We arrived in Colorado Springs at 2pm, checked in to our hotel, and then we took off to one of our favorite places. We were nearly giggly with delight to go to this particular place. This is where adults go to be kids! This is where kids go to really be kids! It’s like going back in time. It is time for whit, adventure and drama! And this year, it was also time to be on a radio show with KYDS Radio at "Adventures in Odyssey"!

My kids live "Adventures in Odyssey". They listen to the CDs at home while doing art projects; we listen to them in the car during our long drives on vacations. On other vacations to the area, we usually saved this place for last and spent only a couple of hours, much to the kids’ chagrin. This year I promised it would be first…and first we’d check on KYDS Radio. We saw it being built 6 years ago. We forgot all about it until last year when we actually saw it in production. We tried to get signed up for it, but surprisingly, dd was too nervous. Sadly, we dropped it.

With our kids having Sensory Integration Disorder, we’ve learned the signs of what could rattle them and drop it if at all possible. This year on our walks, dd would talk about our upcoming trip and I’d listen to all she had to say, then I’d toss out some thoughts. In essence, I told her it would be a great, once in a lifetime opportunity, to be a part of something that she dearly loves. (All she ever talks about is all the stories she hears. For every situation in life, there is an "Adventures in Odyssey" story that teaches a lesson.) I also assured her we might all be nervous, but any mistakes would be expected and okay. We would just do our best and have fun with it. Before long, she was anticipating this memory making event. Yea!

We entered the visitor center and signed in and got some free Adventures in Odyssey tapes. Wow! Then we went to the recording studio where we were told the tapings were booked for the rest of the day. So we decided to finish out the afternoon playing and snacking at Whit's’ End Soda Shoppe and returning first thing in the morning for the taping.

Well, dh was so excited, he wanted to wake everyone up at 530am! Ugh. We talked him in to letting us sleep a little longer, because we were only 15 minutes away from Focus on the Family, and they don’t open until 9am. We arrived at Focus on the Family at 830am! He wanted to hurry up and get in line. I asked, "What line? Just relax in the car." He exclaimed, "But what about all those people who will get in front of us for the taping?" I assured him, "Those are employees." Finally at 9am we went in (Here's the elevator to Odyssey.)

and found the sound booth gal setting up. DH walked up to her and excitedly said, "We have 3 kids and 1 adult here to do the taping! Guess who the adult is?" LOL So we signed up and chose a script.

We had a brief time to look over our scripts, though we weren’t exactly sure what was going to happen.

 I kept telling the kids to enjoy their time, do their best but if they made mistakes, to just keep going or do what the producer says (hoping they let us stop and correct mistakes like the real voice actors do). DS has some troubles with "r"s so we practiced some of his script, then we practiced certain lines that required certain tones, then we were called in. (Everyone in the play area can watch and hear the people tape through the window.)

14yod and 11yos each had a speaking part. DH and I were the foleys (sound crew). The part I had studied for actually went mostly to him since it really depended on where we stood, since that is where the sound effects were spread out. In the plot, while ds sharpened pencils in Whit’s office, dd rode Binky the Horse

while ds sharpened pencils on Whit's desk, but after they left the clown lamp fell over.

The door was officially shut to block outside sound

the theme song cheerfully played (wow!) and the voices of Kris, Connie and Whit were already prerecorded (goosebumps) and we read our parts. (We couldn't believe we were doing this!) I made 2 mistakes that really bugged me…I opened and shut the door, when dh showed me I was supposed to open and shut the drawer! (Hmmmm, I really prefer text in my face than 3 feet below.) Then I shut the door nicely (like I always try to do) instead of slamming it! The kids misread their parts a little but that’s okay. We had no opportunity to perfect anything like the voice actors do (we hear blooper features all the time on the CDs.) This allowed us to appreciate what the voice actors go through. Afterwards the sound girl produced our own CD to take home!

(Disclaimer: if you ever get to hear our CD, remember we had little rehearsal and no opportunity to correct mistakes! We’re not as polished as Kris, Whit and Connie!) We also got a free CD set of "Adventures in Odyssey" and a 20% coupon for "Adventures in Odyssey" merchandise in the bookstore. We all love "Adventures in Odyssey" and this was a wonderful moment to experience.

This is long enough, so part II later! In the meantime, who is your favorite "Adventures in Odyssey" character?

DH-Jimmy Barkley and Tom Riley

Me-Eugene

DD-Connie

DS-Jimmy Barkley

By the way, do you know how the Barkley family got their names? The kids, Jimmy and Donna are named after "It’s a Wonderful Life" actors Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. The parents, George and Mary are named after…can you guess???