Miranda and friends on their way to the 8th Grade Formal Dance. And Lia, the following day, ready for her last High School Winter Formal.
Lia, Miranda, and I arrived at 2am to begin our shift, parking cars in the church lot. It was Mira’s first time doing this, and Lia’s and my 4th. They did a great job, and we sleepily enjoyed the parade afterward.
In 1984, I had the privilege of participating in the Summer Olympics, as part to the Olympics Band. We performed at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Members were chosen from across the country, two musicians from each state. The remainder of the band wall filled out with members of the UCLA (and USC) bands. It was such a great experience to be surrounded by so many amazing musicians.
Back then, we didn’t have the production values (or giant budgets) of the current extravaganzas that we now see in Beijing or Greece. But the crowd loved it nonetheless. And we had the time of our lives.
We rehearsed for 3 weeks at the gorgeous Pepperdine University, overlooking the ocean. My parents got to come see the dress rehearsal at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. And I had not realized, or just forgot, that Ronald and Nancy Reagan were there watching us perform.
Miranda’s final year of marching in the Montrose Christmas parade, a yearly tradition since we watched Lia first march in 2005.
Having been largely deterred from pounding on my daughters’ wall, the woodpeckers spend most of their day pounding acorns into the power pole behind the condo. Today, a squirrel decided to make a run at grabbing some of those acorns.
The woodpeckers were having none of that.
See the what happened next:
Nana spent 4 days sewing, helping Lia make this amazing (orange) Winnie the Pooh costume. Lia’s friends will be the other characters — Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Piglet, and Christopher Robin. All in the school colors — orange and black.
Thanks Mom, for taking on this big job. You created a wonderful costume for Lia. Awesome.
Aunt Dorothy has given us use of her piano for a year — until Lia is ready to go off to college.
Lia is thrilled to have a real piano in the house, and we’re so grateful to Aunt Dorothy.
Here, Lia gives the piano its first workout.
Lia gives the new piano a workout from Dave Lohr on Vimeo.
Tie-dying, woodwork, and lots of clean fresh air. A nice weekend getaway at Camp Sky Meadows.
