The Poconos
Michael got the chance to break in his new lights at Catholic Underground. He has been waiting for the right opportunity to set up, program, and test out the lights in his live show. This young adult ministry had just the right space and time as well as a crowd that would appreciate them!
Michael has also been teaching Gabriella how to use our DSLR. She is getting her first lessons on focus, ISO, f-stop, and aperture. She is definitely in the beginning phase, but her shots are getting better each day! I'll include some of them below and as they get better, I am sure that there will be more posted.
After the weekend, we opted for a water-front campground. Virginia Landing had some great amenities: water front view, a playground that had a ship (a priority for MJMJ), and a huge lodge with billiards, ping-pong, and air hockey (all for free!). However, it also had some things that were less than desirable.
The place was HUGE. We drove 8 miles on a private lane to get to the ranger shack! I have gotten used to asking for a site close to the playground so I can send the kids to run and still keep a close eye on them. I asked the ranger where the playground was and her response was that it was about a MILE AND A HALF past the ranger shack! The lodge was even further than that! There was a weird residential section between the campsites and the amenities. I'll just say that we all got a bit of exercise that week.
Since the place was so secluded, we had almost no cell phone signal. They did offer an internet connection in the lodge. Normally, offering wifi only in the lodge keeps everyone from using it at the same time and we see better speeds. This wifi was SLOW, and I mean 1995 slow. I know this was a resort and people were supposed to be there for a peaceful getaway, but we use the weekdays for booking, blogging, and otherwise uploading and downloading as much as possible. There would be none of that! I was also waiting for an important phone call that I kept missing because I stepped too far to the left or something. Michael would try to call me at the lodge to say that one of the kids was beginning the walk there, but if I was in the wrong spot I would miss the message. It was frustrating.
We decided to abandon our online goals and take advantage of the view. We recorded a portion of the music video for Changed By You. Michael's goal is to release a music video for each of the songs on the Bring Forth the Light album. This is number 5. If you have not had a chance to see the others yet, I encourage you to spend a bit of time on youtube. You'll enjoy it!