Middle School Approaches!

The girls are heading to sixth grade in a few weeks.  Jill has counseled me to stop telling them that middle school is the hardest years they will have.  It certainly was the worst four years of my life, but point well taken.

The curriculum does not change much over the millenia.  Middle schoolers still need to pick either choir, band, or orchestra.  Abby is our singer, but Alexis picked orchestra.  A valid choice, if not a slightly more expensive one.  Since I was a violin virtuoso (or at least I learned how to play Cotton-Eyed Joe to some degree of recognition), I assumed she would pick the Violin.  We went to the school to talk with the orchestra director and try out a few different instruments.  To their credit, there are a few new choices.  Who knew you could play the stand-up harp, bagpipes, or accordion in the middle school orchestra?  (One can pick "Triangle", but then one would have to join the band, and who really wants that?).

Alexis picked the Viola, kinda like the violin, but lower in tone, and more expensive (compared to the violin, of which we actually already have G-G-Pa's old one).  But Viola it is!  Abby likes to do improvised piano, and now she can be accompanied by Alexis on Viola.  We are just one triangle and a colored bus from touring the country, engaging in zany antics.