My son's marching band is playing at his high school's home games. I took some pictures. There was someone chatting behind me so video did not work out.
The first number
Making shapes
The finale
My sister gave us some popcorn on the cob which was a lot of fun to pop. It goes in a microwave bag, cob and all, then takes a couple of minutes to pop. Some of the popped corn didn't make it off the cob. It was tasty!
Popped corn on the cob
My eldest and I volunteered at the Columbia, Maryland, branch of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a charity that builds beds for kids that don't have one to sleep on. My son will be doing a bed build in October as his Eagle Project for scouts. The morning was a fun, hard work.
At the staining station
Putting long rails together
Our parish had its annual picnic, celebrating the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They had a brass band playing that was very entertaining.
Naptown Brass Band
My yojngest is playing baseball this Fall. The team is kid-pitch and the coach had everyone try, though only a few are really interested in being pitchers. My son tried but is not interested. He looked pretty good on the mound.
Getting ready to throw
Pitch coming
My eldest had a Court of Honor where he received some merit badges!
My eldest's marching band kept performing through October. We went to the games but only one picture came out well enough to post.
The October 7th Game
I went on a field trip with the youngest's class to the Maryland Science Center. The first part of the visit was seeing the Imax film Flight of the Butterflies, about the migration pattern of Monarch butterflies across the North American continent. The movie was in 3D.
Looking cool
The kids went crazy a couple of times during the showing. At one point, a monarch caterpillar is facing off against some ants, which normally would not be a fear-inducing sight. But this was displayed on the three-story tall Imax screen in 3D, which makes the bugs enormous and in your face. It reminded me of those old 1950s radioactive giant insect movies.
After the show, I lead a group of five boys around to various exhibits. The final thing we did was an engineering challenge. We helped a little monster climb up some shelves to various items. The kids worked in pairs (yes, one pair had three boys). My son and his partner had one success and then an even better success.
Up to your eyeballs in monsters!
Getting past the eyeball!
Since it was a field trip, I wasn't taking photos of other kids.
The Friday before Halloween, my wife and I dressed up for a costume dance at our dance studio, That's Dancing. It was a lot of fun.
Cruella and Indy
My eldest is on his high school's debate team and had a Saturday competition. He came in second in his category, which is impressive for a freshman!
My picture was too slow to catch him receiving the medal
The venue for the contest
Closeup of the tower
Near the venue is a field that had the original stadium for Baltimore's baseball and football teams. The area has been turned into housing and a YMCA. The field is still there and is for athletic competitions, but it seems too small compared to the stadiums we have now.
No stands for the fans
Johns Hopkins is nearby, with a statue of the Good Shepherd on its lawn.
Good Shepherd sculpture
Our youngest dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda for Halloween.
One of the birthday celebrations had our youngest getting some weaponry from Hyrule (the land where The Legend of Zelda series is set).
Ready for action!
Our oldest son joined the marching band at his high school, which means we are going to football games on Friday nights.
Half-time performance
End-of-game performance
Our friends were out of town and let us pick up their weekly farm allowance from the Gorman Farms CSA. The have a full share which meant a counterful of vegetables. The peppers would have outnumbered the tomatoes except we received two pints of cherry tomatoes!
Many veg!
I volunteered at another Baltimore Ravens game, handing out programs and flags to game attendees. The Miami Dolphins fans did not want a Ravens flag though most took the program. It was fun, if tiring. Since it was the home-opener, the stadium had no extra seats to offer to the volunteers. I went home, which is just as well since the Ravens lost 42-38.
Tailgaters across from the stadium (at 9:30 a.m.!)
Me and my credentials
When I finished, the first quarter just ended, so only cheerleaders on the field
My eldest was selected to play with the Middle School Gifted and Talented Wind Ensemble for Howard County. Originally, they were scheduled to practice over several nights and weekends but Covid concerns consolidated the plan.
Ready for action!
The practice was condensed into one Friday night and six hours on Saturday before performing on Saturday night at 7 p.m.! The group did a great job.
The first piece was "Cajun Folk Songs" arranged by Frank Ticheli.
The second piece was "And The Grass Sings in the Meadows" by Travis Cross.
The third piece was "Selections from Dear Evan Hansen" by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, arranged by Michael Brown.
The final selection was "Danse Bohemian" by Randall Standridge. This was the ensemble's favorite of the night.
His Jazz Band (an after school group led by the teacher) performed "Fat Burger" at another concert. And he had another outfit.
At home
At the concert
His middle school Wind Ensemble had a performance as well, including this first piece performed by him and four friends. It's an arrangement of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies."
The rest of the Wind Ensemble took the stage and performed their first piece, "Chasing Sunlight" by Cait Nishimura.
They played "Music from Pirates of the Caribbean" next.
"Tripwire" is a composition that made the players think of a spy film.
My eldest children had their school spring concerts recently, featuring many fine pieces of music. The school bands performed at a local high school which has a theater with a stage and audience seating. The location was much better than the elementary school's cafetorium (yes, that is what they call it--cafeteria and auditorium in one).
The orchestra in a proper venue
My daughter's group, the fourth grade Advanced Orchestra, played three individual pieces, followed by a full orchestra (including the third graders, who are new to orchestra) rendition of Queen's We Will Rock You. Here's the highlights:
Later, my son performed with the school's band. I managed to spot him as he was coming in.
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