End of the school year ramblings/summary

I'm not sure of the complete purpose of this post.

"Hi!  I need to record some things before they slip away!"

That's most likely it.  Here goes...

The last post was in February, which means we've survived the whirlwind of playing a guitar/violin wedding, playing piano for Fauré's Elegie, Faces of History, Memory Master, and general spring goings-on.

In February, our CC group took a field trip to the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, GA, which, if you're ever in driving distance to Atlanta or Chattanooga, is very well worth the drive!  We've been there three times, and it never fails to generate curiosity.  They promote evolution, but even that starts great discussions.

At the beginning of March, we spent a weekend with Mimi and Poppy.  They met us halfway at the Riverbanks Zoo before coming out to their house.

New Daddy and I had been practicing for a wedding for several months before it happened in mid-March.  It was at the Alabama church, so it was a challenge to keep playing at the reception when we all just wanted to visit!  What a treat to catch up with our friends there!  We worked out a system that should be easy to replicate- typing out all of our repertoire with the chords included in a file, and then copying and pasting to create a music set.  It was a ton of work, but it should pay off when we do another wedding.  Building up the calluses is another issue... Oh, and we did not play the Grieg from the last blog post.  It was enough work just to get the hymns in playing order, hehe!

In our gigging duds at Bo and Mo's house-

the kids stayed with them, and he took this picture

We also managed to squeeze in a date at the Perimeter Café Intermezzo on our way back to Bo's house.  New Daddy had eggs benedict, and I had a duck crêpe (whoah).  We also tried the Turkish coffee, which was interesting.  Once I figured out they had ground cardamom into the coffee beans, I added a touch of sugar, and the flavors made sense to me.  Definitely an experience!

Also in March, our Essentials class did a huge research project called "Faces of History."  The time period this year was Middle Ages to Renaissance and included European composers of any time period.  Precious was Katharina von Bora Luther, and Bubby was Antonio Vivaldi.  Bubby chose Vivaldi so that he could play the theme from "Spring" on his viola... music must somehow be worked into anything he does...

In April, we had Cousins I and S over for spring break.  Bubby arranged "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from his band class for his cousins and sister.  They performed it at our niece's birthday party with Cousin I on alto saxophone, S on trumpet, Precious on clarinet, and Bubby on trombone. The look on Granddad R's face at 0:32 says it all.

Here we all are for Easter 2017!

The other night, my Summit orchestra class played for Family Night.  Here they are playing French Carol- "Il est né le devin Enfant."  Bubby and Cutie both took orchestra with me this year on viola and violin.  I taught out of the Measures of Success method that my college professor co-authored, and I have absolutely loved it.  There are historical connections, technique tips galore, disguised repetition tips, etc.  It is a fabulous method and was a huge factor in my students' success.  That, and the parents making sure the kids practice at home!

And, if I haven't bored you enough yet, here's the video of the Fauré-- all seven minutes of it.  Since we all know that my dad is the only person who reads my blog.  Hehe!