#367 - Thomas Live

This afternoon, The Little Guy and I went to see Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends in a live production. As it turns out, TLG is a little shy to meet any costumed characters up close (see photo), but he enjoyed the show fairly well. It was unfortunate that the show began at his normal naptime so he was not very enthusiastic during the audience participation sections of the show... but he didn't want to leave, either. The show itself was about a circus coming to the Island of Sodor, and since TLG has never been to a circus, either, I'm not sure if he really understood the plot. But he liked seeing the trains on the stage and seemed to enjoy the music, most of which he knew from watching the Thomas TV show. I got him a new light-up toy from the souvenir stand, and he did wave it around quite a bit during the show. One funny thought: there were cookies in the meet-and-greet area, and TLG didn't want one, nor did he want any popcorn. He settled on M&M peanuts (a boy after my own heart) but blew me away with not wanting a cookie!

#355 - A Jury of TLG's Peers

This afternoon, my wonderful hubby and I played Christmas carols at the daycare center's annual family Christmas get-together. I will admit, I don't usually get nervous before I play trombone, but today I felt some little butterflies before we began playing. One of the office managers there plays baritone, and she joined us to make a trio for the first three songs (which was nice). And later in the party, we played a handful of duets. The funniest thing was the little guy's reaction - he stood between us while we were playing, hardly moving at all, even though he could have been doing art projects, playing with friends, or eating a snack. I love that he is respectful of live music already, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for bringing him to our regular band rehearsals and gigs and teaching him about this. Of course, we played fine, and there was certainly no reason to be nervous... all the other kids and their families seemed to enjoy the music as they partied hearty. We were overshadowed by the cute kindergartners singing carols during our break, but who wouldn't be?!?

#250 - Reno is Artown

Tonight our family attended the opening event for Artown in downtown Reno. We started at McKinley Park at about 6:00 where they had face painting, kids activities and the Noteables were performing. About 6:45 the March Forth Marching Band appeared, with performers on stilts (fascinating for the little guy) and a great little performance in the park. Then we all "marched" in the parade behind the band all the way to Wingfield Park, where we sat and visited with my good friend Mary. Actually, we saw lots of people we know at this event. It was fun, and there were tons of people. The photo was taken during the parade (not the most flattering shot of me, I realize, but it's hard to smile for an action shot while you're marching and carrying a 40-pound child on your back!)

#230 - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

This morning, I attended a free performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City. Since 1929, the choir has performed each Sunday in a live performance of the radio/TV show "Music and the Spoken Word," which was today's performance. During the summer months, they hold this show in the convention center which holds 21,000 guests, so we didn't see the actual Tabernacle. But the convention center was pretty awesome as you can see in the photo. The organ has 8,000 pipes in it, and is smaller than the one at the Tabernacle! I enjoyed the musical selections and the inspiring Make-a-Wish fulfillment they had at the end of the performance as well.

#220 - Memorial Day concert

Our family attended a Memorial Day concert in Sacramento today, which featured the Sacramento Capitolaires (yay!), a 21-gun salute, and an Army dixieland jazz group. TLG got pretty distracted during the speeches but he enjoyed the presentation of the colors, the Star Spangled Banner, and the jazz group pretty well. As he continues to get older, we'll keep trying to show him different kinds of music to enjoy.

#203 - Reality Stars

This evening, I got dressed up and attended a special event where I saw two reality TV stars in person: Melinda Doolittle from American Idol, and Terry Fator, the ventriloquist from America's Got Talent. Having never watched these shows, I wasn't sure what I was getting into. Ms. Doolittle was a very good singer, and performed a few old standards like "My Funny Valentine" and "I Got Rhythm." I enjoyed her set a lot. Terry Fator was very funny and was a much better singer than I expected a ventriloquist to be - he won me over near the beginning of his act when he performed "The Rainbow Connection" using the voice of Kermit the Frog. (He must have known I was in the audience!)

#7 - Concert with Friends

This afternoon I was invited to attend a Philharmonic concert with a friend, and yes, I have attended these concerts before. But this particular friend is moving away in a few months and I already miss her... so today's "new thing" is giggling through the concerto with a great friend. The cellist had a particularly spectacular "mean face" as she dramatically played her way through the piece. The violinist was not nearly as expressive with his face, but both musicians did a great job. My favorite part of the concert, though, was hearing them play the Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story." I played a wind ensemble version of that very piece while at the University, and it was great to hear it again. Today's blog post was brought to you by: Grandma, who was willing to babysit during the concert (while my hubby fixed their RV). Thanks, Grandma!!!