String Camp '15

This was the first time Sylvia went to String Project without Annah, since Annah aged out in the spring. This is the whole group of summer camp kids.  Sylvia is in a red shirt in the top right. She was the camper who has attended the most String Project camps; this is her 4th.

Sylvia enjoyed getting to spend some time with her friend and fellow cellist Yvin this week!

Sylvia's small ensemble was a string quartet of girls.

There were so many cellists attending the camp, Ms. M decided to take advantage of that and helped them prepare two pieces just for cello!

This is one of the cello choir pieces:

Sylvia was actually one of the older students in the advanced ensemble this time--lots of really young kids this camp.  This is the advanced orchestra.  Sylvia is on the end, second row from the right.

Our favorite song on the concert was Earigami.  If you watch closely, you'll see they each have a colored piece of paper they fold several times during the piece and played with the paper!

Sylv's quartet

After the concert, Jeremy went back to work, and the kids and I stopped at Carl's Ice Cream for sandwiches and treats.  It's become kind of a tradition with String Project concerts.  Plus, we love it.

We did stop in at Barnes and Noble again to do some more reading, then went to SF park to swim for a bit.

Hanging around in town

Sylvia (in the back on the left) at String Camp today.

Caeden and Annah and I had 4 hours to spend in town today while Sylvia was at camp.  We started that out with my getting a speeding ticket on College Avenue.  It was so foolish of me, because on our way down College we talked about how there were 2 unmarked cop cars pulling people over yesterday and today.  Then, I went 44 in a 30mph zone on my way back up the same street.  Ugh.  Apparently I didn't need that $120. 

We decided to finally check out the Hy-Vee store that opened a few months ago.  Everyone has been raving about it, but each time we've driven by it's been packed and I didn't want to mess with the crowds.  It was pretty empty this morning, so we went into get a few things we needed.  It's very nice, and I'm sure like any other store, if you sign up for their rewards/coupon program you could save a lot.  I would like to try their Chinese carry-out and their Market Grille, but other than that, it seemed to me like just another nice grocery store.  Although, now I'm remembering that you can shop online and then just pick it up as long as you spend a certain amount.  That might be worth trying out sometime.

After Hy-Vee, we went to Barnes and Noble to sit and read for a while.  Caeden found a friend there.

These guys were glad to sit and read!

Annah found a book by the author of the Disney Kingdom Keepers series she loved so much, so she was thrilled.  Caeden read some Big Nate, and some LEGO Star Wars.

Annah had a violin lesson at 11.  There is a Little Free Library across the road from Sharon's house.  Caeden left a book and took a book last week and made another trade this week too.  It's a pretty neat little thing.  I would like to put one in our yard!

After we picked Sylvia up from camp, we went to SF Park. The plan was to swim, but we needed to eat lunch first.  The parking lot was so full (just 15 minutes after the park opened!) that we had to park all the way out in the next-to-last row. We decided just to eat on some bleachers near the tennis courts, rather than walk all the way to the beach house to eat and then back to get our swimming stuff.  It was a nice spot.  

After we ate, we realized that Caeden didn't pack his swim trunks.  So, since we couldn't swim, we went back to Barnes and Noble.  I am reading this very interesting book:

This evening was the beginning of the Personal Spiritual Focus Retreat at church.  I am excited to be going through it.  In the past, it has been held off-site and more out-in-nature, but I haven't been able to get away for any of those.  

This time, there are more than 15 of us going through it at church.  It will be tonight, tomorrow, evening, 10am-6pm on Saturday, and noon-3 on Sunday.  

This evening, we  each started building a timeline of significant events and people in our lives.  I'm not sure I did very well at remembering.

It will be a stretch and a lot of thinking this weekend, but I'm looking forward to the rest.

Music here and there

Here is Sylvia in her String Camp cello group lesson with Miss Huang. She is and ESL student from Korea, so Sylvia says she has to do a lot of demonstrating when she doesn't know how to say what she needs to in English.  Sylvia likes her and enjoys the other girls in her lesson too. 

 This evening, while the kids and I were playing Skip-Bo, somehow the music from one of Jeremy's and my high school marching shows came up.  He got out his trumpet and played the song from memory.  I don't have that gift.  But it was pretty cool.

Regina's birthday

Kevin invited us to have dinner at the Bayern Stube to celebrate Regina's 40th birthday tonight!  We had a lovely time together, and thoroughly enjoyed all the great food as well.

Check out this beautiful giant hot pretzel!  It came with cheese and herbed garlic butter.  

 (Eryn was working really hard to be a photo-bomber!) 

Despite their age-differences, these kids all love to spend time together!

So sweet. 

Happy birthday, Regina!

Piano Clinic

This morning I attended a great piano teacher clinic at Kidder Music in Bloomington.  Jeremy Siskind was the clinician, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from him, and especially loved hearing him play.

The clinic was about building creativity into piano lessons, especially using improvisation and Hal Leonard piano curriculum and books.

Thanks to Kidder for offering a great clinic!

Summer Monday

Sylvia is going to String Camp at ISU this week.  She said she discovered this morning that she is the only one in the whole camp who has come for 4 years.

While Sylvia was at camp from 8:15-noon, Annah and Caeden and I completed all the school supply shopping at Wal-Mart, Meijer, and Target.  We were able to find everything on their lists, so they are ready to go back to school in that regard.

Caeden enjoyed a little Wii time this afternoon.

And all 3 kids had a squirt gun fight in the backyard this evening.  They played capture the flag.

After they came inside, I heard some commotion and laughing upstairs.  Caeden started discovering these little paper pictures of this guy taped on things around his room.  He thought it was really weird, and wondered who had been in his room without him knowing it.  He thought maybe it was Reece, when he was here the other day.  But, he hadn't noticed the paper heads until this evening.  He found 5 or 6 of them, and I emailed Dawn to see if Reece had played a prank on Caeden.

Then after a little while, Annah admitted that she had cut the heads out of the labels on their new notebooks that they got for school.  She thought it was funny that there was a model on their notebook labels, and decided to freak Caeden out a little.  They were laughing and cackling hysterically for quite a while.  I thought it was a pretty good one, and was impressed that Annah came up with the idea.

Summer's-flyin'-by-Friday

Summer always goes by so quickly.  The kids go back to school in 25 days--and are admittedly not ready to hear that number. 

The swim team was on the cover of our little local paper this week.

When I dropped Caeden off at wrestling camp this evening, I had to deliver some piano books to the music teacher's classroom, and Sylvia caught a glimpse of the newly refinished track.  She went outside to admire it for a few minutes.  She sure loves to run.  We are extra-grateful that she can, in the light of a recent tragic car accident that has left the teenage runner daughter of a friend from our hometown paralyzed from the waist down.  We are praying for the Jagger family, and learning from them as they beautifully find joy in Jesus through their incredibly difficult struggles. And we join them in pleading with God for the miracle that Alissa would walk again. 

Tonight, Annah had the opportunity to go with a group of church friends to a Rend Collective concert in Lisle.  She was so excited!

Rend Collective is one of her favorite bands.  She said the concert was awesome!

One of the dads on the trip saw the set list on the sound board.  

 Their current tour is called The Art of Celebration, and they had bubble machines!

Annah, Jillian and Sara got matching t-shirts at the concert.

Things around us this week

Addie came for a lesson on Wednesday, and had pity on Annah and her ouch mouth.  Had to get a picture of them and their shiny smiles. I'm so glad they will be in high school together this year.

Annah had her first lesson with her new violin teacher, Sharon, today!  She really enjoyed her lesson, and I think she is going to love learning from Sharon and working with her!

Just outside Sharon's house is a neat little triangle park with an old pavilion.

Caeden, Sylvia, and I sat outside in it during part of Annah's lesson.

This evening, while the guys were at wrestling camp, the girls and I made some yummy summer salsa!  It's a little different than how I usually make it, but so good!

We also played a few games of Topple.