The Gold Cup

Bode had quite the weekend.  First, he did the swimathon where he swam 5,000 yards in two hours--pretty impressive if you ask me.  Then, yesterday he competed in the Colorado Springs Music Festival.  He has done this in both 2016 and 2017, and it consists of memorizing two pieces of music and performing them in front of two judges.  For the past two years, Bode has received a Superior rating for his performances.  The pressure was on this year because if he got another Superior, he'd earn a gold cup.  Needless he (well, I) was quite nervous.  Bode seemed pretty calm but afterwards, he said his legs felt "goofy." 

There are no recordings allowed during a performance, so I don't have any videos.  However, I will say Bode got off to a shaky start.  His first piece, Winter Memory by Melody Bober, is to be played "Both hands 8va" where 8va is an abbreviation for the Italian, "ottava," which simply means play both hands one octave higher than as written.  Bode warmed up with some scales, and then when he started, he started too low.  After a couple notes, he caught himself and said, "Oops, this is supposed to be up here."  And then he started again with his hands in the proper location.  I would have thought this minor goof would have affected him, but it did not.  He played beautifully--probably note-perfect if I remember correctly.  His next piece, Minuet in G, from Anna Magdalena Bach's notebook, was also spot-on (although I think he hit one note as staccato when it should have been played normally, but I'm being picky).  We waited, and then the judge handed him his superior ribbon, and the party was on.  We proceeded to the trophy room (yes, there was a room you went to if you earned a gold cup), where we got his coveted trophy.  I could tell he was very excited (as were we).

We then found Miss Pat (Bode's piano teacher) and told her the good news.  She, like us, was very proud.

To celebrate, we took Bode to brunch at the Broadmoor.  I tried to convince him we should bring the Gold Cup with us, similar to what hockey players do with the Stanley Cup.  I even showed him a picture of one hockey player eating Lucky Charms out of the Stanley Cup.  He thought that was funny, but didn't want to bring his trophy to brunch :-)  Despite the absence of the Gold Cup, we still had a wonderful time.  Before the feast, we took the normal set of pictures.

We then headed inside for the food.  As usual, Bode did his best to bankrupt the restaurant, eating many helpings of crab claws, shrimp, prime rib, steak, salmon, and eggs.  He also had some dessert and two helpings of ice cream.  Ashley and I tried to keep up with the little man, but there is something to be said about the appetite of a growing boy.  Still, we all managed to pack on a couple pounds.  Here's a shot of Bode devouring some of his steak.

Finally, one of Mommy and Bode.  I think the sugar was starting to kick in because Bode was being a goofball.

I don't know how we'll spend the rest of the day--probably in a food-induced coma.  I might read some.  I just finished Ready Player One, which was a nice easy read and caused some nostalgia for the 1980's.  Ashley got me The Alienist, so I'm reading that now, but I have to concentrate more during this one, as there are a lot of good descriptions of the settings and places (and the mutilated body, but I don't think I need to go into that here :-)  Pleasant week to all.