Achievement Auditions

Natalie has been working on two pieces for the "Achievement Auditions" for months. Patrick took her out of school early because otherwise she wouldn't have time to get dressed and then to get to the judging location before her scheduled time of 3:27pm. I've stepped back from hovering over her when she practices, but I did sit with her last weekend. She seemed to have learned the pieces fairly well and had no trouble with memorization either. That was last weekend. The judge's comments (as seen on the paper in her hand in this picture) are as follows:

"La Serenata"--mood unclear, needs memorization, pedaling needs attention, poise needs to focus on not playing between pieces

"British Grenadiers"--This had good dynamics, phrasing and mood great!, was memorized

I was a little surprised that she forgot parts of the first piece. Patrick could hear her playing and he said that she recovered pretty well despite that misstep. I wasn't surprised about the "poise" comment. Apparently that means that she was fidgeting a bit in between pieces instead of sitting still. That sounds like Natalie. In all, I'm not disappointed with this at all. We sign her up for these things so that she can get some performance experience. She did great with that in mind. She got a red ribbon (her favorite color, of course) for her "Excellent" rating ("Superior" and "Superior Plus" were the highest ratings), so she was happy with that.

In other news, I had to drop off Anthony at school before 5am this morning for a field trip to the Marine Science Institute in Port Aransa for Biology and Chemistry. Patrick was going to do it but then I realized that getting to work that early would mean that I could park in the hospital parking lot instead of the off-site parking plus I could do a favor for the colleague who was on call last night by letting him go home early. Patrick picked him up around 8pm this evening. Anthony didn't say too much, in his usual fashion, except that he enjoyed himself.

Alex had a "Falcon Friday" event after school. It's basically a social event and he and his friends really enjoy being able to participate. Today's activities included a water balloon fight. Apparently it only lasted about ten minutes but it was "fun for the time that it lasted." I got to stick around near work so I could pick him up from school by 5pm. That meant a very long day for me!

Eric just hung out with Papa today. He went with Patrick and Natalie to her Achievement Auditions. At one point Patrick texted me that Eric was telling "knock knock" jokes while they awaited the results. Yesterday Patrick told me that our housekeeper found that one of the bolts holding one of the dining table legs was loose and that the table leg had almost fallen off. I guess we now know what else he's been doing under the table besides playing with toys...