Author: amyewhitelivecom

This kid is something else.

Yes we were proud that he was nominated for the Ventura County Honor Band. But, we are most proud of how he handled it once he was nominated. He really wanted to be selected and once he was selected he really did his best to learn the music. He practiced harder and put in the work.

He never complained about having to drive to Ventura several times for a 2 hour evening practice on a school night. And the weekend of the performance he had a long practice on Friday night.

And then practice from 9 am – 4 pm the Saturday before the performance. Quinn loved working with the guest conductor from California State University and said that he was happy for the full 8 hours. He liked that he was playing with the best of the best and the other musicians listened to instructions and took it seriously. He even proudly wore a short sleeve VCHB shirt (he really, really prefers long sleeve shirts at all times).

Saturday morning he put on his new black shirt and black pants and his father’s black dress shoes. He was so ready!

It’s show time!

We were lucky that he got seated in front on the right side of the stage.

He asked us to video all the songs. The first song, Heroes Triumphant, was his least favorite song.

Heroes Triumphant.

Don asked him if he had any special responsibilities as the First Chair. Quinn said that he acts as the leader and also gets any solos. We joked that it’s too bad the tuba doesn’t get solos and he piped up that ‘Yes, he has a tuba solo!’. It’s at about 53 seconds in.

Rhythm Machine

Kentucky 1800

Amparito Roca (Quinn’s fave)

Don and I marveled at how much personal growth we saw in Quinn over the last 4 – 6 weeks. And it’s great to see him really work hard and be proud of what he can accomplish. The sky is the limit!

We had a fun Sunday on the water near the Channel Islands looking for whales. We were lucky that it was a beautiful day without much wind. We went with the Conraths and took the grandmas, Barb and Margaret.

Masks were required for outside, but as Don says “Masks down for the (insta)Gram”. Quinn got himself a hot chocolate pronto.

The boys hanging out on the back of the boat. Don can be prone to seasickness so staying outside near the back of the boat is the best place for him and he had no problems.

The White Family.

We are in a bit of a shoulder season for whale watching so we were lucky to see three whales, although none too close. This was about as good as it got. And the whales heading north right now are not the type to breach and give the big tail splashes.

A little bit of a whale with Oxnard and Camarillo in the background.

Heading back to shore with the Channel Islands on the horizon.

I’ve been showing Barb some of our local hiking spots and we returned to Hill Canyon. It’s a nice, flat 2 mile out and back hike with a lovely stream and big, beautiful oak trees.

Don and I hiked on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Satwiwa National Park. We got pretty soaked and a little lost but it was all worth it. We don’t experience many waterfalls in the desert that we call Southern California, but we’ve had quite a bit of rain lately so some of the waterfalls are flowing. And the hills are so green and lovely right now.

Sunset over our neighborhood.

We drove down to Venice to have lunch at an Italian restaurant that is run by a Top Chef. It didn’t disappoint and the outdoor area was quite lovely. Don giving me some lip.

A quick walk over the hills behind our house and you have an impressive view over Simi Valley.

We’ve never allowed our dogs on the furniture but Sonic just helped himself to this spot on the couch. Quinn made the comment that if we’re not going to use the couch (we don’t) then we should let Sonic use it. Twist my arm kid.

Another week, another hike with Barb and Sonic. This one at Wildwood Park.

Quinn had his first practice with the Ventura County Honor Band (VCHB) at a middle school in Ventura. He had to take a home Covid test before going. And I got one blurry pic of him on his way.

This is the book Quinn picked out for himself at The Last Bookshop in LA.

Over the weekend we went hiking with the Conrath’s in Ventura in a new-to-us spot called Harmon Canyon. It was quite lovely although the trail was blocked off about 1.5 miles in. We took a nice detour on the way back.