Happy Birthday Kiddies!

Today my Kiddies turn 15 years old.

And they're not here!! This is the first time that they've been away from home for their birthday. Kinda wierd. And that they're just a year shy of driving age. Where did the time go to?

They're up at Penn State for music camp this week. Kiddie A signed up for Jazz Band and Kiddie B for Orchestra. Turns out that only a certain number of each instrument was actually going to get in the Orchestra and if you didn't make the cut, you were put in Concert Band. So Kiddie B was quite nervous and practiced a lot the day before (remember that she had been @ Girl Scout camp the week before). When we got there, she discovered that only three trombones were needed for the Orchestra, and one was to be a tenor trombone (hers isn't). She was quite nervous beforehand ~ and quite upset afterwards because she thought that she did so poorly. Kiddie A also thought that she didn't do well, but didn't get as upset. They also thought that they were clearly the youngest of all the kids there. I'm not sure that "clearly" was accurate, but many of the others did look older.

Later that night we called the girls. Kiddie B did not get into the Orchestra. She was picked to be in the Brass Choir, second trombone out of three. None of us knew at the time what Brass Choir was (DH and I still don't). Jazz Band was divided into different groups. Kiddie A told us that she didn't remember what group she was in, but that she was third trumpet out of five.

My two Kiddies may not have been too impressed with themselves on Sunday night, but hopefully they're feeling better by now. They're also getting a good dose of what college is like ~ they're not only playing and practicing their music, but taking other classes like Music Theory, Conducting, Jazz History, and more. They got to pick which classes to take during the periods that they weren't in rehearsal with their particular band. And since they're in dorms on the other side of campus and the dining hall is in the adjacent dorm area, they're also learning how college students hike all over the place.

My future trumpet and trombone players: