Sunday morning we played in our home church, First Presbyterian Church of Iowa City. We weren't sure if our music choices were going to be appropriate, but they fit the service very nicely. We also got to play an arrangement of "Be Thou my Vision" with our dearly beloved brother, Philip. That was the day that the congregation commissioned the Youth for their mission trip to Asheville, NC and right after that we played "F.C's Jig" which is an Appalachian fiddle tune so it was the perfect postlude!
We had lovely brunch and visit time with our family and prepared ourselves for our last concert. There was a strange s'mores bread pudding for dessert that we all tried but all thought was odd. (Actually, Ruth says she didn't try it. Smart girl).
After a quick costume change at home, where Ruth once again got yelled at for not wearing her sparkly shoes, we were back to the church to warm up for our final hurrah. Philip will narrate for you how our concert went:
"They...came on stage. They...said some words. The words were informative. They played the musics. The musics were awesome. Then they took a break. Then they played more musics and said more words which were also awesome. Then people clapped heartily and they played a raucous rag as an encore. Then everyone was happy and there were hugs. I think that's all I have."
Here is a picture of Philip while he is narrating the concert. Notice how uncomfortable he looks because we made him do this on the spot.
After the concert we got to visit with many friends from our Iowa City past. Ruth had a lovely reunion with her fox. Let me explain. When Ruth was 10 years old, she starred in the musical "The Little Prince" at Riverside Theatre. A man named Rip Russell played the role of the fox. They had lost touch but this year got back in touch through the magic of facebook, and he showed up to our concert! Here's a picture of their reunion:
We also got to talk to our friends the Minots for a long time after the concert. George told me that he was very happy that we spoke about each piece before we played because, in his words, "I don't always understand music very well. But you explained it using words, which I do understand." Overall, we were very pleased with our last concert, and happy that we got to visit with so many good friends.
We went home and ordered a Chicago style pizza because we were too tired to think about making any other type of food. After dinner we played a delightful card game with our family but were barely awake. I read our bedtime story (Ben's sci-fi novella) to Philip and Ruth, but Ruth fell asleep on the couch and didn't hear the newest installments. Philip really enjoyed it though. Then it was night-night time for all.
That was Sunday.
Monday morning we got to sleep in!!! (Ruth says, "woop woop woop woop!" with her hands in the air in delight). We ate delicious caramel and cinnamon donuts that some Amish lady made and brought to the Farmer's Market for our mother to purchase. Ruth and I played some Crash Team Racing which we love to do when we're at home relaxing. We made some nachos that were delicious. We watched a whole bunch of YouTube videos with our Mom of Free to be You and Me. We learned a lot about Rosey Grier. We also watched this. We played more Crash Team Racing with Philip. I fell asleep and napped for the afternoon. Ruth made Honey Ginger Lemonade to whet our whistles. Ruth played more Crash Team Racing with our Dad while I was napping. (There was apparently a lot of Crash Team Racing while I was sleeping. Just call me Rip Van Winkle). We had our Mom's famous pesto chicken sandwiches for dinner. Philip grilled the chicken to perfection for us. We also had pineapple upside-down cake for dinner. Then we watched "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" and Ruth fell asleep on the couch again (Philip says: "Just call her Rip Van Winkle).
That was Monday.
Today is Tuesday. Once again, we slept deliciously long. Leah even slept in longer than Philip. Our Mother made us lemon poppyseed muffins for breakfast. We had a relaxing morning of drinking coffee and chatting. Philip made us a lunch of asian stir-fry. It was spicy and delicious. Philip kept saying, "everyone is sniffling so I know I did my job right." Then Mom started teaching lessons so Ruth and I retired to our room to listen recordings of our concerts in an effort to construct a CD for our fans. We were pleasantly surprised by many of our recordings. We also got some laughs from strange audience sounds that the recorder picked up. Now we're writing this blog post while sitting at our favorite Iowa City coffee shop, The Java House. We are drinking delicious espresso beverages and trying to remember the happenings of the last few days for all y'all. Here we are with our coffees and smiles:
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