Circus School Recital

Did I mention that Sophia has been going to circus school.  Yeah I could insert some clown joke in here, but it's just too easy, so I will skip it this time.  Anyhoo, of course on the hottest day of the year, in a theater even hotter because being full of parents (including myself) and video equipment and bright lights .

Sophia one of the kids dressed in orange and red and represents fire, the other kids are water or firemen.

This morning I downloaded all the pictures off all the memory cards, put fresh batteries in all the cameras and handed out specific directions to everyone mom=hold vivienne, max = film sophia's part, dad=take pictures with the small point and shoot, me=take pictures with new camera with gigantic lens.  I was really unsure about how the pictures would come out with the new camera since I hardly had time to try it out.   My mom did an awesome job, my pictures came out so-so,Max got a great video (that is too long to upload here), my dad, however, must have take 100 pictures of 1) us sitting down 2) us taking pictures 3) the backs/sides of random people heads 4) the kids playing on the bleachers BUT not one single one of the recital.  What is it with old people and taking pictures?????  He is always the first one to ask me to send/upload/download/print pictures, but when all he has to do is push a button, he can't seem to do it.  argggggghhhhhhh. He's asian, shouldnt snapping pictures be in his dna?? And so I spent the afternoon going through and deleting the pictures and you're looking at the two decent shots that were left.  Well at least that is over, on to the next adventure.

The Recital

Today was the big day! The school put on an unbelieveable production! There are three classes with at least 25 kids in each-all the kids were costumed, there wasnt a lot of scenery, but there were a heck of a lot of props! The story was about the sun and the night that marked the time for man.

Water fairies were always ready to sing and dance and the lake where they lived gave joy and life to everything.
During the summer, the children swam in its crystal waters.
and the animals came to drink at the lakes edge
and the tranquilty of life continued like this, until...

An eclipse darkened the sun, then the earth started to shake and out of it emerged the Crastacuscut (i dont even know how to pronounce it, let alone know what it means). And it put a spell on the fairies and their lake and
lava began to flow out of the crack where the Crastuscut had come out.
(the kids are a volcano and they threw up some red fabric as lava, but i was too far and didnt capture it well)
From the darkeness of the eclipse and now arid earth-fear and sadness over came life on the earth-especially for the children.

but one night, the courageous children, go to the forest to where the earth fairies live and ask for help and the children find the crastacuscut and defeat it.

the flame fairies seal the terrible monster back into a grotto under the volcano and life begins again

The inhabitants of the lake have a gigantic party in honor of the courageous children

and the children and the animals bring gifts.
The end!

Quite a production, huh?! During the year, the kids planted seeds and watered them til they grew into plants-which were used in the play and then sold after the show. One of the Dad's is a musician, he wrote and sang many of the songs-he recorded the kids narrating the story and edited everything to be coordinated with the play. After the play there was a mini graduation for the older kids that leave this year. Then a group picture and then we were all invited to eat the picnic lunches we packed. There were games and music and dancing balloon animals. The teachers are very good about incorporating the parents and using their talents! The musician dad sang and others played music and the kids played and had fun.

no italian party is complete, without the tarantella!

And then we got home and I took a big nap!

so here is a side note: did you notice that Sophia has a hat on in that last picture...now was that so difficult?? I know making those damn hats was! Plus if you notice-I made 20 hats, only about 10 were used (which is fine, because they can be used again for playing and i'm sure that when they asked they didnt know exactly who was doing which role. that wasnt what i was irked at). I did get a special thanks after the play, and they didnt make me pay for the plants...altho I would have. In the end, what was wrong was righted and I left happy and content.

Salame and New Ears

It's recital time! The pre-school did something a little more traditional this year, all the kids were given laterns (the big kids had ones made out of paper and had candles inside and the little kids, like Sophia had ones made with flashlights). The kids and parents did a procession through the park and oratory (across the street) and then back to the school again. Outside the school the kids formed a circle with the parents outside and then say sang. You cant see Sophia because it was too dark and she was in front of me. It's a song about King Solomon:

I only mention the title because, like all kids, Sophia just sings what she hears. The words go:
No No No No No,
Qui non c'e
Pace, Pace,
Salome

Which translates to:
No (5xs)
There isn't any,
Peace, Peace
(King) Solomon

When Sophia sings, she says salami instead of Salome - which cracks us up. Okay now re-sing the song (in your head, you can watch the video if you want)-and it's a song about cured meat! ha ha! We keep singing it with pane (bread) instead of pace (peace) because it sounds funnier, but she gets mad. The other song learned at school and she sings at home is: We wish you a merry Christmas and Happy New Ears (italians don't pronounce that y sound) which also makes us ROTFL.