Like this:

Wow, that was fast.  It seems like just a minute ago we were writing the mid-summer blog, and now we’re about a week away from fall…  August was packed with lots and lots of music.  In the first half of the month, I attended a strings camp at the studio where I usually take my violin and piano lessons.  It was a great camp!  My favorite part was getting to try out new instruments.  I received private viola lessons the entire week, and even got to play the bass!  The clip below is from the mini-recital on the final day.

Here I am with the bass - it's huge!

 

 Also during the first part of the month I got to enjoy three Philadelphia Orchestra concerts at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).  The venue is an open-air venue and I enjoyed this year’s variety in the concerts.  The season’s opening night featured Yo-Yo Ma, whom I saw last year too, and his performance this year was equally amazing.  The second concert was different, because it included a 125-member chorus (Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia) that sang along with the orchestra in their performance of Beethoven’s Ninth.  The most fun concert was the last one I went to, the Cirque de la Symphonie concert, which featured live cirque performances, such as aerial flyers, acrobats, controtionists, dancers, jugglers, balancerrs, and strongmen.  It was pretty cool!  It was family night at SPAC and before the concert one of the trombonists from the orchestra gave a presentation to the audience.  I raised my hand and got to ask a question.  Watch it in the clip below.  I can’t wait for next year’s SPAC summer season.

In mid August my mom and I drove to Ontario, Canada, where I attended a Suzuki Institute at Wilfrid Laurier University.  What a week! It was packed with classes and activities virtually from morning ’til night, but it was great learning and great fun.  The hightlights for me included playing in the orchestra, harp class, the barn dance (where I got to fiddle with the band!), and of course meeting a new friends. 

Here I am fiddling with the fiddlers in the barn dance

 

Playing harp in harp class

Here I am with my harp teacher Hillary

 Here are clips of my solo recital and a duet with student-teacher Dave:

Here I am with my friend Jake minutes before our finale orchestra concert

 

 Jake is one of the new friends I met at Suzuki Institute.  He came all the way from Montana!  We not only have music in common, but he is also an airplane enthusiast as I am, so we had a lot in common.  After the institute was over, we drove to Niagara Falls and spent the day together with our moms.  I look forward to keeping in touch with him, he may be visiting me in New York as soon as this upcoming November.

Jake and I at Niagara FallsJake and I getting ready to go on Maid of the Mist. We were prepared, but we actually didn't get all that wet...

Before we knew it, September rolled around and it’s definitely starting to feel like fall here.  Labor Day, however, was still nice enough for a day at the beach, so we spent it at Lake Sacandaga.

Getting ready to swim in Lake Sacandaga

Had fun in the sand too!

It's cold!

For Rosh HaShanah we had a party with my homeschool friends – the Kilinskis.  Those who follow my blog already know them pretty well   We baked sweet Challahs, honey cake, and made Shana Tova cards. 

Braiding Sweet Challahs

The baked challahs. Don't they look delicious?

Anissa and I enjoying apples and honey (and peanut butter...)

Mixing the batter for the honey cake

Anissa and I making Shanah Tovah cards

Did I mention we also enjoyed some outdoor time in the garden and on the trampoline?

Here we are picking tomatoes from the Kilinskis' garden. We got to take a whole bowl full home. I don't eat that stuff, but my mom says they were delicious!

Check out the awesome sign my parents made for my first day at school!  Of course, not much schoolin’ is going to go on around here until mid October…  First I get to go on vacation to California to visit family and then I get to spend time with my grandparents (aka Lola and Saba) who will be visiting me here.  I hoped you enjoyed this little glimpse into my summer.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before I post again.

Cool sign for the new school year