Home Sweet Home

Well here we are yesterday just before we packed up the camper to leave Creation 2011!!  We were all really tired but it was a "good" tired, if that makes any sense!   Matthew was still talking about his awesome brush with Toby Mac!   I think that was probably the highlight of his week!  
I was really surprised that we were able to pack everything back and get everything to fit in the camper and car.   Usually when I travel I can never fit the same clothes into the same suitcase!    However, Chris did mention that we ate most of the groceries so that saved us some space!

We promised the boys a hot breakfast on the way home because we basically forced cold cereal on them the whole week.   Not that we didn't want a hot breakfast ourselves but we really didn't want to clean up pans from eggs and bacon all week.   So we stopped at a place called Kay's Place, it was probably an hour from the festival site - I don't remember what town it was.   But it was a small family restaurant and they had the best omelets and pancakes!    They were also very friendly.    Something to keep in mind for next year.

Speaking of next year, we are already planning for next year.   First on the list is a smaller generator that we don't have to carry inside of the car.   I actually saw one today and I will keep an eye out for a sale!   Also something I saw today that might be useful is a battery charged water pump which will pump the shower water up so that we don't have to kneel to wash our hair!   We have decided not to purchase hot shower passes for next year and just use the shower tent.    We used it when we got desperate this year and we decided that we liked it better than waiting in line for showers.    We also thought that it might be a good idea to shell out the money for an electric campsite - if only for the fact that the electric campground is in "C" which is much closer to the main stage.    We were in "J" which is almost as far as you can get!

Chris, Matthew and Emily came over for breakfast this morning after a good nights sleep and we had a great breakfast of biscuits and gravy with a side of eggs and bacon!   Then we proceeded to clean our the camper and the car and figure out which items goes to which house.  We set up the tents to let them dry only to have them rained on again when we went to Roanoke later in the day!!   It's all good.

So this is my last Creation Fest blog posting for this year, however I will next be blogging about another topic - stay tuned!     Thanks for reading.

Last Day.....say it ain't so!!!

Really, REALLY hot today! Matt, Michael and I got up at 5:30 am to get a good spot for todays events. Among the sea of tarps already in place we found a patch of empty grass in the middle section. Perfect! We hung out at the campsite after working our last shift with Danny and Roy at Thousand Hills coffee. It was a lot of fun working with them and to be affiliated with a company doing good! I hope we can do it again next year! It was a crazy day; I don't think any of us were really wanting to sit out in the hot Sun today - it was the hottest day yet! We played around with the little fan/water squirters and attempted a camp fire but it started to rain just as the fire got going and the shower tent almost took flight! Our Mac and cheese that was cooking had a little rain water added to it for good measure! It rained hard but not really very long and it was welcome. It cooled things off a LOT! We had Hawaian kabobs for dinner (hot dog pieces and pineapple) and we bid fair well to our campsite neighbors who were leaving to get home to Johnstown. And then we gathered up our lawn chairs and headed for the main stage for Tony Nolan, Owl City and Toby Mac! Tony is a very powerful speaker and literally thousands prayed to receive Christ -THOUSANDS!!! I had never seen anything like it, they just kept going down to the prayer tent in droves!! I think the organizers were even taken by surprise. Owl City was really good; this was their first time and they had some great tunes and a violinist and cellist ! Toby Mac was the headliner tonight and Matt did a fist bumb with Toby! I don't think he will wash that hand!! I came back early to do some packing and Toby isn't really my style. We experienced the fireworks from the campsite while roasting marshmallows!

Day 3!!!!!!

Today was even more awesome than yesterday, if that is even possible!! We worked at 1000 Hills Coffee from 9 - noon. People are crazy about their coffee in the morning! For those of you who might not know, I don't drink coffee but I like their philosophy and my husband orders 5 pound bags of it every few weeks. Plus we got free tickets for the festival for our work. I did some looking around at the many booths - there are a ton and everyone has a cause and they have some swag. I got a couple souvenirs for the guys. Then we all met back at the camp for lunch - pita pizza wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked on the grill. It was yummy! Chris went out "shopping" with the boys and I had a siesta. I did not fall out of bed unlike some others who shall remain nameless!! We all met at the main stage around 5 for Francesca Battistelli who is so talented, I really enjoyed her show. Then we ate dinner from one of the state-fair like carnival vendors. They have all of the normal funnel cakes and fries and sausage dogs but how many of you have pierogy vendors near you? We'll. I love peirogies and never miss a chance to have some so that is what was on my plate! This time I didn't share, sorry. Next was worship with Bob....last name escapes me, but he really touched my heart with his inspirational message and stories about his childhood and especially his joke about kids in special Ed not really "feeling" special. He should meet Special K! Then there was awesome music from tenth avenue north and skillet (note from lead singer "no we are not named after a frying pan"). Skillet had a spectacular light show with their performance and a very talented violinist. Then came the the candlelight ending with 80,000 people holding lighted candles and singing together. It was definitely the highlight of the night. Now it's time for zzzzzzzzzz.

2nd Day of Festival

Sorry I missed blogging yesterday! I guess by the time I got back to the camp site, I was to pooped to do anything else. Everything has been so great here! There are 5 different stages here and around 60 bands! They start around 9am and go until after midnight every night! And WOW they are all excellent. Last night we worked at the Thousand Hills coffee stand just off the main stage until around 9 and then we caught the Newsboys. They were on until about 11:30 but we didn't stay for the whole thing. But it really didn't matter because you can here it from the camp site. We were all really tired after the 6 hour drive and then working at the coffee stand and the concert. it is very overwhelming to be here with 70,000 or so believers at a concert venue and there is no one drinking or smoking or cursing. Everyone I have met has been very kind and friendly. People are very much enjoying themselves by jumping up and down and dancing and singing to the music! Some crazy outfits and wild hair do's but they're all here to enjoy the music and worship the Lord.

Today we got up and after breakfast we headed down to them main stage to hear Brad Stine and then we came back and found the shower "truck" and then cooked up some silver turtles and took a little siesta. We went down to the coffee stand and sold coffee from 4-6:30 and then we attended worship at the main stage with about 50,000 others and Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin. After that Chris Tomlin did a few more songs and then it was Third Day!!! It was awesome! Cant't wait until tomorrow!

All Packed Up!!!

Well, we are all packed up and ready to go!   The camper could not hold one more thing and if the back of the car was stacked any higher, the rear view mirror would be useless.  I hope we all get a good nights sleep tonight.  I am concerned about the generator.....maybe we should leave it.  I have this thought that if we take it, we won't need it but if we don't take it, then we will surely need it.    I just know that I have been in the camper when it was freezing cold and when it was blazing hot and neither is very comfortable.   I really don't think the battery will last running the heater or the fan and that is my dilemma.   I guess I will live either way.   I just want to get there and it doesn't really matter to me anymore.   I will just be happy!

Matt and Chris are planning to be here at 7:15 so I guess we will be getting an early start!  I will post some pics after we get to PA.  We are gonna have a blast!!

Lineup

I am really looking forward to all the artists that will be at Creation Fest.   There will be around 60 bands/artists in 4 days and some of the ones that I am excited to see are Third Day, Skillet, Newsboys, Chris Tomlin, Chris August, Tenth Avenue North and many others.   It is going to be an awesome experience!    All those bands and 80,000 like minded folks all in the same place!  

I think we have all of our camping gear together.   Chris has this awesome "cooking stand" thingy (that is the technical term) and it looks really cool.  It folds up and has it's own case.  It has a place for a propane stove, all your utensils and the pots and pans.   I think we can probably use it to clean dishes as well.   Can't wait to try it out.   As long as we don't need "mantles" for it, I think it will be ok! 

I really feel for the folks out west having trouble with flooding.   It breaks my heart to see the pictures.  Please remember to keep these folks in your prayers and help if you can!

4 days left!

Now Coleman has made propane lanterns for years and years.   They were probably making them before I was born (no comments from the peanut gallery).   And for as long as I can remember the mantles were all the same - round with string at the top and they were always readily available at wherever you could get the stoves and lanterns, well until now.   Now it seems that there are different ones - acordian type ones with no strings.  And you can't find the other kind.   This is the kind of thing that drives me nuts!   Companies stop selling the things that you need for the products they used to sell, forcing you to buy the newest model and rendering the one that you have had for years, useless!   It is just by the grace of God that I found an old package of mantles in a box in the garage but once they are gone, they are gone.  So now that I sound just like my parents......
Today, we started to get the camping gear together and figure out what we can fit into the camper and what will go in the car and we firmed up the grocery list.   Chris went out to the Appalacian trail for a night of camping so we hung out and had pizza and talked about how much we are looking forward to Creation Fest.  We checked out the schedule on the web site and we were informed by Matt that we will be leaving at 7am on Wednesday.....

5 days!!!

So now it's 5 days until the festival! Today is my first day of vacation!! This will be the longest time I have taken off since coming to RU in February of 2009. I REALLY need this time and truth be told, my staff is probably glad to be free of me for a while. They may even get more work done without me around!

I am attending autism camp today with my son. The camp is held on the RU campus and it is put on by the speech and language disorders department and they use it to try out the latest research findings in the study of language as it relates to kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The camp includes all family members and nuerotypical kids are invited as well to be peer models. Parent are required to attend and we interact with the kids but we also listen to speakers who come and talk about various services and therapies that are available. We also get to talk with other parents that are going through the same experiences. I think talking with the other parents is my favorite part of camp. I get ideas from them and we encourage eachother in our struggles with our exceptional children. My son says he doesn't like it but he seems like he is having a good time. This is one of the only places where he feels like he "fits in". When you are 13, fitting in is probably the most important thing and He is no exception, however social skills is where Aspies struggle the most! I'll be glad when he gets out of middle school. Most parents say that high school Is much better.
Sorry to digress, I am going to work on the grocery list for the trip today and see if I can do some couponing to save some bucks there. And then try to figure out what we can fit into the car with 2 adults and two kids!!  I think the list is much longer than there is room in the car!   I downloaded the Creation songs from itunes so I think i am gonna go and check them out.   See ya tomorrow.

Creation Fest or Bust

So here we are on day one of my vacation and about 6 days until the start of creation fest.  This will be my first creation fest so i am really looking forward to it and my preparation is borderline obsessive.    I cleaned out the camper a couple weeks ago and I took out almost everything and re-organized.   I through some stuff out; I got some plastic containers and my label maker out and obsession prevails!   I should have been an eagle scout - I just wish I was this prepared with all areas of my life!    Normally when I travel by car, I tend to bring everything but the kitchen sink but in this case I am bringing the kitchen sink....and a toilet and a generator....because I have to keep my ipad and my phone charged up!     My partner in crime decided to play to my strengths (so she says) and assign me the task of organizing!   It might be one of those "be careful what you ask for" type things, but we will have everything we need, and then some.    The sooner we leave, the sooner I can stop preparing for our physical needs and focus on preparations of the heart!   More tomorrow;  see ya.