Superior

For the past few months, Bode has been practicing two piano pieces for the Colorado Springs Music Festival.  The requirements were students had to learn one piece of the festival's choosing and then one piece of the student's choosing.  The students perform in front of two judges, and are graded on tempo, dynamics, errors, and musicality.  Leading up to the event, Bode showed no signs of worry or apprehension.  However, we could tell he was a little unnerved when we got to the event.  He asked if there were going to be people around when he played.  We told him only two people--the judges and Mommy and me.  While this sounds rather benign, after the event, I realized how intimidating this must have been to an eight-year old.

Bode's performance was scheduled for 2:50.  We arrived around 2:35 and checked in.  These performances were going on all day--the scheduled showed times from before 12:00 to 5:00, and each student had a 10-minute block.  There were two or three rooms where the performances took place, with two or three students sitting in chairs outside of each room.  A judge would come out of the room, bring the student in, introduce him (or her) to the other judge, and then the student would sit at the piano and play.  Then the student would leave while the judges decided on the student's grade.  The judge would come outside, present the grade, and that was the end.

When Bode was called in, I realized how hard this must be for him.  The room was the size of a large den, with a piano in the middle, and a table with the two judges on the one side.  That was it.  I realized this was far more intimidating than playing for a group of people.  The room was library-quiet when we entered, and it felt like all eyes were on Bode.  The judges were very nice, and told Bode to play when he was ready.  He did an outstanding job--a couple misnotes, but his dynamics and performance were excellent.  I'd show you a video, but no recordings were permitted.  He got a little flustered when he hit some wrong keys, but overall, we could not be more proud.

Afterwards, we waited, and I could tell Bode was a little dejected--he really wanted a superior and thought his errors would result in a lower grade.  We were elated when the judge comes out with the great news--superior!  We then snapped a quick photo with Bode's piano teacher, Miss Pat and the coveted blue ribbon.

Here's a close-up of the ribbon and his certificate.  It's a little blurry, but I think you get the gist.

This evening, I asked Bode to play the pieces for me on our piano.  He was busy playing on his Amazon Fire, but after some prodding, he came downstairs.  Unbeknownst to him, I had the camera recording.  He played the songs well, but I think he was better during the performance for the judges. Also, note there is some sheet music on the piano in front of Bode.  That is not the songs he is playing; everything you hear is from memory.

The festival is held every year.  If Bode gets three superiors in a row, he is awarded a pretty slick looking gold cup.  I think the expectations go up a little each year, but with practice, he'll do great.

Ashley is going to DC tomorrow, so it's just me and the maestro.  Pleasant week to all.

February Skiing

We spent the weekend up in unseasonably warm Breckenridge.  We went up Friday evening, and spent the last two days in our little mountain retreat.  We didn't do much--skiing, lunch at Downstairs Eric's, and then some goofing off at home, which included some time in the hot tub.  I also got my fill of moving firewood from the wood pile to the garage, and then from the garage to the big storage bin by the fireplace.  The weather was so warm that we didn't even light a fire.  Even getting out of the hot tub wasn't bad--it wasn't warm either, but I didn't go sprinting into the house like I normally do.  We skied both Saturday and Sunday.  The crowds didn't show up until around 1000.  Saturday, we stayed until 1230.  It was a beautiful day, with Bode complaining about being too hot on a couple occasions.  Better warm than cold I say.  I took a variety of pictures.   First we have Ashley and Bode getting ready to ski down from the Mercury lift.

At some point during the day, we headed over to Peak 8 and then Peak 7.

Lots of nice runs on these peaks, but all end up at the bottom of the mountain, meaning the lifts were packed.  Still, we were glad we headed over to this side of the mountain because to get back to the Peak 9 side of the mountain, we needed to take E-Chair (we could have skied a bunch of crowded greens to the bottom, but this did not appeal to either of us).  To get to E-chair, we needed to do a black diamond (gasp!)  Bode, to our surprise, was up for it.  First, an action shot of Bode as we headed over to the run.

We needed to take Frosty's Access to get to E-Chair.  I had Bode pose in front of the sign so no one could say he didn't do a black diamond.

To our surprise, Bode said he really liked it--"it's just a steep blue" is how he characterized it.  He wasn't shredding down the mountain, but he did make it down unscathed, and he went through the bumps at the bottom.  Very cool.  Once we made it back to Peak 9, I took the time to try to get a movie of Bode skiing.  I think the movie makes us look like we are going a lot faster :-)

We came home today, and I worked a little in the garden.  It's been unseasonably warm here, so the soil wasn't frozen, which let me do a little tilling.  I won't plant anything for another month or so, but I must say I'm pleased with the soil condition.  And on the topic of fruits and veggies, I have grown to regret a statement I made to Bode many years ago.  When he was but a wee lad (maybe four), I told him he could eat fruit whenever he wanted.  He's really taken this to heart.  Last week, our family went through 24 eight-ounce cartons of blueberries, with Bode eating the vast majority of them.  I guess it's better than Little Debbies, so I'm sure this investment in healthy eating will pay off.  But why do I feel like we should own a good portion of Driscoll? :-)  Nothing exciting this week, but Bode does have a piano recital on Saturday.  We'll spend a good portion of our evenings working on his technique and putting the finishing touches on the pieces.  Pleasant week to all.

Charlie's Birthday

We had an epic snowstorm at the start of February.  Over a three-day span, we got close to twenty inches of snow at our house.  Bode's school was cancelled for three days, so we all spent some quality time indoors, trying to avoid the snow madness.  I took some pictures.  First is me measuring a large pile on our patio table.  The pile doesn't do the amount of snow justice, as the snow compacts once it starts to get heavy.  Still, it's a good idea of the amount of snow we were getting.

I also took some pictures once I the snow (so I had thought) stopped after shoveling the driveway.   We probably got another three or four inches after these pictures were taken.

The most telling picture is the first picture.  The snow cliff is the difference between the snow I had shoveled and the snow on the street.  Obviously my little car was going nowhere.  We did venture out, and the Xterra did make it up to the street...sort of.  We got stuck just past the light pole.  I had to shovel a path so we could get the car back in the driveway.  We had a nice time at home, although it did get a little nervy sitting inside.  We played some games, watched movies, and Ashley managed to get some work done, as she had the foresight to bring home her work computer.

Today we headed up to Denver for Charlie's 7th birthday party.  The party was held at a Ninja-Warrior-esque facility.  The games and obstacles were sort of a cross between American Ninja Warrior and the old American Gladiators show.   I tried to take some action pictures, but nothing really came out all that great.  Since I don't claim to be a photog, I've no problem showing my less-than-exemplary pictures.  First up is a shot of the set.

There was a coach that monitored the kids and showed them how to do the various exercises and obstacles.  In this next picture, note the person at the top of the rope ladder.  That is none other than Teddy "Concussion" Rankin, who has a history of whacking his head and getting injured.  Fortunately he managed to make it through today without a trip to the ER.

There were some other games where the kids tried to knock each other off various platforms using some cool weapons.  Of course, they needed to wear a helmet, as Bode is doing in this picture.

Teddy surprised us by climbing up this rubbery chute that went from the ground to the ceiling.

The chute is that black rubber hose in the above picture.  The kids can start at the ground and try to make it to the top.  Bode tried but didn't get too far.

Teddy got all the way to the top.  Amazing skills, and doubly amazing that he wasn't injured :-)

That bulge in the top of the chute is Teddy.  After an hour or so of playing, it was time for some cake.

Of course, we had to sing.  I tried to convince Charlie to use his birthday wish for his favorite Uncle to get a new car.  Not sure if he obliged me.

It's hard to believe Charlie is seven and Teddy turns nine in a month and Bode is eight...very scary :-)  Not much going on this President's Day weekend.  We will try to play some games, and maybe some swimming.  We deemed it to busy of a weekend for skiing--maybe in a couple weeks.  Pleasant day to all.