Concerts in the Park

It all started with Emma wanting to play the French horn again...She heard that ISU has a summer band open to community members. The band had 4 weeks of rehersal and a concert. Well, the thing about horn players is there is generally a shortage...so even though Emma was the new girl, they asked her to participate in the Municipal Band that had 6 rehersals and 6 concerts. The concerts were Sunday evenings in the Band Shell by Ross Park. It was rewarding to see Emma sitting in the back with a group of musicians again. Emma was pleasently surprised when on the first night of the concert, Rob started rounding up the kids to go. I thought I was going solo...the idea of chasing kids around for an hour couldn't have been that appealing, but my family came to every one of the shows (and loved every minute of it).

Cosette, Isaac, and Ethan are experts in finding new friends to play with. Here Cosette has convinced an older girl to play "doggies" during one of Emma's concerts in the park.

Isaac generally followed Cosette around until he was tired of being a dog. Here he wqas just waiting for the treats to come out. The band Shell where Emma played is in the right side of the picture there, so we were not too far away.

Emma never seems to give herself enough credit. She is a great horn player. We are always our own worst critics and Emma is no exception. Rob made the mistake of telling her he did not think the French horn was the most beautiful in the band. Naturally Emma was offended and Robert secretly vowed ot never say anything like that again. Emma was the most beautiful person in the band shell though.
Ethan has always been his own little man. He rarely plays with Cosette and Isaac at the park and is entertained by himself. He is really into jumping off things.

The picture below is just as the final concert was starting. They played compilations of Les Mis and Phantom as well as a few other known hits. It really was fun to be a part of.

Rob had to include the picture of Ethan and his OREO face. Once the Oreos came out the jumping was over and the hide and seek with the famous cookie began. Cosette and Isaac would run over, grab one or two and run back to the rocks. Ethan on the other hand never left the blanket again.

The kids are developing a love for music even if they don't know it yet. I assume this is called incidental learning.