Happy Friday!

I’m linking up today with Andrea  and Erika to share favorites from the last week or so which will all be about the school chorus/band trip Ellie and I went on.

When we first heard of the trip, it was scheduled for Mothers Day weekend, and Brandon insisted I go as a chaperone to get to spend some time with Ellie. He is amazing and held down the house, dogs and Avery while we were gone. It is full on teamwork always around here and I’m so grateful for him.

We loaded the charter bus last Thursday morning and stayed until Sunday morning. When we got to Gatlinburg Thursday night, it was a quick dinner and lights out to be rested for…

Competition day! Our music department in our town is one of the best around. Teachers that take these kids far for competitions (and some fun along the way) they don’t have to do these things but the experiences they give these kids won’t be forgotten. So glad Ellie stepped out of comfort last year to join chorus, it’s been so good for her!

The Jazz Band, Concert Band and Chorus all received superior class awards and 1st in all their divisions for the contest.

We seen a bear;)

Unfortunately this is the only bear we saw there. Outside the convention center there was a bear (or 3) sighting, and then also our mountain tour guide said they had a group see a bear on their mountain tour the day before us.

After competition, we had free time in Gatlinburg so I took a few girls shopping. It was our warmest day and so after a few stores they wanted to hit the pool.

The next day we did a mountain tour (by bus and all praise hands for that because the weather was cold and rainy).

Then we went to Dollywood…

The group of girls I had with me weren’t rollercoaster girls but they did ride a few calm rides.

I was in awe of the flowers. So pretty!

We followed up Dollywood with delivery pizza and swimming until the chaperones shut it down. Ha!

It was a fun weekend with mostly (with an exception of a handful) well behaved middle schoolers.

Have the best weekend!