Fa La La La La

 Victoria is home! She and I went to Christmas Spectacular on Saturday to support her friend Susie's sister in her Christmas dance show. Central City is a very big studio in Canton, but requires a lot more money and effort to be a part of. They put on a huge Christmas show every year. One of the teachers works at Red Bell, so I have wanted to see the show lately, plus we wanted to support Sammie.

When I say a huge show, I mean huge! I know how much time and effort goes into Dancin' Feet's recitals every May and they only have 4 shows, just over 2 hours each. This is just the Christmas show, they do a regular recital in June, but they had 7 shows, just over 2 hours each! And it's not just dancing, though that's the main attraction. They also have a storyline behind it about an elf named Ellie and her adventures with Santa. She and Santa sing, and they're amazing! They dance a little too. The Santa is legit. He's an older man with a real white beard and a nice Santa belly. Ellie, the elf, is the writer of the show, and she's also an adult. They had a few other adults as well, one was an opera singer who sang O Holy Night with pipes similar to Mariah Carey's. There was a cellist in one of the numbers, though I couldn't tell if she was a teen or an adult. The sets, costumes, lights, dancing, and music were phenomenal! It was a fantastic performance!

Friends together again and they didn't mean to match!

And here's Sammie.

We all got to attend the orchestra concert on Monday to see Kade and Austin perform. Kade is the first chair in the viola section now! Austin was sitting in a better spot, so we could see him more clearly, though Concert Orchestra has gotten small, also making it easier to see everyone. Kade and Austin gave me a special sneak peek on Sunday. They did warn me that the violins aren't great this year, and they're right. I guess what made it more noticeable was that the violas and cellos have improved a bunch, partly because I'm making my two kids practice more. Violins stand out if they're pitchy since they usually have the melody and have a higher sound. What made the most difference was when they played Sleigh Ride with the Symphony, a new tradition that Concert now gets to do with Symphony, whereas before it was just Symphony's tradition to play it. The Symphony plays fabulously and when Concert played Sleigh Ride with them, I could hear those violinists who weren't quite on the right notes. The rest sounded great. So, I'm happy my kids played well and are in good sections, I feel bad for those violinists who were a little pitchy. It's hard!  

Erik showed Victoria how to play the trombone, so I got a quick pic.

My private concert. 

Ready to go!

Kade's in the green hat and Austin's in the red. 

Here's two of their songs, including Sleigh Ride.

I'm so glad we got to enjoy those evenings of music.