Hi all!

I realized I forgot to post the photo of what our van looked like before it had any of our personal belongings packed into it.  Here it is:

 

Just to reiterate - that was BEFORE we had any of our stuff in there.  That is all show supplies!! When we left Olympia, Stephanie was so proud of me for only having one suitcase for my clothes.  Well, Steph - now we have one suitcase for both of our clothes combined.  Although, I can't claim it's a very fair distribution...  Thankfully, we are packing experts and were able to Tetris in quite a bit of our stuff - including our ukuleles.  Priorities, you know.

We had great auditions here in Faulkton.  A much smaller group this week - 30 kids auditioned, and we ended up with 32 in our cast after adding a couple who were not able to attend the auditions.  So, we have had the opposite challenge this week, trying to double cast and redistribute lines to fewer people.  At least we didn't have to turn anyone away though!  The kids are working hard and are very enthusiastic. 

It is definitely fun being in a small town culture.  You have to love a place where everyone knows exactly who you are simply because you are the ONLY person they don't know! 

We went to find a place for dinner after rehearsal last night, and naturally google searched nearby restaurants.  We selected one we had heard the locals talking about.  I called to make sure they'd still be serving dinner when we got there, as we knew it was a few miles out of town.  When the woman picked up the phone, I asked, "How late do you serve dinner?"  And she said, "Well, how late are you comin'?" She explained that you sometimes closed by 10, (it was well before 10), but that she'd always stay open if she knew people were coming.  As it turned out, it took us 30 minutes to get there!!  We were sort of in shock - (30 minutes!), but I guess it was good that I called.

I promise we will be exploring Faulkton further and posting some pictures.  But until then, I will leave you with a few of my favorite "Kids say the Darnedest Things" moments thus far.

*This one was from two weeks ago in Sioux Falls.  We have a scene of Forest Animals in the show, and we had this adorable little guy playing Deer #2.  The forest animals do not get scripts, so they learn all their lines audibly, by me saying it, and them repeating it back until they remember it.  This method is fairly successful.  In this case, the line was - "I'm Mule. How do you do?"  He repeated it back to me several times correctly during the memorizing process.  So, we go to run the scene, we get to his line, and he declares boldly - "I'm Gordon.  Nice to meet ya!"  I smiled and said - "Perfect!!"  And he was Gordon for the rest of the week.  I still don't know if he made a conscious decision to change his character's name or not.  I'm pretty sure he thought he was absolutely right, which makes me happy.

*Upon casting the show, we hand out a letter about the schedule, attire, important info etc.  And we always say  - "Take this home and give this to the most responsible person in your household."  This week, after announcing that, a little 6-year-old says - "I don't know why my Dad isn't responsible.  He's just NOT."  I got a good chuckle about that.

And lastly...
*After we announced the roles this week, we had a little man who raised his hand about 6 times to double check the schedule.  He was really focusing on which days he needed to come to both sessions.  (We have two two-hour sessions with a 30 minute dinner break in between.  So, if kids are called for both sessions, they bring a sack dinner.)  After I explained his schedule to him (and re-explained it a few times), I noticed him crying on his way out the door.  I intercepted him before he left, afraid he thought his part was too small, and asked him what was wrong.  Breaking down, he said to me - "I don't have to eat dinner here tomorrow or the next day, so I don't think my Dad is going to let me have a Lunchable."  And he was really crying now.  Really crying.  So, I said, "Well, why don't you tell your dad you need to bring it for your snack break."  And he replied, "No...it's the big one.  I don't think he's gonna let me."  I reminded him that he was playing the Bear - my very favorite part in the show!  (Secret:  they are all my very favorite part in the show.)  And that seemed to cheer him up.

As Harrison pointed out - if not getting a Lunchable is enough to make you cry, then you are living a pretty great life.

Love and endless Lunchables to you,
Carolyn & Harrison

Hello, Faulkton!

I am happy to announce we have officially begun our tour!  We arrived in Faulkton, SD earlier today, and will begin our week with the kids tomorrow.  For those of you who have not been studying your South Dakota geography, I have marked Faulkton on this map with a gold star.

 

We rolled into town and went directly to the school where we had a meeting with our contact person to go over a few things.  Then we got to meet our hosts for the week.  We are staying with a lovely couple who live right across the street from the school.  Convenient!  From what we have seen so far, Faulkton seems to be a wonderful place to kick off our tour, and we look forward to exploring this sweet, little town further.

 

Backing up a little bit...

The school we were supposed to be at this past week rescheduled, so we spent the week at the home office doing a random assortment of jobs - sewing, sorting, cleaning, manual labor (Harrison only...of course.)  We definitely found ways to amuse ourselves...



 
 

 

 

 Anyway...

 

 We also took the opportunity to walk around Sioux Falls a little bit.  The downtown is riddled with interesting art work, primarily sculptures.  They have an annual Sculpture Walk which is displayed year-round.  I believe this year there were 55 sculptures.  It is really neat and adds such a dynamic element to their downtown.  We didn't get a chance to see all of them, because it was rainy the day we were out, but we loved what we did see.

 

 

Then we drove over by the Washington Pavillion.  This is the local Performing Arts center, which also offers classes, camps, and events in science and visual arts.  It is actually located in the building where my grandma went to high school!  And I found these magical trees wearing sweaters!  Amazing.

 



 

 

So, send us good vibes as we continue this journey.  We will keep you posted!

Now, I need to go watch the tail end of the Seahawks game which we were lucky enough to watch most of here.  (I say "most of" because I kept making Harrison switch back to Miss America.)  Go hawks!

 

Love,

Carolyn and Harrison



Family fun and tourist time

Before I tell you about our weekend, I forgot perhaps my favorite detail of the show last week.  Two, (count 'em, 2), kids lost teeth backstage during the performance.  At photo call, Jen had to make an announcement that went something like this - "Thanks for coming to the show, and remember, if you have a tooth in my pocket - PLEASE get it back before you leave." We will have to keep a running total of teeth lost throughout the year.

So, on Friday - after on of the longest days ever - we hit the road for Madison.  It is about a 7 hour drive, but we are so excited to be this close to my family, we didn't care in the least.

 

 

 

 We hadn't been there an hour before I had a Spotted Cow beer served in a Cheesehead mug in my hand.  And I knew I was home.  I spent the rest of the evening helping my sister win a puzzle competition...naturally.

The next day, my brother and Julia (his fiancé) came over from Milwaukee.  We spent a good portion of the afternoon mastering the art of Shuffleboard - the sandy, bar-ish, table version, not the long stick, retirement home version.  It was pretty intense, as you can see here...

Dan and Julia say that a shuffleboard table will be the first piece of furniture in the first house they buy.  Can't wait.  I love them for having their priorities straight.

At dinner, my brother decided to make an elaborately awkward gesture.  (And I know about awkward.) He slowly and dramatically back his chair away from the table, very loudly scraping his chair against the concrete ground.  When we asked what he was doing, he made no response, only continued to stride toward my sister and I who were seated on the opposite end of the table, stopping only to give my sister's boyfriend a quick shoulder massage.  At this point we are all very confused. and frankly a little concerned.  He bent down to - wait for it - unbutton his cargo short pockets, and pulled two identical boxes out, which he presented to us.  (We found out later that he had alphabetized them in his pockets.  So resourceful.)  To make a long story...long...Julia gave us adorable knot bracelets and asked us to be bridesmaids!!

 

Needless to say, we are super excited.  I am floored at her generosity in including us and I cannot wait to be such an integral part of their special day in June.  And Dan definitely gets extra points for that perfect delivery.  It is certainly a moment we will never forget. :)

Sunday was full of football, thus it was extremely stressful.  I tried my best to combat all the tension and aggression by playing cards and receiving as many backrubs as possible. Mom is convinced the Packers lost because she didn't iron her Packers shirt before putting it on.  For anyone who has ever wondered where my antics come from, I think we have our answer. 

On Monday, we headed back to Sioux Falls, but not before making a VERY important stop in Middleton at...

The National Mustard Museum!!!!  (Note Harrison's sassy hand-on-the-hip pose.)

 

They had...lots of Mustard...

 

Like...a lot of mustard.  And a Mustard Piece Theatre.  Which is clever.  We did learn one particularly amusing anecdote.  As the story goes, Serfman Mars was the only son of the owner of Germany's largest mustard factory.  "Serfman" literally translates to "Mustard Man".  When Serfman decided to leave for America to make a fortune, he vowed to his parents to continue the family tradition of making great German mustard.  Then he met the love of his life, and she had always dreamed of marrying a candymaker who could satisfy her sweet tooth.  So, Serfman, caught in a catch-22 founded the Mars Candy Company, but created the yellow M&M bearing an "M" for both "mustard" and "mother".  The things you learn at the Mustard Museum.

 

Then...no, it's not over yet...we set out for Sioux Falls.  Before we got there though, we exited the highway in search of a Dairy Queen.  What we found was so much better...

 

Thank you, Blue Earth, MN.

 

 

Then, of course, this happened.

 

 

 

And don't worry - we also found a Dairy Queen.

 

Love,

C&H

 









Hi Friends!

I have been absent...again.  But here I am.  And I cannot apologize.  We had the craziest of weeks.  And while I really couldn't spare a moment to blog, that is not even my excuse.

Honestly - we had a really difficult time this week, and I wanted to be able to have a complete experience and process it before sharing it with you all.

There were a lot of situational factors that worked against us this week.

First and foremost, it was our first time.  I guess this is unavoidable, but still...  As we become more familiar with the way rehearsals are run and the show itself, our task will become much more manageable.

Additionally, because of Labor day, our week was one day short.  Needless to say - when you are attempting to mount a production with 55 kids, one day is extremely valuable!

Aaaaaand, of course, it was 96 degrees on Friday and we had to convince the school to turn the air conditioning off in the gym, as it made a loud droning hum, making it impossible to hear the children.  So...we had the entire school and a bunch of parents in the gym on a ridiculously hot day.  I sure hope they enjoyed perhaps the sweatiest version ever of Campfire Tales.  (They seemed to, with the exception of the small child who was coloring on the floor with a green crayon for the majority of the afternoon.)

The bottom line is we survived (with a LOT of help from our Deb and Jen), the kids did a GREAT job, and we know we have a TON of growing to do, but we are ready and excited for it.

We know this will definitely be a process.  No one ever promised it would be easy, and we are love a challenge.  So, we are going to focus on working hard and enjoying the journey.

Love,
Carolyn (And Harrison)

Ps. Tomorrow's post will be about our weekend trip to Madison to see my family.  Spoiler alert: there were shananigans.

A picture from one of our students.  "Join the Campfire Tales."

I know I already posted.........but I wanted to sneak one more in here before midnight because we are feeling very reflective today.

Today, September 2nd, is the anniversary of Harrison's car accident.

Most of you reading this probably know that Harrison was involved in a life-threatening car accident 7 years ago.  What you may or may not know, is that he was driving back up to South Dakota to do this exact Children's Theatre tour when it happened.  It was even the same show that we are doing now.  A little spooky, but mostly really incredible.

It gives me chills to think how the circular nature of life has led him back to this experience, and although he had a really great friend who would have done the tour with him in 2006, I am thrilled and honored to be his tour partner this time around.

A lot has changed since the accident.  Harrison has been lucky enough to make almost a total recovery.  And while we will never know exactly why he was tested in that way, one thing is clear - we are where we are meant to be right now.  And I feel grateful, today and everyday, to have this man by my side.

I believe that was satisfactorily sappy.  Sweet Dreams.
C

  

Oh no!  See what I have done?  Not even a week in, and I already skipped a few days and now have to do a catch-up post.  (I am tempted to try to work in a horrible pun about "Ketchup" and Frys, but I can't quite make it work...)  Do not lose faith in my blogging!  We have plenty to report.

Let's begin with Friday, AKA: the most stressful day of my earthly life thus far.  Most of you know I am a master of exaggeration, but this might actually be the truth.  This was the day of our first auditions.  Apparently, when the Dakota Players had initially approached the school, the Principal (she is wonderful, by the way) was fairly certain they could get 20 students to sign up, as this is the minimum number necessary to do our show, but she doubted they would even fill a cast of 50 students.  On Friday, we had 147 students audition.

The multi-purpose room/cafeteria was unavailable, so we were in the music room.  It was about average elementary classroom size.  So, you can imagine our excitement/horror when 91 children piled in for our first session - the K, 1st, and 2nd grade audition.  Even the most basic elements of the audition model (e.g. standing in a semi-circle) were rendered impossible.  The next hour and half are etched into my memory as a sweaty, noisy, spinny, chaotic blur. I remember more than one moment in which I considered resigning on the spot. (Mostly kidding. Mostly.) Harrison remembers a particularly vivid moment in which he approached me in the middle of the circle, as I was actively auditioning children, and asked, "So, what are you thinking? What are you doing here?"  I looked at him with eyes full of sheer panic, and said "Oh no...I don't know what I'm doing!!!" And then I just walked away from him. Ha! When all was said and done, the bell rang.  And after, a few moments of stunned silence, Jen assured us that this was not a normal experience, and that they would not all be as hectic as this particular experience. That comforted my heart.

Don't get me wrong though - the kids were awesome!  It was only difficult because of the volume of people, and  I can't really complain about that, as it reflects an overwhelming enthusiasm for the arts.  I am proud that that many kids showed up and I wish we could have used all of them. We got a really great cast though and we are pumped to start working with them on Tuesday.

Saturday and Sunday were spent in rehearsal - going over all the blocking and choreography for the show, and detailing the exact process of teaching the material and running the rehearsals.  Long days, ingesting lots of information!  We have had the advantage of using the younger boys we are staying with and an assortment of their friends in mock-audition and mock-rehearsal situations.  What good sports!  I just hope their friends continue to want to have play-dates at their house. :)  

Another reason I missed a few days of blogging was that MY MAMA CAME TO VISIT!!!!!  It was very exciting, hence the CapsLock.  We spent a couple nights with her decompressing, catching up, and most importantly - laughing.  We are so glad to be closer to my family and cannot wait to see the rest of them.

On Saturday evening, we headed over to Falls Park, which centers around the Falls of the Big Sioux River.  It was gorgeous.  Seriously.

                    We climbed to the top of the observation tower and this was the view from up there:

The view from the other side of the tower included the meat-processing plant where my Great Uncle Don worked for a year.  I did not take a photo of that.

Way to go Sioux Falls!  This looks so impressive.  My Grandma was shocked when she saw this park earlier this year.  She lived in Sioux Falls while growing up, and apparently this area was just an unorganized mess.  They have certainly made some major improvements. The tan open-air structure in the far upper Left corner is the remains of an old mill which they use for Shakespeare performances and other arts-related endeavors.  There is a music-in-the-park concert series during the summer, and they were jammin' away when we were out there.  Don't worry - we danced.

                            Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, of course: I swallowed a bug.  Harrison took a photo.

 Also, it is really warm here.  The past couple days have been cooling down a bit, but last week it was almost 100 degrees every day.  A lot of districts closed school or cancelled recess because of heat.  When I called Claire, I told her how hot it was and she said, "I bet you have some sunscreen!!"  To assuage her fears, and yours, we DO have sunscreen.

We have been rehearsing at Augustana College.  The students were moving in this week - very exciting times!  So, on our lunch break, Harrison and I laid out some towels on the grass and did some serious people-watching.  I figure we should soak up the sun while we can.

Busy times around here.  Hope all is well where you are.  Be back soon.
Love,
Carolyn and Harrison