2008 Flute Competition Resuts

For the fifth consecutive year, Audrey competed in the Arizona Flute Society Young Artist competition.

Recap:

2004 - Debut Division - Honorable Mention (unshared)
2005 - Debut Division - 3rd Place
2006 - Debut Division - 1st place (tied)
2007 - Junior Division - Participant

In the Debut (4th - 6th Grade) division, Audrey moved up every year, finally tying for first with a girl named Jennifer Chiang when they were both 6th graders. In her first year competing in the Junior (7th - 9th grade) division, Audrey had a miserable performance and fell out of the listings. Jennifer Chiang, meanwhile, took third place.

This year, Audrey's nemesis, Jennifer Chiang won the Junior division. Audrey is back in the listings at third place. The two that beat her must have had outstanding performances, and I suspect the scoring was very close. Audrey had a very good performance, one of the best runs-through she did with this piece. (As a consolation, Ms Chiang is ineligible next year.)

Unfortunately, despite checking the camera batteries before we left, I could not get it to work at the performance. Alas, I have no recording of this years performance. Now that my recorder arrived, I can hopefully record it here once I buy some microphones.

5th of July

In order to spend some time with my kids, I took them to a local indoor mini-golf course. (I know, I know, only in Phoenix...)

Here they are standing in front of the big giraffe.



This picture gives you an idea of where Reanna had to hit the ball. Though the giraffe wickets.



Here, Reanna and Audrey decided to use up the three empty holes between us and the group behind us by wasting 50c on a boat ride.



Russell rode on this purple hippo, but he didn't feed it.


I was there, too. Here, I retrieve my ball from the hand-eating hole. I have not yet taught my kids how to properly compose a photograph, thus the tops of Russell and I are sliced off.


After that, they decided to throw some more quarters at the mechanical carnival booths. Ring the bell and win a prize. In fact, Reanna won this particular game and the game kept the prize. she was uspet that she didn't get her tiny plastic giraffe.


All in all, we had fun. That's the important part.

Pool Party

Yesterday the temperature reached 115 degrees. Today is only supposed to get to 113. Nice to have a cooling trend. Should drop to 109 later in the week. To fight the heat, the kids swim a lot. Here are some pictures from yesterday's madness.

Russell takes a dive.



Reanna takes the plunge.



Audrey goes for it.

Watch for the dog!

Remember the desert spoon I showed a few weeks ago? Here is a new picture with the kids acting as a size reference. (And you thought they were acting fools.)

Off to Camp / Percussion Recital

This morning, we loaded up the truck and I dropped Russell off at the church where the troop meets.



Here, Russell is posing with his Scoutmaster, Mr. Usher.



After we dropped Russell off, we took Reanna to her recital practice session. She takes lessons from Wes Hawkins at Rhythm is Life Percussion Studio. Got her back, had lunch, then went to the recital.



Reanna played two pieces. Her solo piece was "Maple Leaf Rag." You can hear it on marimba in the video below.



She also participated in an ensemble piece called Technology. I can't post the video, but here is a photo of her with her glockenspiel.



It's always quiet after recitals. The kids have nothing to work on, so they get to rest for a few days, at least until the next lesson.

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Today's yard plant is my lemon tree. This one isn't mutant or non-growing, as you
can see compared to the height of the wall. Lots of good lemons every winter.

Calm Before the Storm

Got a large envelope in the mail that contained a surprise. Audrey got a certificate that proclaimed she made the honor roll for 4th quarter.

This evening was really the calm before the storm. Reanna had her percussion lesson, and when we got home, I helped Russell pack for camp. His backpack, purchased for Webelos, is too small for a week, so he's using mine. Maybe a good thing I'm only going for the last night. I can use his.

Reanna has a percussion recital tomorrow. She has a rehearsal at 10:00 and the recital at 2:00. Russell leaves for camp at 9:30, so at least we can do only one trip.

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This is my grapefruit tree. The fruit is sweet, with pink meat that is mostly juice. Very tasty. You can see some green grapefruits growing near the top right. Those won't turn yellow until the temperature drops significantly, probably in November or December.

Preparing for Camp

Russell and I went through the list for scout camp this evening, then went out to buy a few odds and ends. We found a cool fanny pack with double water bottles, great for the arid climate. It looks something like this one.




Looks like I'll be going afterall. They have a lack of vehicles for the return trip, so I'll likely be going up on Friday and driving back on Saturday. I should get to see the big bonfire. Scout camp bonfires are a lot of fun, and I haven't been to one in probably 25 years. Okay, there was a bonfire at Webelos Weekend, but that's not really the same. No OA tap-out for one thing.

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Weather is heating back up again. Was not quite hot enough to turn on the air conditioner in the truck, but it's forecast to hit 100 degrees again on Saturday. This time, the hot weather is probably here to stay until October.

Got the pool into shape and the kids and dogs went swimming for the first time this year.

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This is the little kumquat tree, one of the most producive in my yard.

It's official

My oldest child, Audrey, turned 13 today. I am officially the father of a teenager, though she's been acting like one for a few years already. The guitar, amp, and accessories I bought her a couple weeks ago is partly her birthday gift, but she also got an iTunes gift card so she can download that whateveritis she listens to.

The temperature is climbing again. Last week we hit a record low. Not temperature, but a record low atmospheric pressure. It was the lowest atmospheric pressure ever recorded in Phoenix. No wonder we barely got to 70 degrees three days after hitting 110. We should be back in triple digits by the weekend.

This is what a Norfolk Pine looks like when it lives in the desert. Pretty scraggly, but the thing hangs on year after year.

Memorial Day

We managed to catch a little family relaxation that included, yeah, the good stuff.



It also included some wiffleball. Russell spun around after missing this pitch.



We tried to get Cookie to play, but he would have none of it.




We found that the desert spoon in our pool has a new asparagus growing from the center. This is our second flowering desert spoon. One of the plants in the front flowered a few years ago. Hopefully I can get a picture after it flowers and post it here.

Spring 2008 Piano Recital

Today was the annual spring piano recital. Reanna played 9th and executed very well. After her evaluation last month, the judge named her and her piece as one he particularly enjoyed. Here she is playing Polonaise (BVW Anhang 119) by Johann Sebastian Bach.



Here, she receives her purple ribbon for superior honors.





Audrey played a piece by modern composer Martha Mier. This is Dandelion Rag.



And receiving her purple ribbon for the sixth consecutive year.

Memorial Day Tradition

Sorry no post last evening, I spent the night changing the patches on my Scout uniform from the Cub Scout to Boy Scout patches.

Today marked the 5th consecutive year that Russell and I helped to decorate the National Cemetery in Phoenix with American flags for Memorial Day. With the cool, rainy weather, I expected to see half the usual number of people. Just like every year, there seemed to be more than ever.

Before we start, this desert cemetery looks something like this.


Troop 316 had a decent showing. This isn't all of us.



Hundreds, maybe thousands of scouts, parents, and even bikers get together at 6:45 in the morning. It gets hard to find a place where there isn't already somebody working.



Russell and I get a photo taken every year.




In under an hour, the job is done. With all the flags in place, it looks something like this.

P.I.L.O.T.S. Culmination

This evening we attended the 6th-grade "P.I.L.O.T.S. Culmination." They can't have a 6th-grade graduation, so instead they have a ceremony to cap off the school's 6th-grade service program. You can see about the three committees and PILOTS here.

Here is Reanna in her dress, waiting to go on the stage and take her certificate.



When we got home, Rica noticed a flower on the golden torch cactus near our driveway. The palm frond is not part of the cactus, of course.

Perpetual Motion

April is getting into full swing. It's the time of year when the schools all have their major field trips, the music programs have recitals and evaluations, and the scouts start preparing for the upcoming summer camp.

It starts next week with my eldest daughter, Audrey. The middle school bands are heading to San Diego for three days of workshops and master classes. She gets back on late on sunday evening and the middle kid, my younger daughter Reanna, heads off to her school field trip at 5:00am the next morning.

At the same time, we shuffle piano lessons and make-up lessons. The annual piano performance and music theory evaluation is next weekend and we have a make-up for the kid on the band trip the following weekend.

The only kid staying put, my son Russell, will be going to scout camp in May. Right now, he's working on learning electric bass (aka bass guitar). He has a black Greg Bennet jazz bass that is apparently tough to play after jamming a finger playing basketball (friday's emergency). He doesn't normally play bass with a pick, but the jammed finger made him decide to go that way today.

Musika

The family is settling in for another school year. Audrey is in honor band at Desert Shadows Middle School. She's playing flute and piccolo.

Reanna changed instruments after her oral surgery. She stopped playing clarinet and is now a percussionist. She started lessons with glockenspiel a few weeks ago. Looks like we may have started something because for three years there were no bell players at Sonorn Sky Elementary. I asked the band teacher to see if she could get one in the classroom so Reanna doesn't have to carry hers on the bus as it's quite heavy for a little girl. Suddenly this year, the beginner band percussion students MUST start on bells. Go figure.

Russell finally gets to join band. The school district dropped 4th grade band last year. He'll be playing cornet.