlfriends that I hang out with in real life, because real life keeps me pretty busy.  So, I knew of the other parent chaperones, but I didn't really know them.  I was nervous that I would be left to myself most of the trip, because I knew my son would want to be with his friends and I was okay with that!  I couldn't have been more wrong! I ended up making some wonderful life long friends and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the teenagers as well! They were so polite and respectful!

Our first day was long.  Between the almost 900 mile drive and stops in between, it took us 18 hours to arrive at our destination.  It was a brand new, gorgeous bus, but after 18 hours, I was more than ready to get off!

The next morning, we got up bright and early and headed out to the Science Academy in San Francisco.  It was a lot of fun and so beautiful there.  We lucked out with gorgeous weather.  It was sunny every day and in the 50's or 60's.  We spent a few hours there and I mostly hung out with Chipper and his friends.  Here are a few pictures:

After that, we boarded the bus and drove down to the pier.  We spent about an hour or so there before boarding the ferry for the trip to Alcatraz.  I have to admit, that was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I really enjoyed that beautiful island and the rich history that went with it.  Here are a couple more pictures.

We returned to the pier and had dinner and returned to our hotel.  Chipper and I went to a Mexican restaurant, just the two of us and sat out on the patio.  It was amazingly beautiful. We were right there on the pier and pelican's would come and sit on the railing by our table or snag food and water from the dishes left by previous customers:

The next day was our competition day.  And the kids sang so well!  I love their music and their talent!  After the competition part, we drove to Stanford and the kids got to sing inside the Stanford Memorial Church, which was so amazing!  The accoustics where unbelievable.  Here are a few pictures:

This was the whole choir-or at least all of the kids that attended.  They are great kids!

And here is a video of them singing.  I love this song and they performed it so well in the church!

Saturday was our last day there and we spent the day at the Great America theme park in San Jose.  It was fun! I mostly spent the day with two other chaperones and we had a blast! They were my roommates on the trip and I loved getting to know them!  Here are a few pictures of us!

Such a silly picture of me but it captured the fun we were having!!

That evening was the awards ceremony and the kids did very well!  

After that, we boarded the bus (around 10 pm) and started driving!  We got home Sunday afternoon and I was exhausted!  But I'm so thankful for the chance I had to go and the time I spent with Chipper and his friends.  I can't wait for next year!

Here is today's freebie:

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