Choir Tour - Day 3

Today was another busy, fun-filled day for us. We spent the day in Raleigh, singing and playing all over. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up the vans and headed to the Hilltop Home. The Hilltop Home is a place for severely disabled children. All of these children, ranging in age of three to fourteen live at the home. Many of them face issues such as severe cerebral palsy, respiratory issues, etc. Some of them are completely unresponsive to any form of stimuli, and some of them are hyper-sensitive as well. We had a great time singing for them - we did an abbreviated poem and then a few childhood favorites as well. One little boy danced in his wheelchair whenever the music played; others smiled and watched our kids carefully and you could tell they were enjoying it. After we sang, we got to visit with them; it was so hard to get our kids to leave! For confidentiality reasons, there are limited pictures from that event, but here's one for you:



After we left the children's home, we did the easiest thing we could think of for lunch - food court at a mall. Don't worry, parents: There wasn't enough time to really shop, so no one walked out with too many bags! :) Then we headed to the museum of Natural Sciences. Look how much our kids learned:



Oh well, that's what you get for planning something educational! We then headed to the City of Oaks Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. Some of us were very excited and ready to sing. . . .


Others of us had a little too much fun at the museum. . .


Our kids sang their program for the residents that were there. Taylor finally got to dance as well to one of our songs, "What Love Really Means." We had a very receptive audience.




Afterwards, we got to visit with the residents for a little bit. Our kids do such a great job with this and that makes me so happy, because I believe that is the real reason why we do this. The singing is what gets us in the door, but the visiting, the handshakes, the hugs, the smiles. . . that's what these residents will remember.




I look forward to our kids getting a chance to share their experiences with you. One resident told one of our kids, "I guess this is what I get for never doing what you all do. I never went and visited anyone in a nursing home when I was younger, and now here I am." That statement had quite an impact on her.

We went back to the hotel, showered and changed, did a few makeovers (pictures of those later!), and headed to the Durham Bulls Game.



We had a great time - if you've never had a chance to hang out with these kids, you've got to make time. They are EXTREMELY entertaining. . . . and they sure can make baseball a lot of fun. The chaperones had some fun of our own and had told them that we were singing the National Anthem at the game. Most of the older ones caught on quickly, but several of the younger ones believed it until the end of the game and we had never sung. :)

Here's all (ok, most!) of us after the game. . .


Avery loves baseball - can you see how relaxed he was this evening?


We had a quick devotional when we got back from the game. Most of our kids were wiped out by this point, but you can always count on the chaperones to have some energy left!


We may not have internet at our next stop, but we'll try and keep you updated about the rest of the trip as we go. This afternoon, we're headed to Duck, NC in the Outer Banks! Woohoo!!