I'm going to be a little honest here, I was not looking forward to Cor Unum. Well, I wasn't upset about going, I just remembered how overwhelming it had been the year before with Anni crawling and people and headshots and heat... just, a little much for an anxious mom. Don't worry; though, this year was much, much different... mostly because neither Daniel nor I was there to work. We were at veteran staff training last year and I spent something like 6 hours every day taking head shots. It was a lot of fun to meet so many missionaries, but I think I'm a little relieved that I wasn't able to do it this year. The point is, my dear friends: Cor Unum was
awesome.
It was a retreat of sorts with all kinds of time built in for
fellowship (and free babysitting so couples could hold hands and go to
talks and do beautiful things like that) for FOCUS staff. Well,
there was babysitting if your little one was willing to go to group babysitting in the morning.
Anni declared after the first hour on the first day that that was
so
not happening. However; she did just fine with a babysitter in the
evenings (most likely helped by the fact that she was sleeping), so
there was plenty of hand holding and walking through the quad to be had. I can't really blame her, she was away from home and constantly out amongst a whole bunch of people she either didn't know or only vaguely recalled (a lot of people got called "Zana", Brigie, Jimmy or Aunt Kaekee the first day) when her days are generally just her and me, hanging out.
There were talks in the mornings (after a breakfast I didn't plan, cook or clean up from), followed by a lunch (that, again, didn't have to lift a finger for... cafeteria's are so exciting sometimes!), sometimes naptime, fellowship (can you say photo scavenger hunt? I was a skeptic but totally loved it), Mass and dinner.
Mass, oh, Mass. It was really wonderful to get to go to Mass everyday; however, Mass was generally at 4 or 5 and, well, Anni was not at her best. It was the end of a long day with not quite enough sleep and once she hit her "done" point, Miss Anni just screamed. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes because she could hear her voice echo. We either worked with it, one of us swaying in the back or, on the one day that Anni had dissolved into tears and I was near that point... we decided not to fight the battle and let her run off some energy in the cafeteria. Luckily, we know God understands... especially since it wasn't a Sunday Mass. Sometimes you have to choose your battles. We were in pretty good company in the back the other days: I'm pretty sure every parent had to make a trip back there at some point (and some, like us, rarely left).
After Mass on Thursday, we took a school bus right over to a nearby park for a big ole party. I always thought school buses were the coolest because our school didn't have buses (and if they had, we still would've walked the less-than-a-mile to school). Anni thought it was pretty fun, especially since she had a buckle and could peek around the seat to find me (her daddy shared the seat with her.)
At the party, it was obvious it had already been a long day... and this little sweetheart was getting a catnap before the music started.
They thought of just about everything at this party. There was food (poor Baby, Anni's doll, took a face plant in the mac n' cheese, which Anni is still talking about a week later) and fellowship... it was great to get time to meet some other missionary families that are working across the country!
Bouncy castles? Check! Anni LOVED her first time in one... especially as they had a "big girl swide!" She was pretty devastated when we had to get out to let more people play; but, luckily, there was music to dance to just across the bridge!
And by music I mean the most amazing Cajun band you'll ever hear:
L'Angelus. The four oldest in the family form the band, and when the younger ones are around, they'll occasionally hop on stage to show off a little. They play a mix of swamp pop, oldies, originals and cajun classics. It was a great night with awesome music, dancing, and yes, some good beer (or so Daniel tells me... if I admit I don't like beer, will you think less of me?).
We were definitely exhausted by the time we got back to our beds (did you know a mattress on the floor constitutes a perfectly acceptable ' big girl bed'?), but the next day came just as fast. While Anni did struggle with Mass, she thought the Eucharistic procession was just fine and dandy: outside, Daddy carrying hre, lots of people to watch, yeah, this was a good thing. It really was an incredible witness to our faith, and I love that we were able to include Anni in it.
Two of the three nights we had a babysitter listening for our sleeping girl, we went to talks. The last night we were blessed to go to adoration... just. us. I mean, we actually sang, prayed, sat in the stillness... all by ourselves. God bless our babysitter and God bless Anni for being such an awesome little sleeper.
And then, well, we woke up the next morning, ate bacon, went to one last Mass, had an amazing friend drive us two and a half hours back to the airport (with a stop at
Portillos, um... yum). And that was that. It was a great trip, but we were definitely excited to be home in our own beds. I have three weddings this June, so we're in for a bit of a bumpy ride before things calm down again. Until next time...
