So, this just happened....

Todd and Natalie both auditioned for the Grafenwoehr Performing Arts Center's (GPAC) Holiday Musical Revue.  It was scheduled to be two shows in total... one on Friday, December 9 and one on Saturday, December 10.  Natalie has been DYING to go on stage and be a performer.  She always amazes me.  She is totally fearless!  Acting has always been Todd's thing, and even though this show was nearly all singing, he wanted to do it so he could have a better shot at doing future shows.  He doesn't think he can sing, so he breathed a sigh of relief when he had to sing two duets.  He specifically told me that he was really glad he did not have to do a solo.

So they've been going to rehearsals 2-4 days a week for the past 4-6 weeks.  Only this week did I actually sit through any of the rehearsals because Todd was in Kaiserslautern for a work training all week.  So I had to take Natalie to nightly rehearsal.  Rehearsal lasted about 2 hours, but it wasn't really enough time for me to drive to Graf, drive home, drive back to Graf and drive home again.  After rehearsal on Wednesday, Mr. Pete, the director informs me that Tammy, Todd's duet partner for The First Noel is EXTREMELY sick and that she likely won't be able to sing with Todd for the actual performances.  Todd will have to do a solo.  Panic sets in.  He really doesn't want to do a solo!  I can't let this happen, I need to intervene!  So I ask Pete if he needs someone else to sing with Todd.  He asks if I can sing.  I say, "Well, not really but I guess I'm not super awful." HA!

This is the story of how I wound up on stage at the Grafenwoehr Performing Arts Center's Holiday Musical Revue, 2016. 

Thankfully I only had to sing THIS ONE SONG with Todd.  Pardon everything about this video.  My poor singing.  Grant's not-so-awesome videography skills.  We told him that he can't zoom in and out because you lose audio when that happens.  He zoomed in and out anyway.  My microphone was entirely too low, compared to Todd's. The whole thing!  Admittedly though, this (the Saturday evening show) was the better of our two performances. 

Meanwhile THIS CHILD was incredible.  Not only did she sing her heart out, but notice the little curtsy at the end.  I'm so, so, so proud of her!  She wasn't even nervous at all!

Meanwhile, I'm nervous enough to need a cheat sheet.  To be fair, I only used this on the first night.

We had to be there about an hour and a half before the show started.  Everyone wanted to practice!

Josh belting out sleigh ride.  Natalie looks bored ha ha!

Josh's son Caleb had several songs in the show.  He was pretty darn good!

Because Todd's singing partner Tammy was so sick, Director Mr. Pete had to take over to sing Gloria.

The hardest song (range wise) of the night was Oh Holy Night, sung by Tina.  Bravo to her for even attempting this one!  I was really impressed!

Josh kind of loves being on stage. Here he is at the end of Sleigh Ride.

This was the sweetest rendition of Silent Night that I have ever heard.  These kids worked so darn hard and performing in front of a crowd isn't easy!  I don't even know these kids and I was so proud of them all!

Todd had one line in the movie.  He originally had two songs, but Pete decided to scrap one at the last minute.  Todd was VERY thankful.  Oh wait!  The name of the song was Thankful!  HA!  Seriously though... Todd CRUSHES his one line.  And then Tiffany comes in with her insanely beautiful voice and sings, "Believe."

I'm really disappointed.  I thought I took video of Cletis Reaves singing What Child is This... and I can't find it on my phone or camera.  It was really amazing.  He literally gave me goosebumps!

And now for the tear jerker of the night, the closing song... I'll Be Home For Christmas by SSG Frank Brown. 

Natalie got some flowers from her daddy.  Here she is with Lakon (who sat on one side of her during the show) and Kayla (who sat on the other side of her during the show). 

Total hams, these kids!  Until next year, GPAC Holiday Musical Revue!  And maybe we'll even get Grant to join in next year!

Liverpool, England

The last stop on our whirlwind tour of England and Wales was Liverpool, home of the Titanic and the Beatles! 

This little bus says Bailey on the back!  What?  We need this!  I spotted this on the drive from Colwyn Bay to Liverpool!

There were no signs welcoming you back to England from Wales.  We think this might have been the border.  See the Welsh dragon?  It's one of the symbols of Wales.

The Welsh language is so difficult.  Say what???

Another symbol of Wales is the sheep.  They are EVERYWHERE.  When we drove TO Wales, it was nighttime so we didn't really get a sense of this.  Driving out of Wales, it was very plain to see!

I don't know why I found this place amusing.  The Dead Crafty Beer Company! 

The Liverpool Waterfront.  When we first arrived, we weren't able to check into our hotel for several hours so we parked the car in the hotel car park and went exploring.

Quintessential Liverpool.  We all live in a yellow submarine.  Or maybe the RMS Titanic. Either way.

The kids went crazy when they saw that Liverpool has a massive Ferris wheel.  Oh greaaaat.  Mommy's favorite thing.  Heights!

American hot dogs out of an American school bus in Liverpool.

Walking across the bridge to grab something to eat near the Ferris Wheel.  We walked across Keel Wharf... and I just love that they have ring floatation devices, just in case!

We stopped at Pizza Express right under the Ferris Wheel.  While the food was actually pretty good, the service was incredibly slow.  I think we spent two hours here, at least.  We later learned that there are potentially ZERO restaurants in Liverpool that give fast or attentive service. It was seriously comical!

Albert dock.  I love the Nerf gun dart-esque pillars!

The tall ships are currently docked at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  We didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't get to explore them.

This is ONE COOL MUSEUM.  I highly recommend it.  We didn't have enough time to see the whole thing but the Titanic/Lusitania exhibits are certainly must-sees when you are in Liverpool! 

I think they're strong enough to pick up this anchor, don't you?

This museum is FREE.  Did you hear me?  FREE!  We happened upon a little hands on presentation they were giving about the clothing people wore at the time of the Titanic's sailing.  We would have been second class travelers, so perhaps Todd might have worn a hat like this!

Fancy hats from 1912. 

With her radiant beauty, Natalie would have certainly been a first class passenger, likely married to a wealthy Earl or Viscount.

Tall ships at the dock as seen from the window of the Titanic exhibit.

Pictures weren't allowed in the exhibit, but I couldn't resist!  This is one of the actual life vests from the Titanic, as well as the uniform of a maid who had worked on the ship.  These things were saved and eventually donated to the museum.

These objects are actual objects obtained from the sea floor where Titanic has been resting since that fateful April night in 1912.  I can't believe everything was in such good shape!

After the Titanic exhibit, we were looking around at other things when Natalie spotted this and said, "Alabama is always number one in everything!"  (This of course comes after Alabama beat Auburn in the Iron Bowl the day before!)  Touché!

Iceberg ahead!  Turn on the thrusters and throw her in reverse!  (The kids:  "What is this thing?")

Liverpool getting into the holiday spirit at the Pumphouse by the docks.

I swear we've been on every darn carousel in every city we've been to in Europe!  This one was playing Christmas music, and Natalie got a horse named Oreo (her favorite thing in the world!)

This little guy.  Isn't he the cutest!?  This carousel was surprisingly fast.  Hold on, little buddy!

I liked the reflection of the Ferris wheel and the building/lighted trees on the water.

The runner up for slowest service ever went to The Smugglers Cove.  But again, the food was pretty good (and I even had a Sam Adams!) so we'll have to give them a pass.  Look at this thing!  It's a big skewer of meat and veggies.  At the top, they have a cup of melted butter that they pour at the top and it goes dripping down all over the food.  I could actually hear myself gaining weight! HA!

Todd and I were kind of high fiving each other on my fantastic lodging choices thus far on the trip.  Of course, before dinner, we had gone back to our hotel (the Hampton Inn) only to find they did not have water or electricity.  They sent us over (across the street, but still a pretty good walk) to the Jury's Inn where they had already reserved us a room.  When we got to the room, there was only places for three people to sleep.  Ummm, but there are four of us!  So we had to go back downstairs, and finally got a double room (which Todd had the manager of the Jury's call the manager of the Hampton and ask if we would still be reimbursed for this since Jury's doesn't have any rooms that accommodate four people!).  What a mess!  The Jury's was very nice though, and we had this nice view of the Echo Wheel!  Of course... even though it was supposed to open at 10, they were doing some maintenance on it and we couldn't go.  That'll teach us to postpone doing something fun with the kids!

It's a kid sized car!  I feel like Mr. Bean would be driving this...

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Liverpool Cathedral.  It took 74 years to build and was only completed in 1978!  The total length of the building (including the Lady Chapel) is 187 meters, making it the longest in the world!  (Check!)  As for overall volume, it's the fifth largest in the world.

The kids did NOT want to see yet another church.  But did you know that the bell tower is the largest, and also one of the tallest, in the world?  And did you know that at 67 meters high, the bells of Liverpool Cathedral are the highest and heaviest ringing peal in the world?

The inside is also very impressive and the cathedral itself has a very interesting story.  Back in the very early 1900s, architects were invited to submit plans for a new cathedral.  In the end, a very young 22-year-old man with ZERO actual architectural experience named Giles Gilbert Scott. Even when they discovered he was Roman Catholic (gasp!), they still chose to keep him as the architect of this Anglican church.

Back in the children's chapel, the kids made little paper ornaments to hang on a tree with prayers for their Pop Pop (my dad) who had a blood clot on Thanksgiving day and had to spend a few days in the hospital.  God Bless Pop Pop!

"Please save Pop Pop, God bless him!"  (Pop Pop, maybe Natalie thinks your soul needs saving!?! Har har!)

The alter area of Liverpool Cathedral.

Up near the alter, looking back at the longest church in the world (the Lady Chapel is behind me and to the left).  I love the advent wreath on the right.

I'm a sucker for some beautiful stained glass.

While the Earl of Derby (Edward Stanley) is not actually buried here (recent laws state that bodies can no longer be buried in churches, although Westminster is one exception to that rule for the burial of royalty), they do have a little area dedicated to him.  He was Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1911 and 1912.

Lord Derby's little monument has some pretty crazy bronze sculptures on it.  This is a pretty popular pub name (the Eagle and Child) due to a legendary tale about a baby boy found in an eagle's nest and adopted by a noble family.  This eagle and child are on the Derby family crest. There was a nice man who worked at the church who told us ALL about the Derby family!

Next stop, some famous Beatles locations!  Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs...  or just a sweet little girl and her daddy.  She kind of likes the Beatles, so she wanted her picture taken here, while her brother sat in the car!

An interesting story about the beginning of Penny Lane (the literal, physical beginning of the street where you see me here).  Bobby Dykins, John Lennon's mother's common-law husband (since she never divorced his actual father) was killed in a car crash right here.

Menlove Avenue, the street that John Lennon spent most of his childhood.

I kid you not when I tell you that I snapped this picture out of the car window on our way to the airport.  John Lennon's childhood home at 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool.  Yoko Ono purchased the house in 2002 and donated it to the National Trust.  Lennon lived here with his aunt and uncle from the age of five until he was 22.

They're so cute sometimes.  Why can't they just always get along!?  We made the short drive back to Manchester airport, returned the rental car and had time to grab some early dinner since our flight was delayed. 

This was such an incredible trip.  I really love Great Britain (and Ireland, my favorite place on the planet!) so I'm REALLY looking forward to going back!  Until next time, Great Britain!