Piper's Hakuba trip

 Piper went to Hakuba with the fifth graders at her school on September 25th.  I wanted to document her trip.  I doubt she will forget it but at least here she will have a few photos to remember it by.  The teachers updated the parents and uploaded photos each night so I was able to see glimpses of her time in Hakuba but she is in the distance in many of the photos so I'm only uploading four of them.  This was only Piper's second time sleeping away from home--the first being with her cousin Mia over the summer when we were in Utah.  She was nervous about it but excited as well.  They were able to put down five people they would like to room with and were promised at least one of the five people on the list would be in their room.  She didn't get a room with any of her close friends but she said she was happy with the girls that were chosen to room with her.  She said that the first night was a little hard for all of them because they were all a little scared and homesick and one of her roommates cried a bit but they all talked her through it and the next night was better.  She was worried about the food because she is quite a picky eater but she said the food was great and she never finished a meal feeling hungry or unsatisfied.  There was a lot of singing, playing games, campfires, and general fun.  They also got to go geocaching, rock climbing, mountain biking, canoeing/swimming, and learned how to do orienteering.  She loved all the activities but had the hardest time with the rock climbing.  She is not afraid of heights but the rock was was really high and she struggled to get to the top but everyone chanted her name and encouraged her on and she felt so proud of herself for making it to the top.  She's not joking--from the pictures, that rock wall is really tall and I'd be scared to climb it! She came back tired (and sick) but really happy.  I mentioned it in a previous post but when she came home she cleaned out her backpack and discovered inside a pocket of her bag, a handful of origami animals and a typed up note from Will telling her he loved her and that he would miss her.   I am sure that being sick and tired from the long trip, plus just missing home, and then finding the note from her brother who was no longer home, set off a long stream of tears.  She ended up crying herself to sleep and all I could do was hug her and tell her it would be okay and that she'd get to talk to Will in a few days online.  

While it ended with a lot of emotions once safe at home, I'm glad she had this experience.  I think it really helped her confidence and will be something she will remember forever.