My secret life as a spy!

Wren made a movie this year for his Explorers class.  He submitted it to the Regional Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards Contest.  And he won a gold key award, the highest award for the region.  This means his film with be entered into the national contest.   He was invited to attend the award ceremony for the regional awards in Seattle.  So we went (Wren and I) for the weekend.  We got up early on Saturday and made the trek across the state (5 hours).  Arriving in Seattle early enough to do some exploring around Pike's Place Market and seeing what Seattle had to offer.  Here are some images of our adventure and then a link to his film. 

So as a family we don't really do cities very often.  Both Wren and I found it to be quite the adventure to just explore all the little stands in Pikes Place Market (both of us were completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff one could buy).  After that we went down to the pier and thought about riding on the giant ferris wheel but decided to that I might end up feeling motion sick so we settled for heading out to dinner instead.  We had a fabulous meal at Local 360 a restaurant that tries to get all its food from within 360 miles of Seattle. 

The next day, we had breakfast with my some family and then headed to the ceremony.  The awards ceremony was at the main downtown area by the Space Needle and the giant public fountain, seen here squirting out of Wren's head.

This is a sweet little sanctuary out side the Cornish Playhouse (location of the ceremony) just off the big central park with the fountain.  

Do big doors mean big prizes?  Wren was impressed.  It was fabulous that the Cornish College of Arts was able to host such a lovey event.  It really made all the students feel important.

Tea, Cookies, Juice.  Yum.  A real reception.

 Wren's film was playing in the art show displayed in the lobby of the playhouse.

And then he was given the Golden Key Ticket.  This meant he got to sit in special reserved seats and had to go on stage to receive his award.  No sitting with his mamma.  :  )

 Here he is (a bit nervous) sitting in his reserved seating. 

 So then the ceremony started.  Because film is engaging and best viewed on big screens, they showed the top 3 film choices during the ceremony.  All the drawing, painting, photography, and multi-media pieces were on display in the lobby.  So they played one film and then had a speaker,  and then another film and another speaker.  Then the awards.  Here is a terrible picture of Wren going up for his award on stage.  And then the grand finale film was Wren's.  This was a surprise to both of us.  He shrunk down in his seat hoping, I think, to disappear.  But as the film played on I could see him become more comfortable.  Stuart and I are very proud of him.  He worked hard on the film putting in time and effort.  He now wants to go to film school and make a feature length film in Hollywood.  We will continue to encourage and support in whatever way we can. 

After the ceremony, he got to pick where we went out to lunch...Pepperoni Pizza, Ceasar Salad and Gelato.  Yum.  Then we jumped back in the car and headed 5 hours back across the state....home sweet home.

Here is the link to the film.  He wrote the story, filmed, edited, and made the music.  Enjoy!

 Film link:  My secret life as a spy!