First K Phil Concert

Last Saturday was my first performance with the Kalamazoo Philarmonia!  It wasn't until later in the night so we had the entire day ahead of us.  :)  We had some friends coming down in the afternoon to hang out before the concert which was exciting.  Dude always has so much fun playing with Dizzy and reading.  :)  Quebra and I hung out in the kitchen making dinner and eating treats... :)

We had a bit of a catch when I heard our beloved babysitting, Ratty, was really sick and couldn't make it!  :(  I felt terrible because she was feeling terrible, and I know that she would've come if she could.  So we made some quick phone calls and it turns out that my parents were going to be back from their vacation in time to watch the kids.  :)  So, that meant that Gaetan could come to the concert and my Dad also!  I know that Tristan was really excited about the idea of spending some QT with Grandma and boy did it look like they had fun!  He said that they read a lot, played with his trains and even got to watch some Dinosaur Train.  :)  AND stay up late... what more could a little boy want?!  :)

Sure enough!

Made a new recipe that was a nice addition to our meal.  We had Mujaddarah, Indian Stew, Naan and lots of treats!  They brought peanut butter cookies and cupcakes from Dizzy's birthday, and I had rice krispie treats and puppy chow.  I was impressed that my Dad even tried a bit of it and liked it!  That is pretty adventurous for his palate, and I'm glad that he liked it.  They're pretty interesting dishes, not a lot of ingredients but I think the flavors are there.  SUPER cheap to make too, which is always nice on the budget!

Poor Goose bonked her face earlier that day and she ended up with a little black eye!  But, nothing a little puppy chow wouldn't fix (hence, the powdered sugar all over her face :)

Dude getting in all the reading he can.  Loves the Dinopedia we got from the library.

The concert went great!  I had to go an hour early for a quick rehearsal beforehand, but I think that the concert went really well.  My high school direction, Mr. DeLille even came to the concert with his wife :)  A friend from capo also came too, which meant a lot!  Of course my Dad, Gaetan, Quebra and Dizzy came, and I can't say how much their support in this extracurricular activity meant to me!  I was surprisingly not very nervous about it, but tried to have a good time.  Towards the end of the Beethoven, let me remind you that's about 40-45 minute piece... I started to get really hot!  I felt really bad for the guys in their tuxes... I could see the sweat on some of them!  But it the piece went really well, and I think that the Nielsen even went well too!

Baby Norah's first concert performance!

Pic of the group!

I was very appreciative of the explanation that our conductor gave of Nielsen's piece.  It seemed very avant garde while just listening to recordings and rehearsals, but it made more sense with his explanation, and actually made the piece a lot more enjoyable!  It was nice when we got to the last little bit of the piece to actually see him smile about our performance.  Our had a pretty rough dress rehearsal, and I could tell that he was a bit nervous about it, but I think it turned out really well!  :)

Looking forward to next cycle and the guest performer we have coming in!  I am also very excited about what new stand partner I will have.  I'm thinking that anybody else in the section is going to be a little bit more on rhythm than she was!  :)

JVG