Our friends, the Ciccottos, moved back to New York pretty early into the pandemic. It was an understandable choice once Pete's job at Google went fully remote and the importance of being near family was brought into sharp focus because of the circumstances of an uncertain world. But we missed them. A lot. Leo and Serafina kept in touch with the kids via social media and I text Mary regularly.
Their visit to California wasn't only to see friends and family. Their older two daughters were signed up for several college tours. This brought them to town during a particularly busy weekend for Serafina since she had both boot camp for her dance team as well as choreography sessions. But we did our best to facilitate as much visiting as possible.
This meant on Saturday night, this gaggle of girls went with me to pick her up from the dance studio. They were excited to surprise her.
From the studio, we made a quick trip to Target right before closing. They declared they needed to get the ingredients for their s'mores lasagna, which was a recipe they made up at a sleepover many years ago. Oh and they needed matching shirts too.
Gotta document their creation.
The matching shirts were Lizzy's idea so she could have them recreate this photo from March of 2019.
Serafina spent the night, even though she had a long day of dance on Sunday.
On Sunday, most of the Ciccottos came over to hang a little bit and hear Leo play guitar.
It was wonderful to spend time with the Ciccottos. We hope to make it to New York at some point to visit family and to spend more time with them. Like most visits, it went by way too fast.
Wow, wow, wow. The high school band performed their spring concert and I was blown away by Leo. He switched to the baritone sax, which is a big instrument. He doesn't drag it back and forth to school much, so it just stays in the band room. I haven't heard him play in a while and he did awesome. He also took his electric guitar to play a solo and completely tore it up. So awesome.
Tom was unfortunately on a work trip to Las Vegas, but I took lots of video for him. Leo decided to wear a tie and I found one of Tom's Jerry Garcia designed ties. Then I had to watch a YouTube video to learn how to to tie it. Of course, we had to take some photos.
I can be a little nutty about getting a good seat, but hey, I want an unobstructed view of my kid! Especially when I need to document the whole thing for his dad who was super bummed to miss it. He did have his Nana and his sister in the audience though.
There were only 15 kids on stage, which is a pretty small group for a school band. But since it's a new school, everything is still pretty small.
I'm just going to include some favorites here. This is the Abba song Dancing Queen. They performed this without a backing track.
Leo felt pretty inspired by this Bruno Mars song.
"Who ya gonna call?"
But my favorite part was Leo's solo. There was a pretty fantastic piano soloist who played a complicated, surreal piece of music, but Leo followed it with this amazing rocking solo of both Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. Bold choices, but he pulled it off!
They closed the show with Don't Stop Believin', which was a little rough but still very enjoyable because these kids have worked so hard this school year. I couldn't stop smiling the whole show.
Leo started with the school band at the beginning of the school year and opted to play saxophone, even though this is a completely new instrument for him. Since the school is brand new, they sometimes make plans for events that don't actually happen because the facility isn't ready or they don't have the manpower to pull it off. But last night, they successfully held their first Winter Concert. The performing arts center at school is impressive, even though it's not finished. It was close enough to done to host us last night.
The school is small since it's just 9th graders currently. So that means the band is small too, just 16 kids.
The small band lead to a small crowd so I had the perfect seat to watch Leo perform. I love an unobstructed view!
Here they are playing "Holiday Sampler". Leo is one of two saxophone players. The other sax kid, Treyvon, has been playing for a while. It made me extra proud that Leo held his own next to him.
Star Wars is always going to be a crowd pleaser.
Leo gave a snarky introduction to the song Seven Nation Army. He isn't a fan of this song or the band that wrote it.
Louie Louie was my hands-down favorite because of how Leo moved and grooved while he played.
The teacher wanted some additional numbers to round out the program. Originally Leo was going to perform a duet with another kid that plays guitar. Unfortunately, they didn't get enough practice time to play that song, so the teacher asked Leo to perform a solo. He played part of Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. It was great to see him play guitar as well. He was one of only four soloist.
Here's my multi-instrument musical master! I was so proud. I smiled the whole time and he was clearly pleased and a little relieved when it was over. He said he really like performing in the theater because he couldn't really see the audience from the stage and that made him less nervous.
I'm also glad that Nana got a chance to join us and see him play live.
Leo is a big fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Tom and I like them a lot as well. Tom has seen them play live before. If I were to compile the soundtrack of my high school years, the Red Hot Chili Peppers would definitely be on there.
When I heard they were coming to town way back in October, I snatched up tickets and we gifted them to Leo as a Christmas present.
It was finally time for the show on Friday, July 29th at Levi's Stadium. I've been there for field trips with bothkids and for Beyonce in 2016.
Outside the stadium.
Waiting for the show to start. Beck was the opener. We have seen Beck twicebefore. Oh and of course, Tom has met him.
They opened the show with an amazing jam session that lead into Can't Stop, which is the song Leo played for his school talent show last December. It was a very memorable night.
Leo attended "classic rock" camp this past week at School of Rock. School of Rock is a chain of music schools that specialize in rock music and performance. Are they named after the 2003 instant class film "School of Rock" starring Jack Black? Unclear.
Anyway, Leo hasn't done a camp in a very long time, but he was a good sport about attending this one. He knew it was a chance to meet some other musicians on his level. Turned out a lot of the kids were just starting out with their instruments, but he did meet a couple of highly-skilled kids, including a drummer named Diego. On the first day, the instructors broke the kids up into three groups that would form bands. Leo's group settled on the name Petrichor, which means the smell of earth after the rain. Leo didn't love the name, but he went with it.
They learned and practiced five songs, which they performed live this afternoon at a pub in the same shopping center as the music school.
We were excited to see him play and I made us get there early for good seats. We picked up his friend Vivian on the way.
Here's the outside of the venue. The food was overpriced and not good, but the entertainment was top notch!
Here's Leo (burgundy shirt) waiting with the other kids for his turn to play. There were two other School of Rock camp bands that performed before his band.
Here he is tuning up before his set.
I went to stand where the kids had been waiting in hopes of getting a good angle for a video. I snapped this picture of Tom, Serafina and Vivian waiting for the show to start.
Here's a video of them performing Jaded by Aerosmith. This song was released in 2001, so Leo didn't feel it really fit the "classic rock" category.
I was unhappy with my spot for watching and documenting the show since Leo was mostly blocked, so I moved back to the table for the rest of his set. The next song was Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. Leo got to play lead guitar, but his pedal wasn't turned up loud enough and the vocalists didn't really give him a chance to showcase his solo. If you listen close, you can still hear him completely crush his part. My new location did not improve my view of Leo since he was crammed in the back on a small stage.
The instructor for his group, Ace, joined them for the next song, You Don't Know How It Feels by Tom Petty.
Leo practiced the next tune a lot and did some singing while he played at home, but during the performance he didn't do any vocals. The audio doesn't do justice to how well he did on this song too. Here's Come Together by The Beatles.
The final song was Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. I'm impressed they even attempted this one since Stevie Nicks vocals are so iconic.
It was so fun to see him play live and we were so proud of how well he did, especially since these kids only met each other and started learning all the songs just five days before.
Last time the school had a talent show, Leo performed after only rehearsing with the band for one week. They had a little hiccup in the beginning of the song but overall did an outstanding job.
When the school announced a second talent show, he had a chance to perform again, with the addition of another guitarist, Isaac. They had more time to practice and chose a song that Isaac knew very well. They lost their singer (off to a solo career, perhaps?), but that's okay because the lyrics to this particular song are not middle school friendly. Another big difference this time around was that Tom and I got to watch him perform in-person. The last show was during the Omicron wave and we weren't allowed on campus. It was amazing to see him perform, and I may have even gotten a little teary-eyed, though I did my best not to embarrass him.
We joined all the kids in the "grand room" where they hold assemblies and such.
Leo's friends Vivian and Hadley were leaders of the fan club.
His classmate Drew also held up a sign.
There were a couple of skillful piano players, and some nervous singers, but the band was the big act. Here's my video of the performance. My camera work is shaky and there are a few people wandering through my shot, but you get the audience-view of the band. From left to right is Leo on guitar, Johnny on bass, Isaac on guitar, and Rob (music club director and dad to Johnny) on drums.
This is Tom's video. He had a side angle but he also captured the intro by Rob, and some crowd reaction shots.
Both videos are quite long, so if you just want to get to the "meat" of it, here's Leo's solo and the hard rocking end to the song.
On Tuesday, Leo started practicing with his friend Johnny and Johnny's dad to play in the school talent show. Johnny's dad, Rob, works at the school and plays multiple instruments. He also gives lessons in the small music studio in his house. Johnny plays bass, and Leo befriended him almost immediately at the beginning of the school year, bonding over music. Leo went to Rob and Johnny's place on Wednesday too. On Thursday, their friend Tyler (the gingerbread house eater) joined them to do the vocals on the song. Also on Thursday, a school administrator called me to say I couldn't be at school for the performance. I had emailed her asking if I could slip in to see them play; I even attached my vaccine card to the email. But I knew they weren't letting volunteers on campus for a different event that day, so it was unlikely I could be there. She was so apologetic and promised to send me a video. I was disappointed, but I understood. They have to prioritize safety. Plus, it may have made Leo more nervous to have me there.
Friday he went to school with his guitar and three days of preparation. I got the video Friday afternoon, and I'm not sure there is a word beyond "proud", but that's what I felt. I couldn't believe how brave and awesome he was during that performance. There was a little hiccup, but they got back on track and he rocked it!
Here they are... Johnny on bass, Rob (the dad) on drums, Tyler on vocals and Leo on guitar, playing Can't Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
This was an incredible experience for Leo. He's only done guitar lessons virtually and hasn't played with other musicians before. He will continue to work with Rob and Johnny in the new year. I'm very excited about this next chapter in Leo's musical journey.
The kids finished their first full week of school. Leo noticed there was a kid that played guitar at lunchtime. He got permission to bring his guitar too, so on Thursday he took it to school. He shared it during their "mentor circle" class (kind of like homeroom). His teacher sent me this picture of him playing for Mr. Rob, who is in charge of the cafeteria and also plays guitar.
He got to play at lunch with Ethan, the other guitar player, and Johnny, a bass player, but Leo was the only one that made it on the school's social media.
We celebrated a successful first full week of school by driving through Starbucks. Mousse got a "puppuccino" (unsweetened whipped cream in a little cup).
Yesterday was my birthday. Birthdays are a little tough for me because I share a birthday with my dad and I miss him extra on this day. Also, I don't love getting older. But this time, I felt like I should probably celebrate. Since the dance studio didn't hold a recital this year, I actually had the night free. Next year, I'll be spending my birthday backstage and in the audience of the dance recital. And since all my local close friends (and half of their kids) are vaccinated, I felt it might be safe to have everyone over. It's been a long time since I've hosted anything and I was feeling a little nervous, but I decided to push past my hesitation and invite folks over for some drinks and dessert. I definitely wasn't ready to host a meal.
Tom picked up the most beautiful cake for me.
Three families came over to celebrate with me. After temperatures in the high 90s all day, it was absolutely perfect out in the evening. People played darts and ping pong and all the other outdoor games we have in our new backyard. Tom opened up our umbrella and showed off the lights.
Everyone came inside to sing "happy birthday" to me. I was so overwhelmed and touched when I saw everyone gathered to show me love. It's been a long time since I've had this many people around me that I care about. I took pictures of them and then they scolded me that I should be in the pictures since I was the birthday girl.
So Tom took some pictures.
And then they insisted I open my presents. I think Kristi just wanted to see my reaction to this epic gift. I will never admit to being a dance mom, even though my friends say I'm absolutely a dance mom. Well, I guess I have to just accept it. This shirt will help me embrace it.
I think Leo's recital gave him new confidence, because he brought out his guitar and played for all the kids. The adults were pretty impressed too.
It was a wonderful night. Everyone had a good time and it was so great to be together again after such a long time. Mousse was mostly well behaved and got lots of attention and playtime. Our new backyard proved to be a pretty great entertaining space, so hopefully we can host people again soon.
Leo has been taking guitar lessons over Zoom for more than a year now. He started out with group classes, but when he passed the two levels offered, he moved to individual lessons with his instructor. He likes her a lot and she lets him pick songs that speak to him - mostly classic rock. She held an end-of-the-year recital yesterday and invited Leo to participate. He wasn't sure if he wanted to do it, but I wanted him to. I'm proud of the progress he's made and I wanted him to have the chance to show that off. I performed at several piano recitals in my childhood, so I know the last spot is reserved for the most advanced student. I never performed last, but sometimes I would be second or third from last. Leo was the last spot and I was thrilled for him.
We tuned in to the recital from his room. There were several little kids, plucking out their songs with lots of concentration. When Leo heard how these kids were true beginners, he began to feel more confident about his piece.
Mousse found the music quite soothing.
The recital moved along quickly because each performance was brief. Then it was Leo's turn.
He did a great job!
He didn't want me to record the recital but he performed his piece for me before it started. It's the solo from Stairway to Heaven.
