"Mozeltoff, to the Happy Couple(s)"

The Mouse That Roared

The play we did was "The Mouse That Roared" taken from the book written by Leonard Wibberley. It's a comedy set in the Cold War era. This tiny country, Grand Fenwick, decides to declare war on the United States in order to avoid bankruptcy. Because, as history shows, when a country loses a war with with US, they always spend a great deal of money on rehabilitating that country. So they send a simple-minded backwoodsman, Tully Bascom, with just a few men carrying longbows to invade the US. Then the unexpected happens, instead of all dying or getting captured, they win! It's really a funny story.

The lead girl, Duchess Gloriana XII, was split between 3 actresses just because of the sheer amount of lines and the time we had to learn them. I played the first one, which meant I had to memorize 70 lines in 5 days. It was crazy. But fun.

(below) Tully and his soldiers capturing General Snippet and the Q-Bomb.

I don't know how we pulled it off, but we did. Everything went really smoothly, no one messed up too badly, no one tripped on their dresses or fell down stairs. It was a miracle! Especially since the dress rehearsal was sketchyyy... I was really glad my part was early on so that I could just relax in the second act.

Me with our awesome director April, she really was amazing!

Will, Will (there were way too many people with the same name), Katelyn, and me at the ice cream social after the play.

And that about sums it up! It was a crazy, stressful, fun, stretching, awesome time. I'm definitely glad I went.

PHC Drama Camp

Two weeks ago I went to a week-long summer camp at Patrick Henry College. The night I got there all 32 of us who were involved in the drama camp performed our monologues, did a couple cold read-throughs and then left the three directors to cast us all before morning. I really did not envy their job at all. (above) 5 of the 8 girls in my wing: Hannah M, Sarah, Dana, me, and Hannah S. (Emma and Olivia joined us below)

There were 5 Hannah's at camp, and 3 of them were in my wing, one in each room. It was crazy! There was also another Abigail, which never happens. I've never met another Abigail that was around my age. Ever. They've all been like 3.

Oh, and not to self: don't fall asleep during rehearsal...strange things happen to those who do.

The counselors were all crazy. In a good way of course. :) Here they are all singing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. Natasha, Alan, Jensen, Brooke, Aiden, Matt, (some dude who wasn't a counselor), Tia, Rachel, and Brodie. (James was hiding somewhere)

On Wednesday, they hosted the Mancopancowsouryogurtsuperstar Contest. Don't ask me what it means, because I don't know. But it was their rendition of American Idol. Complete with Paula, Simon, Ryan Seacrest, and some other guy who was definitely not Randy. Each team (there were 5, each comprised of 2-3 wings) had to perform at least one song. Ours, the Wild Lost Dixie Things, sang "Be A Man" from Mulan. We only had about 15 minutes of practice because our schedule was so ridiculously crazy. I'm not sure if it was awesome, or just a complete failure, but at least it was something. And no, we didn't win. :P Thursday was field trip day. We took a bus to Washington DC, all clad in our matching PHC t-shirts. It felt very much like a day care. We so rocked it out though. Sarah and I with our shades (and the ever-present name tags, which we wore all week long).

We went to a theater, got a tour, then spent the rest of our time at the Museum of Natural History. We found these ugly specimens of our ancestors: We were so tired, most of us slept on the bus ride back...or at least tried to. Friday was the play, and I'll post those pics next.

Maine

It's a place we've always wanted to go. A place we'd never been. And so we decided to go camping. In Maine. We hung out by the fire. Smelled like smoke. Sang campfire songs. Made friends with fellow campers. And went trespassing.

We climbed Cadillac Mountain. Enjoyed the view of the islands. And dripped with sweat beneath a blazing sun.

We walked, ran, and jumped off of rocks. Just because we were on vacation and it seemed like a good thing to do.

We laid out at the beach. Froze in the arctic water. And made words out of dried seaweed.

We rode in the car. A lot. Listened to music. Stared out the windows. And took pictures.

We gazed out to sea just before dusk. And even though Thunder Cove didn't thunder, it was pretty just the same.

We ate ice cream. Saw 4th of July fireworks. Walked to a lighthouse. And stood on top of cliffs.

We came back loving Maine.