Mock Rock Weekend!

Ella's (and Delia's ;) college has this one epic event that is prepared for all year long-- Mock Rock.  It's a legendary lip sync/dance battle between 5 teams with long history at the school.  Each of the teams has a personality or vibe.  You usually join one by invitation or because you have a friend on it.  Ella decided to dust off her stage skills this year and join the Mock Rock team her good buddy Javan is a part of, BroPoc.  The leaders of each team come up with a theme that is kept super secret until the night of performance.  A short movie is shot setting up the story and then a 10 minute long song and dance production tells that story.  Ella's theme was Murder Mystery/Clue this year.  Other teams did things like Spider Man, Greatest Showman, and the Wizard of Oz.  Some teams always retell a movie that is familiar, some teams always come up with original student-written material.  After each team performs they are commented on and judged by a panel of people who either work for the school, or work for the entertainment industry, or both.  Those judges determine which 3 teams will go to "Podium", from which everyone watching then gets to vote on the winner via their phone.  

ELLA'S TEAM BROPOC WON IT ALL THIS YEAR!!  They broke a 10 year second-place streak with this victory!  We joke that Ella was the difference. :) Their theme was amazing, and their choreography was definitely the tightest and best.  Overall, their performance was the most polished, layered, and spectacular.  Though, every single team was awesome and very fun to watch!  

The week of Mock Rock is called Hell Week and it is expected that practices go till 3 or 4 in the morning.  There are also only 1700 seats in the gymnasium, so when tickets are released online at 10am the day before, there is stress and virtual queues and the possible disappointment of needing to watch the livestream from a remote location if you can't secure one of those precious tickets.  We were each able to score tickets.  Students camp out in line the night before, so when the doors open, they get the best seats.  We had Gideon's family waiting in line for us all day.  It's kinda nuts what an ordeal this all is; I must admit that I didn't really understand it until we experienced it in person.  The hype builds up the thrill for sure!

The announcement of the winner!

(I'll share the professional YouTube video in a separate post.)

You KNOW that Delia can not wait to be a part of all this!  She'll join her sister's victorious team next year!

Not only did we get to see our first Mock Rock, it was also Formal weekend!  Ella's friends kindly snuck Delia in and she had a blast.  I helped curl hair in a dorm room full of about 12 college girls.  And then I got to take up my old role as photographer.  Delia spent the weekend in Ella's dorm with her sister and friends, hearing over and over how excited these upperclassman are to welcome her next year.  It's safe to say this super fun college weekend kicked a massive case of Senioritis into gear.  

This Mock Rock weekend timed perfectly with the start of our Spring Break.  We had a lovely Spring Break weekend in LA!  While the girls stayed on campus, we were generously hosted by Gideon's family, who live a minute walk from the beach.  Their home is amazing and definitely gave us all the beach vacation feels.  We loved just getting to know them better in unplanned times of morning coffee in jammies, or late night catch up on the day conversations.  We all worked to put an entire puzzle together one afternoon and that time to laugh and connect was honestly one of my most fun memories of this trip!

We thrifted.  We strolled the dog beach at Huntington.  We ate noodles at the Pho spot by school.  We attended Javan's church in Long Beach on Palm Sunday.

We went to a beautifully restored old theater in Seal Beach to watch the classic The Sandlot with Gideon and his family.  This was one of Dave's favorite memories.

We ate warm cinnamon rolls on the beach and couldn't stop giggling in the kitschy shell shop downtown.

We toured Ella's science building, met the zebra fish she's been studying all semester, and tried to understand her OChem notes (that's her work on the white board!).  We watched her Swing Dance Club host a Lindy Bomb at the fountain.  

We also met Delia's roommate Audrey and her mom for breakfast one morning and this was wonderful!  The connection they've built over distance was affirmed and we feel good that God has intentionally brought these two similarly pure, Jesus-loving, kind girls together.  I don't actually have tons of pictures because most of our time was just spent visiting with the people Ella's college education has brought into our lives!  Her friends are all so delightful and would often spot us in the dorm lobby, or around campus, and stop for a hug and long chat.  Each visit to this school is a bit different and this one was less about the sights of LA and more about enjoying the community of the school-- from its fun weekend events to its warm, friendly people.