'Not a stupid 'Off the beaten Path' title'
He didn't expect the tunnel to end so suddenly.'Tagalong Ragamuffins'
I think this is only the second time I've actually posted a picture with people in it.... Sam and Ashlan. On a bench.'I guess you just had to be there...'
Shout-out to the lover of youth!
'I was racing with this cloud...'
And then I noticed it looked like a spaceship had just taken off. See? Like, the big 'Poof' and then the trail? Cool, I know...Dave and Anne:
Brenna and Cameron's talks were brilliant, funny and inspiring...
Dave wanted to get shots today of me with my Live and Learn friends, but life was so full that we only got a few!
So here is me and Madeline...she is SUCH a sweetheart...
Me and Mindy...Mindy and I had some good conversations and I'm so thankful for that...also thankful that I got to make cootie catchers with her Ella and her Max!
I didn't get any photos of the roundtable talk that Ren and I did on Friday, which was pretty powerful and wonderful, but here are some of Cameron and Brenna's roundtable...
(And here is the conference photographer, T.J....Dave and I felt it was important to get a photo of *him*, since he's the one always getting photos of everyone else...)
Kathy and I at our FAVORITE restaurant (please note the sarcasm...the Blue Ridge Assembly cafeteria was truly the only real challenge I faced every day...and how ironic that we're at an unschooling conference and we are handed the challenge of what I felt was the worst part of school!!) ...But it was SO great to meet Kathy and hang out with her...she felt like someone I'd known already for a very long time...
Quinn and Fire...giving me an awesome pose...
My kids and their friends up at Lee Hall...
While I'm inside doing cootie-catchers again with the awesome kids (and their awesome parents!)...
I love that even the teens wanted to make cootie catchers!
(I'll have to check with Mindy to see if the fortune that she got from Ella's cootie catcher several times actually came true...did anyone else see if Mindy turned into a vampire on Saturday night??)Jake found left over bags from the puppet funshop and he made his own...
I love this little girl. We were thinking of fortunes to write in her cootie catcher...and she would just light up and say something like, "You will have a SUNSHINE DAY TODAY!!" and she'd just SMILE so big, thinking of her beautiful fortune!!
J: (Hurray for badly made paper-bag puppets named Snugglecat!)Preparing for the Masquerade Ball...in a hurry, as our trip to town for pizza took longer than we had planned...
The group photo in front of Lee Hall...
It took me a minute to figure out who was behind this mask...(it was Logan...)...
James...
Back down to Washburn for the dance...this is Sally (from Nightmare Before Christmas...aka Kelli) and Jake and I...(sadly, I did not get a photo of Kelli as Kelli, but it was so great to see you, Kelli, and connect a bit with you and your honey!)...
Ronnie and Frank. I have loved Dragonfly for years, and I finally got to hug her in person...and her Frank is one awesome dude, too...we just love them both...
And there's Mindy!! Lookin' pretty HOT (and very UNlike a vampire...::phew!!:)...
Ava, Jake, Sam, Maeve and Ashlan...
Kelly and Ben...
Brenna...
Dave and I!! Darn...I wish we had gotten a family photo for our Christmas pictures!!
James and Robyn...
Bill and Renee...
Broc and Gail...
Lissy looking stunning...
Jake and Maeve...I loved the lighting outside...
Dave and I dancing to Michael Jackson's *Thriller*!!...(and to think we almost left!!)...
OK...Cameron...you have helped me to walk closer to crossing off something else on my Vision Board! Learning the *Thriller* dance has been on my board for some time...and now I just googled *Thrill the World* (as you told me to do!) and ordered the DVD!! THANK YOU! I will be dancing the Thriller at the Shine Conference in 2009!!
And below, ladies and gentlemen, is one photo that successfully fulfills its job of representing the MOST FUN NIGHT OF DANCING EVER.
Dave and I left the dance, thinking we had had enough. We were getting up at 5 a.m. the next morning to drive home, and nothing was packed. So we headed to our room to pack and load the truck.
Jake and Sam and Maeve and Ashlan showed up at our room (always a wonderful surprise!)...and we all had some champagne, listened to Girlyman and talked as we finished packing and loading.
We had to go back to the location of the dance to pay for Jake's auction basket that he won (the Mike Biskup basket!), so we headed over there.
We walked into Washburn and the music was playing and the lights were flashing and there were only a few people dancing...so we walked in and immediately got drawn INTO the GROOVE and ended up dancing our HEARTS out for the rest of the dance! The.Most.Fun.Ever. (I know I say that a lot on this photo blog, and what a wonderful life where SO many things we do are The.Most.Fun.Ever!)...
Dave and I were having such a great time...no way or thought to take any photos...
But then *Bohemian Rhapsody* came on...and Dave and Ren were so passionately singing and dancing...OhMyGod...it was hysterical...and I SO needed a photo of that...
(Awesome...right?...!!)
Great party. Great dance. The greatest conference closing ceremony ever.
Thank you, Kelly, for this gift, for these connections, for this fun and amazing time.
"It's something unpredictable,
But in the end, it's right...
I hope you had the time of your life..."
Yes, we all had the time of our lives...
