Music, Amusement, Church, and Beer

I learned a lot this weekend. First and foremost, I learned I must manage my schedule more effectively. For those of you who weren't blessed by my whining and complaining about the demands on my time, here's the scoop:

• Friday morning, 7:00 a.m. -- Left with 128 7th & 8th graders in the Strath Haven Middle School music department for "Music in the Parks," beginning with an adjudication at Kutztown University.
• Friday afternoon, 2:00 p.m. -- Accompanied students to Dorney Park where they frolicked with hundreds/thousands of other Music in the Park geeks kids.
• Friday early evening, 6:30 p.m. -- Made our way to the Food Fest Grove (a misnomer because they offered us no food) for the awards ceremony at which the amazing talent from SHMS was deemed "Superior" (the highest rating) in all but one category (the cantabile, a select singing group Ian did not make. A coincidence that they earned merely an  "Excellent" rating without him? I think not).
• Friday evening, 8:30 p.m. -- Returned to SHMS 

Now this is where it gets tricky. Because of my faulty scheduling and my over eager desire to help out, I had also volunteered to chaperone the 4th & 5th grade lock-in (sleepover) at our church. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. Clearly something had to give. And that something turned out to be Rob. He took the first shift of the church event which included a 2-hour long stint at a family fun center 30 minutes away. They returned around 11:30 p.m. This meant I had to stay awake a long time to start  part two of my grand adventure:

• Friday, 11:30 p.m. -- Arrived at Media Presbyterian Church to join 25 wired 4th & 5th graders. 
• Friday, 11:45 p.m. -- Snack time. Popcorn, soft pretzels, fruit punch and lemonade. We sugared them up just before we asked them to settle down.
• Saturday, 12:15 a.m. -- Two rounds of Sardines. The game. Not the fish.
• Saturday, 1:00 a.m. -- Sleeping bags set out in youth room. Settled in for Karate Kid 2.
• Saturday, 3:30 a.m. -- Movie ends. Most kids sleeping. Kim, not sleeping, but recalling why I said I'd never do this again after my last time chaperoning this adventure.
• Saturday, 7:15 a.m. -- Rise and shine. 
• Saturday, 8:00 a.m. -- Parents arrived looking annoyingly incredibly well-rested. Take kids home.
• Saturday, 8:45 a.m. -- Crawled into bed.
• Saturday, 11:30 a.m. -- Crawled out of bed.
• Saturday, 12:30 p.m -- Friends arrived to accompany us to Craft Brewfest in downtown Media.
• Saturday, 1:00 p.m. -- Joined other friends at Brewfest. Drank beer.
• Saturday, 5:00 p.m. -- Finished beer drinking.
• Saturday, 5:30 p.m. -- Walked to new Mexican restaurant. Drank margarita. Discovered that after 4 hours of beer drinking I was willing to try Mexican food. 
• Saturday, 7:00 p.m -- Returned home with friends. Played poker. 
• Saturday, 9:00 p.m. -- Came in 2nd in poker game. Won no money.
• Saturday, 9:30 p.m. -- Crawled back in bed. 
• Sunday, 10:00 a.m. -- Crawled out of bed. Showered. Headed to church.

Over this 48+ hour period I made an number of observations. I'll try to keep them brief because I realize this is getting lengthy and you may actually having something important to do today. Here are the top 10 things I learned this past weekend:

1. Big talent can come out of small people.
2. If you want to mortify your 13-year-old son, wipe the dust and dirt off his pants while he's hanging with his friends. The dust and dirt on his tush. Follow-up with big hug.
3. 12 to 14-year-old boys yawn a lot while singing. 
4. If my teenage child comes home with a "Got Beer?" hat from an amusement park, I'm going to beat have a serious discussion with them. 
5. I am too old for roller coasters.
6. Skinny 9 to 11 year-old girls have an amazing ability to sound like elephants when they walk. In and out of the room. At 2:30 a.m. When I'm dying trying to sleep.
7. Metal doors that slam loudly have no place in a room where I'm trying to sleep. At 3:30 a.m.
8. Even 9 to 11 year-old girls can leave a room smelling funky after a sleepover. Or wake-over. Or maybe that was me.
9. Pretzel necklaces are a must at a brewfest. Next year we must double or triple the number of pretzels on our necklaces. 
10. When stopped by a cop while driving home from a brewfest, it's best to not be wearing your "Does this Shirt Make Me Look Drunk?" tee. (No, that didn't happen. But I'm, pretty sure it would be bad.)

 

 

Well I'm exhausted just having recapped the weekend. Going to take a nap now. How was your weekend?