Learning the Ropes

 Today was another fully booked day. After an early breakfast we headed to Pageant Headquarters for a British Music Rehearsal in the morning, followed by a Nauvoo Pageant Blocking rehearsal. There was lots of singing, explanations, and dance steps to be learned! We had a lunch break from 12-2pm where we ate at the cafeteria and headed back to our cabin for a rest. The heat made the children extra tired and they needed a few moments to recoup. On our way to the cabin Sawyer asked, "Are we going back to our shed for a little while?" We all burst out laughing. It was tiny, but not THAT tiny. So it's become a running joke now. "We heading back to the shed, Mom?"

Most of our afternoon was spent at Pageant Headquarters in a dance rehearsal. For the first hour the children went with the family service helpers to do a craft while the adults learned a few group dances from start to finish. When they joined us, we went through the dances with the children's parts added in. We were all tired and sweaty at the end!

We had a little bit of time to eat dinner and then we headed down to the Country Fair to meet up with Grampa and take it all in! Our family was assigned the stick ball station for the rest of the week, so tonight we made sure to check it out and see what we were in for. We were also able to enjoy some of the other games and stations for the evening. 

Just before the pageant began, we were able to go on stage and meet the family who's part we would be playing the following week. Throughout the rest of the evening we were able to watch their positioning on stage and learn a little bit more about where we were going to be during each scene and what we would be doing. 

The Stage for the British Pageant

The family we were learning from on the left

 The dress rehearsal (it was their first time performing it) was so well done! They shared so many great stories and the dances were incredible! It was very engaging (except to Lily who fell asleep in my arms in the first half) and the kids watched it wide eyed and excited. I think they were finally able to catch the vision and understand how much hard work and fun were in store for the week ahead! They chatted non-stop on the way back to our "shed" about how cool the performance was and how they couldn't wait to be the ones on stage!