Noah, our oldest grandchild, graduates from high school this year and the next two weeks are going to be full of all things high school senior. On Wednesday, the last orchestra concert of the year for Marquette was held and Steve and I got to attend. Lucy, being a freshman, also played in the concert. Here are Noah and Lucy afterwards. Noah is holding a spider plant - a gift from his orchestra teacher who gives all the seniors a plant. The concert was very good. Lucy is in the "lowest" ensemble but, even that level played very well. Noah played bass in the middle orchestra and he was phenomenal. I loved watching how skilled he was with the music and the pieces that Mr. Ordway, the director, chose were really fun to listen to. The highest orchestra is a small chamber orchestra and they played Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons and it was SO good. The first violinist (and soloist) "directed" the rest of the players in true Baroque style and he was professional level! The orchestra was right there with him the whole time.
All of the seniors in all three orchestras had their own poster (self written) taped to the walls outside the performing arts center and here is Noah's. It matches his quirky personality. I found it interesting that none of the seniors were going to major in music - even the Vivaldi soloist!
Steve and I got to spend some time with Quinn at the World Bird Sanctuary which had their "Eagle Days| on Saturday. The highlight of the day was having a bald eagle fly over our heads!
Yesterday, Sunday, Steve and I got to attend two Southerland concerts. The first one at 3:00 was Noah's Sheldon All-Star Chorus concert where he had a solo, he was honored for singing four years with the group. It was a great concert. Then, at 6:30, we heard Lucy sing with the Rising Generation Choir. She had a solo in one of the numbers. Another great concert.
When we weren't going to concerts we endured a severe weather outbreak on Monday and a computer kerfuffle where we were locked out of signing in. It required a trip to Best Buy to get it solved. Tuesday we were embroiled in figuring out why the IRS couldn't direct deposit our refund into our bank account. Wednesday we had a House Calls visit from our health insurance. Thursday afternoon, we picked up Joey Chapman from school and drove him home. His mom doesn't have a car and, even if she did, her surgery recoveries would prevent her from driving. So, most Thursdays it is our turn to be chauffer. That evening we drove people to English classes. Steve mowed the front lawn on Friday. We managed to fit in three episodes of Star Trek Discovery towards the end of the week as well as a bike ride on Friday evening and a bonfire Saturday evening. I finished sewing straps onto 60 messenger-type bags that will be handed out to the youth participating in Trek this summer. They will use these bags to hold journals, I think. I only had to do half of the straps. Another woman made all 120 bags and sewed the other half of the straps on. What a project!
