What a busy weekend we have had! I don't even remember what we did Friday night, but I think it was the calm before the storm.
We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and on the highway at 6:06 a.m. It had rained hard overnight and the road was wet. Jake's band participated in the Union Renegade Review in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I will warn you now, I didn't take any pictures of their performance. As they took the field I was filled with emotion. Overwhelmed was more like it, I even shed a few tears. Not because the program wasn't going as planned but 1) they play Pomp and Circumstance and the thought of Jake graduating was so real and more than I could handle at that moment. 2) I was proud of all their hard work. And 3) I just wanted to experience it.
Red in the morning.
Sailors take warning.
We got to Oklahoma and the weather
was windy but better than expected.
Per performance pep talk by their fearless leader, Director Mr. Kirk.
Then the waiting began...
(Jake, his friend Jaden and Jack in the back of the truck)
4 tubas playing the waiting game.
the equipment was ready and waiting, too.
(The guy in the blue jacket is Mr. Banks, Jake's low brass instructor)
I can't remember where this band was from,
but the dragon was cool!
I think this was Chippewa HS from Joplin MO
If so, we'll see them again this weekend in St. Louis.
The competition was amazing - with strong winds and some rain. It was sensory overload but I could have watched more. I determined I should have bought a program to write notes in because I couldn't remember which was which and I didn't always know who we were competing against. I can't tell you who my favorites were. I couldn't remember which group did which moves that I liked or didn't like. It's a colorful blur. Jack said after the band performed and they got the trucks loaded up with instruments and equipment, the band was pretty down. The wind was against us and blew over most of our front wall - which hides the color guards flags and equipment. The wind also played havoc with the tarp.
This is the bands performance several weeks ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-gXPOn8pJ8 for those of you that haven't seen the performance, this is a good place to start. The sound isn't great, but you'll at least get the picture. As soon as I get find a copy of the newest show I will post a link. It was amazing how many things they've added in the last week alone. From where I sat I was in awe!
Finally, the time came for the Drum Major Awards ceremony.
Our Drum Majors - Justin and Miranda
on either side of Emma, Color Guard Captain
To Justin's amazement BVW received 1st Place in Class AA!
They were moving on to Finals!
(Yes, they received another award but I can't remember what it was for.)
The band had a little celebration while chowing down on dinner
while Mr. Kirk was at the Directors Meeting.
Finals were cancelled due to weather and lightning. Mr. Kirk returned and rallied the group for some good news. They had been ranked 3rd overall! The judges loved the show. The judges shared what the band did really well and made suggestions on how to improve it. The band was graded highly on recovery. There were distractions other than the props; 2 firetrucks and an ambulance showed up (I never heard why), students struggled against the wind with several falling or nearly falling down, and extra hash marks on the field were just a few. But the judges were impressed with the bands overall resilience. I can't wait to share the latest show - craziness and all. The little added movements and tweaks were awesome!
The buses battled wind and rain last night driving home but all arrived safely. We had decided against driving and opted to stay overnight. We had brought Suzy with us and were able to check in before 10 in the morning. It worked out really well. We got a good nights rest and came home this morning.
Today was a beautiful drive.
This was taken south of Pittsburg, KS.
And before the strong side winds started.
The kids and I were home about 10 minutes before it was time to leave again. The Youth Group had decided to spend the day at Worlds of Fun. It was an enjoyable day!
Who had fun today?
You can see Annie peaking over Jake's head.
Jake is wearing a crazy hat, not a diaper or head wrap. Lol!
Jack postponed his football enjoyment and went out to the high school at noon to help unload the trucks. He said the turn out was good the the job was done in no time. For someone that said he didn't want to help with much, he sure is doing an outstanding job! :-)
Two more weeks of marching band! I'm a mix of excitement and exhaustion, I can only imagine that most of the band is leaning more toward exhaustion. It's been a great experience for Jake and I hope we have many more years ahead of us!
Sleep tight!
xo
No comments:
Post a Comment