In her behalf, I would just like to thank everyone for all their support, she had an incredible time, was able to experience a once in a life time trip and came home with a gold medal from the national competition!
Baylee Palmer, McKenna, Katelyn Parkin, Frecia HoustonBaylee and McKenna competed together with their project of strengthening mother/daughter relationships by hosting a tea party for the cheer squad and their moms. They had a nationally recognized motivational speaker talk and we all had a great evening of bonding with each other. Katelyn and Frecia taught hygiene to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in Panguitch and handed them out all a personal hygiene kit. All of these girls received a gold medal at the national convention! Great job. Also attending the convention from Panguitch were 3 other girls who received a silver medal for their book drive project and the solo young man who received a gold for his project in career choice developement.
McKenna and Baylee holding their poster for their competitive division.
Now that I got the proud mom stuff out of the way, here is the trip from start to finish.
McKenna and Baylee holding their poster for their competitive division.
Now that I got the proud mom stuff out of the way, here is the trip from start to finish. Leaving from Panguitch - Dallin Bennett, Frecia Houston, McKenna, and Katelyn Parkin
After leaving from Panguitch late on July 2nd, arriving in Cedar to see the new Eclipse movie, and then staying overnight in St. George, the crew all arose early - around 5 am to catch the shuttle to Las Vegas for their morning flight to Chicago!
McKenna and Baylee in awe over their first airplane trip.
The Chicago River runs 156 miles through Chicago and is also know as the Chicago Loop. The river flows south away from Lake Michigan and towards the Mississippi River. The river is know for it's blue/green color and is dyed every year for St. Patricks Day.
Baylee, Katelyn and McKenna at the wonderful lobby of the Hyatt Motel.
Skyline view of Chicago.
Katelyn, McKenna, Dallin, Baylee, and Frecia at the Navy Pier
Lighthouse as seen from Navy Pier.
Navy Pier. It was build in 1916, it is one of Chicago's main attractions.
I love this photo of McKenna. I believe she is on a ferris wheel found at Millenium Park.
The Bean at Millenium Park. Actually it's real name is Cloud Gate, but has been dubbed the Bean because of it's shape. It is compsed of 168 stainless steel plates welded together and is so highly polished that it's exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet and weighs 110 tons. Cloud Gate is inspired by liquid mercury. You can walk all the way underneath it and around it and the crew had alot of fun with pics beneath it's mirror-like surface.
This is a view from under the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The Pritzker Pavilion is the home of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Grant Park Music Festival. The Pavilion also is home to many musical and performing arts events.
I wish I knew the name of this fountain, I tried to google it, but came up empty handed. It is also in Millenium Park and in my opinion, these 5 great youth are even more amazing the fountain behind them.
When McKenna showed us this picture I commented that it was odd, that in such a large city, there is not one car visible. I didn't even see the few people walking in the lower right corner until much later. Just an eerie pic considering the size and population of the city!
When McKenna got home, one of her impressions she shared with us was all the different architectural styles she saw.
A chapel, it looks like build more up than anything, I am guessing because of space constraints.
Another impressive building that caught McKenna's eye.
A view of the Chicago skyline from the vantage of a double decker bus.
Baylee, Frecia, McKenna and Katelyn on their whilwind (sp?) double decker bus tour.
One of their sight seeing stops was the Shedd Aquarium. The Aquarium opened in 1930 and contains over 25,000 fish, and was for some time the largest indoor aquarium in the world with 5,000,000 gallons of water. The Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. I think McKenna took more pics here that anywhere else she visited in Chicago!
I guess even the fish have experience posing with the tourists who visit the aquarium!
Certainly the scuba divers cleaning the tanks like to get in on the photo action too!
Katelyn, McKenna and Baylee
Another way these guys experienced city transportation - a trolley ride!
When I first saw this picture, I was sure glad I wasn't there in person. This is from the Sears tower! She certainly doesn't have her dad's phobia of heights!
View of Chicago from the Sears Tower.
Yet another form of city transportation - Subway!
What trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without a baseball game! This one at the US Cellular Field.
It rained quite a bit on the fans, and the game was delayed for a while until the boys could play without getting their uniforms all muddy!
Perhaps the highlight of the trip for the girls was their brunch at the American Girl Doll store. Dallin was patient enough with the tea party, knowing soon he would be visiting Wrigley Field!
Each girl was able to pick a "date" to brunch with. Dallin decided to forego this invitation however and just became the official photo taker for all the girls!
Mmmm, looks good! McKenna said this was one of the best meal she ate in Chicago. It rivaled the stadium style hot dog at the White Socks game and the Chicago pizza they enjoyed their last night there.
OK, so this picture got posted a little out of order, so bear with me. These girls attended a semi formal gala their last night in Chicago. This is so typical of these girls - strike a pose. It is just so them!
Back to the brunch - McKenna posing with her "date"!
Now back to the gala. There were 4 different dance genre floors, different bands, different refreshments. One big national teenage dance-off!
Finally, Dallin got his time too. Fan day at Wrigley Field!
McKenna picking a leaf from the Ivy Wall!
Besides getting to enjoy the sun on the outfield, the kids got to stand on the pictures mound, see the view from the dug out, and visit the locker room!
McKenna said Garrett Popcorn was all over Chicago. I think it made her miss her wonderful, sweet brother, just a little! She also said it was pretty good popcorn!
After leaving from Panguitch late on July 2nd, arriving in Cedar to see the new Eclipse movie, and then staying overnight in St. George, the crew all arose early - around 5 am to catch the shuttle to Las Vegas for their morning flight to Chicago!
McKenna and Baylee in awe over their first airplane trip.
The Chicago River runs 156 miles through Chicago and is also know as the Chicago Loop. The river flows south away from Lake Michigan and towards the Mississippi River. The river is know for it's blue/green color and is dyed every year for St. Patricks Day.
Baylee, Katelyn and McKenna at the wonderful lobby of the Hyatt Motel.
Skyline view of Chicago.
Katelyn, McKenna, Dallin, Baylee, and Frecia at the Navy Pier
Lighthouse as seen from Navy Pier.
Navy Pier. It was build in 1916, it is one of Chicago's main attractions.
I love this photo of McKenna. I believe she is on a ferris wheel found at Millenium Park.
The Bean at Millenium Park. Actually it's real name is Cloud Gate, but has been dubbed the Bean because of it's shape. It is compsed of 168 stainless steel plates welded together and is so highly polished that it's exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet and weighs 110 tons. Cloud Gate is inspired by liquid mercury. You can walk all the way underneath it and around it and the crew had alot of fun with pics beneath it's mirror-like surface.
This is a view from under the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The Pritzker Pavilion is the home of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Grant Park Music Festival. The Pavilion also is home to many musical and performing arts events.
I wish I knew the name of this fountain, I tried to google it, but came up empty handed. It is also in Millenium Park and in my opinion, these 5 great youth are even more amazing the fountain behind them.
When McKenna showed us this picture I commented that it was odd, that in such a large city, there is not one car visible. I didn't even see the few people walking in the lower right corner until much later. Just an eerie pic considering the size and population of the city!
When McKenna got home, one of her impressions she shared with us was all the different architectural styles she saw.
A chapel, it looks like build more up than anything, I am guessing because of space constraints.
Another impressive building that caught McKenna's eye.
A view of the Chicago skyline from the vantage of a double decker bus.
Baylee, Frecia, McKenna and Katelyn on their whilwind (sp?) double decker bus tour.
One of their sight seeing stops was the Shedd Aquarium. The Aquarium opened in 1930 and contains over 25,000 fish, and was for some time the largest indoor aquarium in the world with 5,000,000 gallons of water. The Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. I think McKenna took more pics here that anywhere else she visited in Chicago!
I guess even the fish have experience posing with the tourists who visit the aquarium!
Certainly the scuba divers cleaning the tanks like to get in on the photo action too!
Katelyn, McKenna and Baylee
Another way these guys experienced city transportation - a trolley ride!
When I first saw this picture, I was sure glad I wasn't there in person. This is from the Sears tower! She certainly doesn't have her dad's phobia of heights!
View of Chicago from the Sears Tower.
Yet another form of city transportation - Subway!
What trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without a baseball game! This one at the US Cellular Field.
It rained quite a bit on the fans, and the game was delayed for a while until the boys could play without getting their uniforms all muddy!
Perhaps the highlight of the trip for the girls was their brunch at the American Girl Doll store. Dallin was patient enough with the tea party, knowing soon he would be visiting Wrigley Field!
Each girl was able to pick a "date" to brunch with. Dallin decided to forego this invitation however and just became the official photo taker for all the girls!
Mmmm, looks good! McKenna said this was one of the best meal she ate in Chicago. It rivaled the stadium style hot dog at the White Socks game and the Chicago pizza they enjoyed their last night there.
OK, so this picture got posted a little out of order, so bear with me. These girls attended a semi formal gala their last night in Chicago. This is so typical of these girls - strike a pose. It is just so them!
Back to the brunch - McKenna posing with her "date"!
Now back to the gala. There were 4 different dance genre floors, different bands, different refreshments. One big national teenage dance-off!
Finally, Dallin got his time too. Fan day at Wrigley Field!
McKenna picking a leaf from the Ivy Wall!
Besides getting to enjoy the sun on the outfield, the kids got to stand on the pictures mound, see the view from the dug out, and visit the locker room!
McKenna said Garrett Popcorn was all over Chicago. I think it made her miss her wonderful, sweet brother, just a little! She also said it was pretty good popcorn!All in all, McKenna had a great trip. We were so grateful for her wonderful advisors who brought her home safely to us! She had an incredible time sight seeing, gaining cultural experiences that will last a lifetime, and learning with equally talented youth from all over the nation. We are so proud of you McKenna and love the beautiful young woman you are becoming!
What an amazing experience! I sure hope my kids get to do that one day! McKenna is such a beautiful girl- did she say how many cat calls she received? Lol! :)
ReplyDelete