Camerata in St Louis Day 1

Chaperoning back to back orchestra trips was a wild idea. Not the wisest thing I’ve ever done but the time with Quincy and Corbin had been priceless. This trip was so good for Corbin and I. 

Corbin came and sat with me for a bit on bus rides and then would go back to his friends. He’s such a good buddy. I’ve truly loved being here with him this weekend. 


I brought my uke on this trip too, and it has brought so much entertainment. I learned to play a few popular songs and the kids had a little sing a long on the bus to Count on Me by Bruno Mars, You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift, Riptide by Vance Joy, Three Littke Birds by Bob Marley, and others. Charlie played the Lava Song and Adam K, Lyndia B, and Mary Jane H got the whole bus harmonizing along. The uke has been brought on the bus for quick trips all day and it gets passed around in the evenings in the common spaces. Endless fun. 

Adam K, Corbin (wearing cosmetic only lenses), Charlie and Meredith with Mary Jane and Lyndia, and Neal R. 

First stop: City Museum! This place is “cuckoo bananas” as the kids say. Imagine a cave system, a junkyard, an art installation museum, and a carnival funhouse all merged into one super crazy maze of a playground made out of abandoned busses and airplane parts, shells, and recycled anything and everything. Very cool place. We’ve been here before but it was many years ago 

These little fish in the touch pool eat the dead skin off your hands. Barf. But cool? 
Speaking of barf, one of my sweet church youth got sick and came to sit with me for a bit on the bus. I pulled out a gallon ziplock bag and held it open just in time for them to puke into it. Sometimes being a mother of 7 pays off. I was unphased.  We cleaned up and carried on and most of the bus had no idea we had so much excitement happening up front!

 I was the only female chaperone and while I know many kids grow up in a one parent household, I think the students were all happy there was a mom on board. I was there for an all of the “Mama Meg I cut my elbow. Do you have a hair tie? Will you take our picture? I need a tampon!” moments. I carried sunscreen and kept everyone drinking water and counted heads and called roll every time we drove anywhere. We had one wallet left behind and returned. I helped 3 students get back into their rooms after being locked out hours after their roommates went to sleep. Two 2am calls. And one opportunity to physically step between two boys and stop an intense verbal conflict from becoming physical. I helped a few kids out who didn’t bring spending money but wanted to join their peers on a train ride or ice cream run. I was Mama Meg, Sister Willardson, Mrs Orchestra, Mama W, Miss Meg, Corbin’s mom, Mrs Willardson, and “Hey Meg” at the right place and right time countless times this weekend. It’s hard to leave the other children to serve one but I had many affirming moments where I knew I was right where I was supposed to be this weekend. Huge thank you to Aaron for supporting me and supporting the kids. It is a team offering. I could care well because he cares well. I also know it is not easy to fly solo at home and I’m thankful he survived and was willing to have a go at it…twice! 

At City Museum, we went through caves and I tried to avoid any tight tunnels. I’m fun, but I am absolutely not in my belly crawl through an underground tunnel era. Hard pass. Jesse and Kelly (Mr. Davis, Q’s fave) went into one and the rest of us opted not to follow. Smart choice. They ended up in a dead end tunnel cage thing high above us that would have put me into a claustrophobic spiral lol. Nope!  




Another tight cave that I offered to be photographer for 😂 

I have a great video of Dan G, Jesse, Meredith, and Kelly D squeezing their way through. Here’s Logan M. 



Lyndia, Meredith, Charlie, Bryn H, Daniel H, Corbin, Adam K

We ate dinner at the hotel and the kids played for hours on the outdoor balcony looking at the arch, in the lobby dining lounge, and the pool. 


Dan G and I are the fun specialists. I came prepared with music, crafts, snackies, and games. Dan taught everyone how to play skull king. I was DJ and conversation-game moderator and orchestrator.


Mr Dan also challenged Mr Collett and I to the newly re-popularized ice bucket challenge. 

I’m honestly not a big fan of the ice bucket challenge. Probably because it’s so trendy I feel the true message gets lost in “pick me culture” and self aggrandizement. 10 years ago it was a thing and raised big funds for ALS. Now we have a USC speak your mind challenge to support mental health. After “being nominated” I had decided to ignore (like I did 10 years ago lol) but was tagged with the orchestra director to be bucketed on the trip by students. “It ends with us! We can stop the ice bucket madness from continuing!” Was my platform” 

And oh boy, the kids got sooooo excited. There’s not much I won’t do for them. 

So my dream of being a cycle breaker was dashed as Neal R and Eli excitedly filled the trash cans from their hotel rooms with ice and we got rooftop poolside ice bucket treatment right under the St. Louis arch. 

But not before I gave a mental health speech to the 30+ kids who gathered to watch. It’s important that these kids know they are not alone. I’m here for them always always always. Not just for band aids. I loaned out my sweatshirts, my shoes and two of my Sunday school girls even ended up borrowing my swimsuits later that night hahaha. It’s so nice to already have a great love established outside of school for many of the kids I serve. They’re Corbin and Quincy’s friends, church friends, and the children of my friends and my ward family. Being here with them has been a blast!

What a life.