Another day of skiing has come and gone. I am happy to report, even though we had some hard falls, everyone is in one piece and there are no broken bones. 

As many tried their hand at skiing once again today, others ventured out for other activities of shopping, snow shoeing, and a ride to the top of the mountain on the SnowCat. From the top, the views were breath-taking. It's amazing we have the opportunity to see this part of our country. 

Tonight we went into town for the award ceremony and street dance. Yes, it's 20 degrees and we have an outdoor party. It didn't faze most of them as they were dancing and having such a great time with all of the kids from the other school who participated. 

I know, you're all just holding on waiting to hear the results so I'll not hold it any longer. After singing an amazing performance last night for three adjudicators, they are coming home with a Superior rating, this is the top rating for the festival.  Competing against 6 other choirs in 5A Mixed Choirs, they are bringing home the trophy for Runner Up!  Reading through the judges sheets, one  said "I wish I had more constructive comments but you did it all beautifully".  

It has been another amazing Chamber Choir trip.  Friendships have grown stronger and memories have been made.  This is a wonderful group of kids that you should be proud of to represent Springfield and Kickapoo.  

Day 2:

Exhausted but amazed, this seems to be the theme for chamber choir trips but it is good! 

Today started bright and early with breakfast before heading out on the Gondola to Winter Park Village where we met at 8 to begin ski lessons at 8:30.  There were only 4 people out of the group who had skied before so lessons were a must. Dividing up into groups of 10 we set out and spent a few hours with an instructor learning the basics of skiing. It was so cold and blustery out (it felt like 2 degrees when we started and the actual temps were in the teens) but we all survived and learned a lot. Go ahead, rub in that 80 degree weather in Springfield. At least we're having fun!

After lessons we were free to ski on our own and have lunch in the village. Some returned to the mountain after lunch while others shopped, tubed, and spent some time wandering and relaxing. By the time the final group came off the mountains it was nearly white out conditions with blowing snow and high winds.  Good time to call it a day and wait for brighter weather tomorrow. 

Tonight we headed to Granby, CO for competition.  Warm-ups were at 7 and the performance at 7:20. If you didn't catch us on Facebook, they were amazing!  They sang with so much energy and heart and really showed their love of music.  You should be proud! 

After the performance we headed back to Winter Park for dinner at Hernando's Pizza where we also celebrated Jonathan's birthday with a  sundae and singing. Back to the condos for the night. It has been another very full day for everyone. We are ready to be checked in and get a good nights sleep before one more full day tomorrow.

So for now, good night from Winter Park,
​Kristin

We are excited but we are exhausted, at least the chaperones are. We have arrived in Winter Park, Colorado and the mountains are beautiful and snow covered. 

After the send off concert in the Commons Area at KHS last night, we loaded the bus for a long night of travel. Leaving at 10pm it didn't take long for the bus to quiet for the night. We stopped this morning at 7am for breakfast at a rest stop about 2 hours outside of Denver. Thanks to donations from Panera and parents we filled up on Bagels and snacks to tide us over to lunch. 

We arrived at the Lamont School of Music on the campus of the University of Denver where the kids sang their contest pieces for Dr. Catherine Sailer, the head of choral studies. She worked with them for an hour, all of which you can watch on the choir Facebook page, and she gave them valuable feedback and was very impressed with their sound and song. After a short tour of the beautiful music hall, we loaded the bus, grabbed the box lunch (again thanks to Panera), and were on the road to Winter Park.

So many of the kids have never seen Colorado or the mountains so they really got to see them from all heights including straight down out the side of the bus. 

We arrived in Winter Park, checked into our hotel and off we went to be sized for our skis and boots for tomorrow morning.  Several have chosen to ski while several others are trying their hands at snow boarding. The excitement, nerves, and smiles were fun to watch as they are trying all of the equipment on. 

Free time before a home cooked dinner provided by so many wonderful parents. After, some will hit the outdoor hottub and others will probably crash early.  It has been an exhausting trip so far but with a good night's rest, we'll be ready to go with ski lessons first thing tomorrow morning. We are expected to get 17 inches of fresh new snow beginning tonight through tomorrow night so skiing should be great. No worries. The driver's said roads shouldn't be an issue even with that amount.  

They will perform for contest tomorrow evening.  We will do what we can to live stream to the Facebook page if we are allowed to do so by the festival.  They perform at 7:00 (8:00 Springfield time) so good thoughts would be wonderful. 

For now, as the snow is beginning to fall, stomachs are full, and eyes are heavy...Good night from Winter Park.

(Hot tub pictures will come tomorrow night as I'm having trouble getting them to upload)

Kristin Cornelius