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