Kids were up at 8am, of course. I showered and got
somewhat presentable before I met these relatives
(who live in this house) for the first time! They are
cousins to my husband’s father. Really wonderful
people. It was so great to finally meet them.
I kind of forgot it was Mother’s Day. Oops!
My children were so excited to give me the
beautiful cards they had made. They also had a gift
for me, which I wasn’t expecting. I figured my time
away in the studio was what I was getting this year.
They got me my first pair of Tom’s!
Yeah I’ve got the best kids!
After cards and gifts, we sat down to a lovely
breakfast, then spent the rest of the morning catching
up on each other’s lives, talking about music,
watching videos, reminiscing, etc. The kids were
occupied with the game system, and pool table in
their entertainment room.
A while later their daughter and son-in-law came
by with their 3 month old baby to meet us.
The son-in-law, Steve, also happens to be a
producer/studio owner, and is good friends with
Ryan. We hung out with them for awhile, ate some
lunch, then headed back to the studio - around
2:30pm – to finish up.
Crazy ton of people hanging out at the McAllister
residence! We were going to try to finish up quickly
and get out of their hair! Once again the kids ran
around and played while I finished background
vocals on “Not Be Afraid”. We also decided get a
double of the vocals for each song, just in case Ryan
needed anything extra. So I sang through every song
twice – then Erik stepped in to play some cajon.
Ryan has given him the nickname “Sugar Beats”.
From now on, Erik demands to be referred to
only by this name!
I’m going to have acoustic versions of 4 songs to
have as representation for my live sound without
a full band. Erik tracked cajon for “Eyes of a Child”
and “March On”. We already have the acoustic
versions of “Run Free” and “The Rainbow” so we
just needed these two.
Then…
It…is…finished…done…finito…the end…over…
We invited Erik, his mom, and Ryan’s wife Amanda in
to listen to 3 of the songs. Everyone sat in awe…
Time to pack up. The kids were soaked because
it had been raining and they were jumping on the
trampoline, and not caring one bit. It took forever
to get everyone cleaned up, loaded up, and goodbyes
said. Everyone was falling apart – including me!
We pulled out sometime around 6pm.
We grabbed some quick dinner shortly after
crossing back into the US. Made the 9:40pm
ferry home. Erik’s mom leaves in the morning,
and it’s back to real life. This is going to be very
difficult. I think this will be the toughest re-entry
for me. It’s going to take a while!
Although I am so sad this part of the journey has
come to a close, I am immensely grateful that I
even had the chance for this opportunity.
This is truly a dream come true, and I would not be
doing this with out the love and support of my
family, friends, fans, and Kickstarter donors.
Onto the next stage…