Suzuki Camp!

We recently attended our first family music camp and I finally uploaded my pictures to be able to tell you about it! Let me just say that the entire experience was wonderful, and I'm so glad we went. Here are a few photos so you can catch a glimpse of what we did while we were there.

Each day, after breakfast, Cody attended a semi-private class with three other violinists. Below is his wonderful teacher. She was so encouraging and always had both positive and constructive things to say to help him grow while he was studying with her. Next, he would attend a large group class with other children who are working through the same book as him. This was great fun, but took a lot of concentration. The children must always keep their eyes on the teacher!

Here's Cody "serenading" us one evening when we made a bonfire. He voluntarily grabbed his violin and decided to experiment with some of the fiddling techniques he'd learned while observing a class earlier in the day.

The children are doing "bow games" in the picture below, which is why the violins are on the floor in front of their feet. One of the chidren dropped her violin and the teachers thought it might be best to leave them on the floor, just in case!

Here's our (very rustic) cabin. When we first walked in to our new "home" I was a bit concerned about how it would work out, but we really were quite comfortable. It was so quiet and tranquil. I really didn't find that I was missing home in the suburbs all that much! Sometimes it's just good to keep things simple...and that's exactly what it was up there!
One of the evenings, after classes ended, we decided to slip away to a nearby beach and we had a wonderful time playing. The boys were loving all the sand and surf!
Here's Cody running on the beach. It was so clean and the water was crystal clear!
Here's little stuff...he was afraid to get in the water, but he did let daddy carry him around a bit. It was quite shallow!
There are three things my kiddos love right now: Swimming, Frogs/Toads, and Sand! There was a lot of it around our campsite and they were little dirty boys at the end of each day.
I loved this view. So did the boys!
My favorite part of the day was walking to the fiddling class. This was the view as you looked skyward.
Look at these tall trees! So pretty...
And finally, the destination. In the middle of the forest, you reach the "Jazz Bowl." The teacher of this class was absolutely phenomenal. I learned so much from watching him. It didn't hurt that he could play that violin like nobody's business!
We are loving summer. How about you?