Spring Basketball

Rob has been coaching Alyssa this spring in U-15 club basketball. They have played in two tournaments so far. So far they've won 3 and lost 4. U-15 teams can be grade 8 age and/or grade 9 age. Our team has 7 grade 8 players and 2 grade 9 players. Three of our losses are to grade 9 all-star teams, so we can't feel too bad about that.

It is cute to see Rob coaching. I think he is doing a really good job. He and the other coach promised the girls a milkshake is any of them could get 2 foul shots in a row. Alyssa has done it 3 times now. Only one other player has earned a milkshake. Here is a little video of Alyssa shooting foul shots....milkshake on the line. She is #5 on the darker blue team. She had her hair in a ponytail.

Lethbridge Piano Festival

This afternoon, Alyssa and Austin performed in a piano festival in Lethbridge. Austin performed one piece in a "recital class" and Alyssa performed three pieces in a "concert class." It was a dreadfully long afternoon. We were there about 3 hours by the time both kids performed and were adjudicated.

Crafty Card Tricks played by Austin Doig

Austin pretty much nailed his piece and came in 2nd of 7 performers. He did not get nervous at all. A few minutes before he performed, for example, he asked me if I could move the seat. I thought he was concerned about getting the piano bench in the right spot for his performance, but no. He was worried about 3 pokémon cards that fell between the seats in the van. I guess whatever his strategy, it worked. Good job, Austin!

Sweet Sorrow played by Alyssa Doig

Alyssa had a much harder task than Austin. Rather than play a single grade one piece, she had to play 3 grade five pieces. She also had to sit in a church for two-and-a-half hours before playing, sitting thinking about how nervous she was. Anyway, things didn't go quite right on her first piece, Bach's "Little Prelude in C Major" but she did quite well on her other pieces. I'm not posting the Bach piece, but if she'll play it for me again, perhaps I will post that version. She did really well on her other pieces, although the adjudicator didn't completely agree with her interpretation of "Sweet Sorrow." Personally, I think it sounds beautiful.

Jig played by Alyssa Doig

After the festival we met Rob and Austin in Lethbridge and caught dinner at Swiss Chalet before the kids had to be back for Mutual.

Bike Riding

Winter seems to be dying a slow and painful death. We had just a couple of nice days over spring break...followed by rain and snow. However, we did take advantage when the weather was relatively nice to get the boys out bike riding. Both Austin and Preston got new bikes for their birthdays. The first pictures is of Austin on his new bike which is just a bit big for him, but works actually quite well, and is so much faster than his old bike--the change from wheels that are 12" in diameter to wheels that have a 16" diameter. Preston's case was kind of funny. Our goal was to teach him to ride his two wheeler over spring break. On the first attempt on Friday, we thought it would be an uphill battle. His steering was extremely erratic and it seemed like he had no balance. Rob improvised an imitation strider bike. Strider bikes are pedal-less bikes that kids propel by pushing off the ground. They are supposed to encourage balance. Anyway, Rob took the pedals off Austin s old bike and Preston practiced on it for a while on Friday and again on Saturday.Then I went out to help him try the two wheeler again. After holding on and helping for a while I got tired, and let go....and he kept on going. Next thing you know he is a two-wheel bike rider! After a little while, we called is dad out and surprised him!