Sunday at Chautauqua

Kevin and I attended Morning Worship in the Amphitheater. I am always moved by the experience and hope that Kevin will love it as much as I do!! He has never heard an organ before, let alone one of the largest outdoor pipe organs. It is spine chilling! He probably didn't enjoy it to the extent that I had hoped, but he did like it. I told him that he could not do any of the activity books I brought for him until the sermon. I wanted him to pay attention to the beginning part of the service. At the Passing of the Peace, he was too shy to participate initially, but then caught on and reached out for hands. The older people around initialed fist bumping or high fiveing with him. The words to all the songs are printed in the bulletin, so I pointed to each word as we sang, and he did follow along. It reminded me that singing hymns in church was very helpful in the development of my learning to read! With worship teams and lyrics on screens, it is not as easy for a beginning reader to follow along.

The Postlude by the organ is always a virtuoso piece that is phenomenal. Today, it was a 1930s composition with atonal sounds. A tough piece to enjoy. And even tougher piece to play! I was sorry Kevin did not hear something more melodic and goosebump rousing.

Again, at the end of the service, an elderly man behind us complimented Kevin on his fine behavior during church! :)

At noon, a literary group put on a fundraiser for Alumni Hall (where my writing classes are held) -- An All American Picnic. It was a fun event for the kids on a perfect day. They served hot dogs and the usual fixings, had a hokey brass band playing, offered simple carnival-type games with prizes, and body painting. Kevin chose to have a snake painted on his arm.





We did more bike training today. This time, we were headed to a quiet, fairly flat, residential street close to our condo. We had to go on a paved path through the woods to get there. Kevin's class used the Ropes Course one day this week. I didn't know that one existed here, but... there it was... next to the path through the woods! So he had to play on it. The words "Ropes Course" terrifies me! I could see through the trees that it was very high. I warned him that Grandma knows nothing about Ropes Courses, and I am scared to death to allow him on it without someone with him who knows what they are doing. When I saw it, I said it was OK to get on, but he could NOT go high. He had a bit of a meltdown. I had to convince him that he was lucky to even be on it at all! But I could not allow my precious boy to do something dangerous where I could not protect him.


Then I had to convince him to get off and complete the bike practice before rain began.

The bike route we took had some mild up and down slopes. At first, he balked, but then was fairly successful! It is fun to watch his improvement day by day.

Here we are arriving home at the end of our session (with balloon -- don't ask! It's a convoluted story how he ended up with the balloon and bike! LOL). Look how he rode right up the little incline to our condo door with ease!!! :)


We had not made it to the Bell Tower this week when the chime master plays her 15 minute concerts at 8 AM, noon, 6 PM, and 8 PM. Those times are difficult during the week with scheduled activities, so we needed to do it today at 6 PM or it may not happen. She welcomes people and dogs to come inside. Shortly after entering, before Kevin was really comfortable with the situation, she asked him to give her a finger. He did, and she placed it on the bottom note of her small keyboard, playing a 3000 lb. bell of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." She asked for favorites. Kevin wanted "My Favorite Things," but she could not find the music readily and played "It's a Small World" instead which was equally fine with him.

As we walked away from the Bell Tower, he was throwing his balloon which he tethered to the tiger he won at the picnic with his game scores. It was a picture to be taken!

At the condo, Kevin drew his rendition of the snake on his arm. Then he cut it out, pasted it on another paper, and decorated it with "dark" designs in keeping with the snake theme.