Monday Musings & A Field Trip...

Yesterday we attended our first opera! We saw the dress rehearsal for The Magic Flute, after getting a marvelous backstage tour--we got all this special treatment as one of our friend's husband works as a tech guy for the opera.

 

Waiting outside before our tour...

 While we were waiting, we saw some costumes being unloaded!

 

 Inside, we met the "Chinese inspired" two-headed dragon monster from Act I.

There were lion creatures...

A million and one ropes and pulleys for the stage crew to manage...

At the top, they looked down... and it was a long way down! (I think I heard roughly 100+ feet)

Back outside after the opera, and who can resist posing by giant heads?

Not to mention the faceless head...

And naturally I am very proud of The Boy for finding the statue's nose!

The opera itself was marvelous! We read a story book version the night before going, so we could follow the story easily. The costumes and set were interesting... all the backgrounds were digitally transmitted through fiber optic cables. A lot of it resembled crayon scribbles. I'm not sure how much of the scenery and costumes I really liked, but they were bright and effective! Anyhow, I digress - the singing was fantastic, there was good humor, and we all enjoyed it much more than I even thought we would! The Girl loved Papagena, and The Boy got a big kick out of Sarastro, whose bass voice actually rumbled at various points as it was so low!

What We're Up To This Week...

A beach birthday gathering for a friend, same age as Bug now.

An end-of year homeschool roller skating party.

Roller derby practice.

More reading work for The Girl.

Microscope work. M repaired his microscope and the kids have been investigating various items ever since. I plan to start working through The World in a Drop of Water with them.

Reading, reading, and some more reading. I'd like to finish The Ordinary Princess with The Girl, who has asked for A Little Princess next. I'd also like to finish up The Children of Green Knowe, and then read either The Chimneys of Green Knowe, or... darn. I had something else in mind, but can't remember it now!

We're going to start learning about the California missions. Perhaps we'll drop by the local mission as a quick field trip.

Piano practice and a lesson for The Boy. We're looking into violin lessons for The Girl (maybe group lessons).

Other Notes...

For the first time since The Girl started kindergarten with us, we're taking two separate directions in math next fall, as the kids definitely thrive with different approaches. The Boy wants to return to Teaching Textbooks, while with The Girl, I'll be using either a combination of Math Mammoth Blue Series and Evan-Moore Skill Sharpeners OR ???. Something with hands-on, good visuals, etc. I may need to research this a little more. She's somewhere at a 3rd/4th grade level, and we don't mind backing up a bit if it will help in the long run.

Hope you all have a good week!