Year 3, April 17th, 2018: The Indianapolis Symphony!

Wow!  We crossed several things off of my bucket list for myself and the kids today!  One of them was seeing a live symphony!  I had put it on our bucket list maybe right before or right after we left Canada, and today was the day I got to cross it off the list!  Well, I would love to go back, but I feel great just knowing that I took Keturah and Justin at least once to see an orchestra in action!  It was a field trip with our homeschool group, so we got some great rates.  And it was a program geared to giving the kids a wide variety of music from a few different eras in music, including two from modern (and young) composers.  The show was put on by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra that is located in the Hilbert Circle Theatre which is right on the Monument Circle downtown.  I was just in awe of everything from the interior theater and her enthusiastic staff, to the symphony, to the music they played, everything!  I did actually tear up a couple of times because I knew my parents would have loved this and they would be proud of me for making the effort to take them.  They tried to give my siblings and I a wide range of experiences to all kind of things, including classical music.  Well, I might have gotten more of the classical music than my siblings because my piano teacher was not only the church piano player, but was classically trained as well, and shared that with me.  My siblings might have started with her, but I know they took lessons from one of her students, who was an accomplished pianist, but didn't push the classical music as much with them.  Nor do I think they went as far as I did.  My memory is a little hazy on this, so I'm sure my sisters will correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, I was proud of myself.  Abishai had gone to another friend who has a daycare in her home, so that means we all made extra effort to get him there before going downtown and then picking him up again.  It was also an effort because it was very cold today, and we walked a ton going to the symphony and then around the humongous downtown mall.  That was also on my bucket list so that the kids could say they've been to Circle Center Mall at least once.  We have sometimes passed through it on our way to something else, but we don't usually walk the mall or visit any of the stores.  This mall also has a movie theater on the top level, which I believe had the first or second IMAX theater in our area.  It's 4 stories tall and takes up two city blocks.  Then, we walked a bit more around to find our lunch spot at Steak and Shake and then go back up to the mall and a little to the west to get into the Art Garden atrium that is above an intersection.  On average, I walk about 2500 steps.  Today, I made it over 7,200 (2.75 miles)!  I use an app on my phone to count steps, which isn't the most accurate, but is good enough.  No wonder I'm exhausted and hurting!  Phew!  And I have no time for recovery as tomorrow is Wednesday with normal activities.  I did lay down for over an hour on the couch and that helped some.  We finished the day by starting to watch the original Ben-Hur.  It goes along with our history book at the moment, and, I think it's good to watch the classics every once in awhile and take note of how making movies has changed, how graphic violence and swearing isn't needed in order to convey a point, and to appreciate an era like the Golden Age of movies.  Again, I am "spreading the feast" and exposing the kids to a wide range of things.

Ok, now for a bit more detail.  The "Score" of the symphony was "When Inspiration Strikes!" and there was a narrator who helped to transition the listener from piece to piece through telling the story of a little girl discovering what kind of masterpiece she wanted to create.  She talked about how the girl looked up at the stars and heard John Williams' "Imperial March."  Wow, does that sound every so different, incredible, and MOVING when you hear it live and you are focused on hearing the different instruments.  That was when I was fighting back happy tears.  It had been hard getting the kids out the door because of course they whined about going.  I don't understand why.  It's a privilege to do all these incredible things.  It's new and exciting.  Why stay home and stare at the screen all day?  Sheesh.  I'm not being sarcastic, but I know I fight an uphill battle with today's culture.  So I keep trying.  They will thank me someday.  Their attitude just tends to ruin the mood and makes me mad.  So once we were seated, and I didn't have to hear their whine for an hour, I was at peace.  Let me back up a hot minute though.  We arrived early to the theater and walked into the box office where it said, "homeschool groups enter here."  We waited there until our lead person got there and then they sent us all upstairs to a "holding room" while they were getting other field trip groups from schools situated and seated.  The theater was very organized about all of this.  They've got it down to a science.  We were seated middle of the floor to the left, so could only see the front stringed instruments, the narrator and the conductor.  I wish we could have seen all the instruments, but that's ok.  Maybe next time!  And I could always try to take them to my alma mater, UIndy, when their students have performances.  Much cheaper I'm sure.  But moving on to the rest of the program....

We weren't allowed to take pictures so, I'll give you  rundown from our educational program we received.  The program has information from the composers, some activities for the kids to fill out, and information about the conductor, narrator, and the ISO.  We had "Morning Mood" from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg (in the late 1800's), a song that most will know bits of, because they even use it in TV ads, while the little girl in the story had fallen asleep. Then there was Beethoven's (Late 1700's/Early 1800's) "Getwitter, Strum" (Thunderstorm) from Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 while the little girl in the story was watching a thunderstorm.  Claude Debussy (Late 1800's) was next with "Nuages" from Nocturnes (they had clouds playing on a screen behind the orchestra).  Next was a song composed by someone my age, James Norman, called "Ligrophobia" which is the fear of loud noises. It didn't flow like your typical Baroque or Classical type music, but it was interesting.  The next one was "Hoe Down" from Rodeo by Aaron Copeland in the 1900's (yes it's weird to type it that way, but it is true!).  The kids picked up on it that it was played during "Toy Story" the movie I believe when Woody was discovering his background of being part of a TV show.  Then another contemporary composer, Gabriela Frank's song "Testimonio III: Fireflies" from Peregrinos (Pilgrims) played after the narrator talked about fireflies.  And finally the last 4 shortened pieces of music came from a 19th century Russian composer, Modest Mossorgsky, and they were called, "Promenade," "Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks," (the narrator pretended to flap her arms like the wings of the chicks), "Baby Yaga," and "The Great Gate of Kiev." (Which they brought down the media screen again, which they had done several times already, and showed fireworks while the last song played.)

The narrator was Deborah Asante and she was awesome!  You could tell storytelling was her gig with the way she talked deliberately and used her body language and smiled pleasantly and she was a lot of great fun!  And finally, the conductor, was Orcenith Smith.  One thing I noticed was that there were a lot of much older folks in the orchestra and just a few younger people in the their early twenties.  Not a whole lot of the in between ages.  That could be for many reasons, but the one I was thinking of is that my generation and the next generation don't think about the symphony or playing these instruments as a career path or even necessary.  Which is sad, of course.  But I don't know how the ISO works, so maybe these ladies and gentlemen are part timers, or they volunteer, or those that are in their best years are in more famous orchestras.  (I stand corrected! The brochure says that the ISO has had salaried musicians since 1937!) Whatever it is, I am just grateful that there ARE some young people coming up in the ranks.  I wish I had that talent in just one area or my kids were interested in one great thing like that.  I kept mulling around in my mind something I heard on a podcast just this week, "be extraordinary at the ordinary."  And I wonder just how much of the population is ordinary.  So many people take music lessons or play sports but very few make it to the top.  Is it a wasted effort when you don't "make it?"  Does anyone in our generation actually want to put that much effort into something?  I am a dabbler, but I kind of wished I had stuck with just one thing.  Have I introduced the kids to things early enough so that they could pursue these things if they wanted to?  I'm thinking of the musicians who start playing violin at age 4.  I started lessons at age 9 and did fine, but pursued other things.  And Benaiah self taught himself drums.  I guess that's enough said on the subject.  No more guilt. Moving on.

When I took them to the mall, I made sure to show them how big it was, and how beautiful the atrium areas are.  Of course they wanted to focus on their favorite stores, Claire's and Game Stop.  I did introduce them to the store Hot Topic as well because I knew that they (and I) would like the pop culture stuff in there.  We talked about who and why people go the mall.  Justin and I decided that we both prefer the suburbia life and Keturah wants to live downtown.  I'm not sure why that is though.  We observed and talked about the homeless people and why I don't give cash directly to them.  You should buy them food or give them a gift card instead.  Or support the homeless shelters and get them blankets and warm clothing when necessary.  I feel bad for ignoring them, but I'm just not comfortable even talking to them, but that's because I'm an introvert.  So I avert my eyes and move on.  Anyway, we made comments about how downtowns really look like compared to what we see on TV, which isn't that much different.  We joked about seeing Spiderman cruising down the alley way or the Green Arrow running down a different alley.  We talked about how a valet works and who might live in some of the buildings or stay at the hotels that don't look the free standing hotels we have stayed in, although it's the same company.  Downtown is nice, but I feel out of place because I can't afford most of it, nor do I want to.  From food (our Steak and Shake bill was more than anticipated even with lots of coupons because these kids eat a lot!) to the clothing stores to the hotels, etc.  I'm a poor country girl and that's fine.  But sometimes we get ourselves cleaned up and go "into town" and pretend we are rich and famous.  Of course I'm just talking about the heart of downtown, not the slummy areas.  Anyway, I showed them that art garden above the city streets where during lunchtime you can bring your lunch, sit, and listen to a free concert by locals in this huge atrium and soak in the sun's rays, which were shining today.  We wondered what it would be like to be in the atrium during a heavy rainstorm.  They also have a little art gallery in there.  Pretty neat!

Now, I'll say a few things about Abishai's day.  He went to Mrs. Susie's house, which is primarily a daycare for preschoolers on their main floor.  She's pretty much a professional with the right sized table and chairs and little cots for them to sleep on during nap/quiet time, and lockers for her regular kids.  Plus, she's such a champ, she still homeschools her daughters who are Justin and Keturah's ages.  They used to live in our neighborhood but moved a little further down the road.  Mrs. Susie is also a Young Living gal, so I wasn't surprised when she handed us the Thieves hand sanitizer when we first walked in.  Abishai didn't skip a beat and ran off right away to play.  That means he also threw a fit when he was told he was going home.  He had already taken a 90 minute nap at Mrs. Susie's house.  He ate a ton of lunch there as well.  And no, I have zero guilt about not putting him into a preschool despite knowing that he probably is an extrovert.  He gets enough socialization from all the other things we do.  He definitely was a bit overstimulated when I picked him up.  I'm so grateful I have friends that will help me out when we can't take the 3 yr old everywhere.  I try to "spread the love" and have different people watch him (or them) at different times so no one gets tired of my requests for help.  It's a huge blessing to have a circle of friends like this!

In other news, G'pa let Benaiah drive his car in the church parking lot today.  I wasn't sure I was happy or sad or mad about this.  Ok, yes, it's fun and someone's gotta teach the boy, BUT, I want Jared to be the primary teacher.  Even before Benaiah was born I wanted Jared to be their driving instructor because he knows how to handle a car well.  When Benaiah said that Grandpa was showing him how to do it, Grandpa shifted fine and was just as good as Jared.  Jared and I just laughed and laughed.  I know this won't offend Gary, because he knows it's true.  Gary is a rough, herky jerky, speeding driver.  It's a proven fact that on long trips certain family members don't sit in the back when it's Gary's turn to drive.  Jared just has paid more attention to cars in general and has found ways to be gentler on them.  I just want this to be some bonding time between Jared and Benaiah, and it will be.  It's just sometimes, Gary jumps the gun.  Ok, maybe on more than just a few things.  But we all know it's just who he is.  The rest of us bring up the rear behind Gary and Abishai.  Bwahahahah, which reminds me, I asked Abishai who's the boss because he was pointing a finger at each person and saying their name, "Justin, you don't touch my banana.  Sissy, you don't touch my banana.  I touch my banana." and you know what he said?  He said, "I'm the boss!"  It's not a total lie because we do have to be aware of his needs more than the others.  But yes, he's a leader for sure.

Especially when.....Abishai was looking through the window from the dining room to the sunroom watching Keturah pick up his mess.  Jared told him to sit down in his regular chair.  Well, that booger, decided to climb up on the table and walked, WITHOUT HESITATION, from one corner to the other corner while we were both standing in the kitchen getting things ready for dinner.  The kid has NO FEAR!  And what did we the parents do?  Laughed until we cried.  The moment was over in a heartbeat.  We couldn't have stopped it midstream.  We did tell him not to do it next time.  We could have put him back in the other chair and made him walk to his chair the correct way.  But we didn't.  We just giggled, shook our heads, and moved on. #fourthkid  I cannot wait to homeschool him because he's going to need some challenges, but in his own timing and they will have to be his idea.    I'm already imagining what those last 6 years will be like with no other kid at home and how I can take him to the symphony or he can be involved in more than one activity because we'll have the time!  (Or not b/c who knows if we will have grandkids by then and need to help out).  There's a family we know at church that has two older kids, and a caboose kid who is 6 yrs or so younger than him and I see how he was dragged around to his older siblings' activities and now, he gets his parents mostly to himself and they can do more with him.  I suspect it will be similar for us.  Sweet deal.

Well, now that this is a book of journal entries!  I guess I'll end my ramblings and move on to some photos.  Thanks for reading!

I told you we were right on the circle.  It was a cloudy and very cold day, but there's the Monument of Monument Circle.

We had to go upstairs to the "holding room" and neither kid wanted their picture taken.  There were tons of other school groups, but they each got off their buses group by group by a guide from the theater.  Very, very organized.

Hello, Monument.

"I don't want to be here!"

My pictures don't do it justice.  But the theater is pale pink and it's like stepping back in time.  Like I said, we could only see the first couple of rows of musicians.  But the sound was amazing!  We weren't allowed to take any photographs during the performance.

The theater is kept in great shape, too.  Gorgeous box seats!

"Don't take our picture, Mom."

The lobby.

I did make them dress up, again, they weren't happy about it, but hey, I tried.  Here they are right outside the theater doors.

Taking a peek down the street!  Yes, city streets are interesting, but I like farmhouses and grass better.

Inside the Circle Center Mall.

It's a big mall, neatly kept, and very quiet.

That's the Art Garden.  Now, how do we get there?  We were in the south block of the mall when we walked in this over the street walkway.

Inside the Art Garden looking east down Washington St.  I had no idea they were both sipping their shakes from Steak 'N Shake in this picture.

Beautiful spot to have lunch.

Facing west and that's the area where bands play during the lunch hour.  We had just missed them when we got there.

The art that was displayed was modern and mixed media.  Nothing to write home about.  This is also facing east down Washington St.

See that walkway over there?  Well that's where I took that outside picture of the art garden from.  Steak 'N Shake is right under there to the right and our parking garage was just beyond that down this street.

Did you ever want to know how an elevator works? Well, here's some of the backside!  You can see the doors to the floor we were on!

Pretty neat!

Proof that we walked the mall. We are not mall people.  But we went, we saw, and it's checked off on our bucket list.

Knockerball, Archery, and Tag?

Ah, knockerball!  Maybe something the boys want to do for their birthdays?

We went to a mini golf place in the mall in New Orleans when we were there I think before the cruise in 2014.  Maybe we should go again when Aaron and Shauna visit next.  (There's no date set for that yet, but I'm sure they'll be back at some point).

Visiting Daddy after picking up Abishai.  We like using the south doors of the East Hall, but they are always locked.  Thankfully, I just send a text to Jared and he opens it up for us.  Cute babies staying warm though.

Watching Ben-Hur.  Babies were restless.  The acting is powerful, but it's so different than more recent movies.  I do appreciate not having so much green screen and having real costumes and real sets.  We watched the first 1 1/2 hrs.  I liked how they had Jesus in the movie make contact with Ben-Hur without even seeing his face or mentioning his name.

Having a little pajama party here.  I had asked for a blanket and Abishai decided he wanted to drag his blankies out to make a nest.  The other two followed suit.  Benaiah wasn't watching.  Instead he was playing his usual video games.  But Jared toughed it out with us, too.  Because of our audio set up, we have to concentrate if we want to understand the dialogue.  Oh, and I appreciate that this movie is easily PG and still conveys the point that rated R period movies do.  And more dialogue with a lot less violence and fighting.  Love it!  I can't wait to see the rest of it!