Suzuki Piano Graduation

Another year, another piano graduation concert. Congratulations to Lara who performed at the Opera House's Utzon room for the first time this year after graduating Book 1 and Book 2! Elliot also did well playing Chopin after graduating Book 5. It was a beautiful day for a concert for a family day out.

The sun is shining. The concert is over!

Tried to get a photo of all 3 children with no success

He decided later that he did want his photo taken

Having drinks as a family after the concert

The chips and wedges didn't last long

Concert At The Opera House

It was that time of year again...Elliot had graduated from Book 3 of Suzuki piano! So it was off to the Opera House for a graduation recital. The whole family went, along with Lanella, Oma and Opa to watch Elliot perform. I was rather nervous about Jonah's ability to sit through a whole concert without creating a fuss and I wasn't disappointed. I tried to pretend that I was not the parent of "that" child who kept shouting "I want food" multiple times during the performances. The same child, who when not shouting, was banging things loudly together. Lanella kindly came to the rescue and took him out for a walk in the Botanical Gardens.

Elliot did extremely well, considering that another child performed his piece near perfectly before him. We were very proud! So much so that I forgot to take a photo when he was performing. I was probably more nervous than he was. Alright, so I was nervous and he wasn't.

It will be interesting to see how Lara will go when her turn comes around...

Taking photos at the forecourt whilst waiting for the Opera House to open its doors

A reward for the whole family after the concert! Still reeling over a coffee costing $5...

The cause of my biggest angst that day!

Lara enjoying the treat

Practising for the Osbourne Lights...without a tripod!

Another busy week has gone by. We celebrated 2 mother's birthdays over the weekend. First up was Malcolm's mum on Saturday. A lovely Gordon Ramsay Shepherds pie followed by a lemon and cream cheese pound cake (mmm...) went down really well. This was followed on Sunday by my mother's 60th birthday which was celebrated at Bali Stick. Ah...real sambal and real satay!

Before that, I tried to sneak a quick look at Vivid, a special light show on historic buildings along Macquarie. We took the opportunity to show Shannon the beautiful views from Lavender Bay. Alas, I discovered that I had forgotten to bring my tripod. Annoyingly, the light display on the Opera House took a long time to change over. We didn't have time to fly by St Mary's Cathedral, the other building that I really wanted to photograph.

Well, the results were surprisingly OK! My hands, it seemed, were steady enough. This bodes well for our trip to WDW. And re-motivated me to look for courses that I can do to improve my skills. On a different note, I bought myself a brand new pair of leather boots today in preparation for New York! Nice, soft and comfortable Diana Ferrari super-softs with rubber soles. Things are shaping up, accommodation for Washington D.C. have been booked at a bargain price of $109 per night and it looks like flights from Washington to Orlando will also be finalised shortly.

I still can't work out why I can't move my photos around. Argghhh!!!!