April on FB

So lovely to see these talented musicians who happen to be my offspring practice together

From my deeply empathetic and eloquent friend (shared with permission) 

Some days my children are a delight.

Other days they are student drivers.

I often find descriptions of books on Goodreads to be confusing and amusing.

"Titanic meets Aliens"

How?

Why????

This evening's ultra intellectual debate between my sons: who would win in a fight between 100 men and a gorilla? 

This devolved into a fight between a billion lions and a billion Pokemon.

On repeat in my head: 🎶I believe the children are our future 🎶

Solo & Ensemble, round 3

Our third trip (and last with Michael) to Ellensburg is complete! The weather was a bit on the warm side for us who live on the cloudy side of the state. The emotions were also on the warm side with many ups and downs. Luckily, everything ended on an up.

Friday was ensemble day. Bright and early we were at the school for Michael and Angela to perform their duet. They actually weren't supposed to perform at State initially. They had come in as first alternates at Regionals. However, right after spring break they received the news that some other small mixed ensemble could not attend and they were going to E-burg. What followed was an intense couple of weeks learning the second part of their piece. I assume it is not at all stressful to cram learning a complicated piece of music in a foreign language with your ex-girlfriend.

Not. at. all.

On the day of the competition, they were stunning. Please note that these facial expressions are from acting out the song. They get along just fine.

Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir by Mozart

The amazing singers and their incredible voice teachers.

It all paid off! First place mixed small ensemble!

Saturday morning bright but not quite as early we were back in a familiar room on campus to hear our very favorite State soloist. Michael's voice is phenomenal and he has put in an incredible amount of work. This song showcased Michael's range and he filled the room with his voice. Everyone was amazed and his music teacher was almost in tears.

Madamina il catalogue questo from Mozart's Don Giovanni

Our extraordinary vocalist with his voice coach and high school music director.

Only one other vocalist made it to State from THS - Lily the amazing Mezzo Soprano.

He did it again! Second place for Bass Voice. We all want to hear the kid who got first place because it is crazy to thing there was anyone better than Michael, but that doesn't lessen our pride and excitement. 

It's an end of an era. On to college!

A Challenge Featuring Water

Social media challenges have now made it into our home. I don't usually pay much attention to these trends that come and go, but Michael was challenged by a couple of friends to participate in the USC Ice Bucket Challenge. And then he decided to do it. Of course many of us decided to gawk at support him. Ben was the videographer, I was the photographer, and Jason the "bucket" meister.

Here he is gathering up his courage.

Then he started the recording and listed off the folks he was challenging.

Bracing.

Moment of cold contact!

So wet, so cold.

I love Jason's face in this one. Alas, he did not avoid getting wet as well.

I am not sure how aware we all are, but we definitely enjoyed the experience.

Dad 1 Year

It's been one year since Dad passed and I was trying to think about how to commemorate the day. I remembered that Uncle Craig said that one of the last things he did with Dad was get a milkshake. That was the last time he left the house. Uncle Craig ordered one while we were there in memory of Dad. I have decided to borrow that idea and invited family to have a milkshake on Monday, April 7th to celebrate Dad. Here are some of the pictures.

Spring Break | Camping at Maryhill

Michael and Ben were back, but had opted out of the end of spring break hurrah! So Jason, Isaac, and I went on a 3-day OR/WA camping adventure. We started with a trip to Multnomah Falls.

While being sprayed by the falls, we saw a sign pointing towards a trail heading to the top. The trail was 1 mile uphill. Three of us started the trail, but only one of us completed the trial. 

Even though the hike took a bit longer than expected we still managed to get to our campsite and get the tent up and a fire roaring before it was too dark. Additionally, our camping neighbors gifted us two packets that made the fire turn all sorts of colors, much to Isaac's delight. 

The next morning we went on a quest for decent coffee (unsuccessful) and a replica of a stone age landmark (successful).

Then it was back to the campsite to explore/skip rocks on the Columbia River.

The determining factor for my choice of our campground was the proximity to the Goldendale Observatory. We had tickets for the afternoon and evening shows. Both were lovely, educational, fascinating, and provided us with the opportunity to look into telescopes. 

During the afternoon session we had perfect weather and good solar cycle timing in order to see several sun spots.

During the night session we saw the moon with some lovely shadows highlighting the craters, Jupiter with three of its moons, and the Orion nebula.

We made a large fire on our last morning and then packed up for the drive home.

We interrupted our drive home along the Columbia River with a stop at the Bonneville Dam. An impressive structure. 

Our cram packed trip ended with driving home in the rain. We had lovely weather and apparently excellent timing. What a lovely spring break.

Hands Off! Protest

While we were enjoying our observatory experiences, Josh was having his own adventures. He and some friends participated in the Hands Off protest in Olympia. We had made our reservations months ago, but were glad Josh was able to participate.

Spring Break | Rocks and Minerals

Another day, another "only child" adventure for our youngest. This time we brought Nana with us on our geological adventure. Poking around the internet I found the Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals  - a house that has been renovated to be a museum. That description was not particularly encouraging; however, the online reviews were glowing. We weren't disappointed.

We were introduced to thundereggs. 

 There was a scavenger hunt.

Nana got to hold a rock with garnet "pimples".

We saw glow-in-the-dark rocks.

I found a very charming Arthropod.

And then we went to IKEA where Nana tried out the scooter and we bought Swedish goodies.

Another successful adventure without the teens.