Summer Strings

For the last 2 weeks I was in Strings camp. I played lots of violin!
Mr. Guenther, Felix and Andreas made the camp fun!

I chose to play with the less advanced group because they were around my age.
I got to play with lots of new people. We played music together and we played on the playground together.

Last week Friday we had a performance. My Mom came but Dad had to be at work.
My favourite song that we performed was "Fantasia" by E. Del Borgo and I really, really liked "Swallowtail" arranged by Mr. Guenther.
The tune from Swallowtail sticks in my head!

I hope I'll get to play lots more music like that again soon!

My Musician's Ear Plugs

It's been a long time since I've posted!
I've been busy with my Dance and Music camps.

At the beginning of the summer I got my very own custom-made Musician's Ear Plugs!

I went to the Audiologist and had a hearing test done. Every thing was good. But, because I practice a lot, my Mom wanted to make sure that I'm doing everything to protect my hearing.

The Audiologist put a little piece of sponge with a thread on it inside my ear. Then they mixed something that were going to squeeze into my ear to make a mold. When it was dry, she pulled it out gently with the thread.

I got this left over piece when they took the impression.

Here is what the mold looked like.

When my Musician's Ear Plugs were ready, we went back and the Audiologist taught me how to put them in. It's much quieter with them in but I can still hear everything clearly.

The one with the red dot is for my right ear and the one with the blue dot is for my left.

I've been using them in my violin camp. I'm really glad I got them!

Ontario Science Centre

It's the end of the school year for most kids. We went to the Science Centre one last time before the busy summer holidays. We went with another Homeschool family. I love going to Science Centre because I always learn something new.

We went to the Telus Rainforest. It looks like it's outside, but it's inside and it's hot and humid all year round. It's perfect for cold winter days!

We went to KidSpark because one of my friends was young enough to get us in. 

I also visited with my favourite Science Centre person in the whole world, and I found out that it was her last day before her Maternity Leave. I'm glad I got to see her before she left.

Here's a picture of us from last year.

Tall Ships at the Redpath Waterfront Festival

Today, Dad and I went to see the Tall Ships at the Redpath Waterfront Festival!

I got to dress up like a soldier from 1812.

We got to check out the ships.
This first one is the US Brig Niagara.
It is a replica of a war of 1812 ship. It's one of the most historically accurate tall ships in the US!

This one is the Pride of Baltimore II.
It is another 1812 replica.

This Privateer LYNX.
This is the first time that the LYNX is a the Tall Ship Festival in Toronto.
It has period cannons and it has the flags and pennants from around 1812.

Liana's Ranson had someone dressed up as Captain Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

The ship in front is the Kajama. It does tours of the Toronto Harbour in the summers. But, behind it you can see the masts of other tall ships.

This is the Caledonia. I've noticed it downtown a few weeks ago.

This one is the SS SØRLANDET from Norway. It's the oldest full-rigged ship still sailing in the world.

This is the Empire Sandy.
Their home port is in Toronto.

The Pandas at the Toronto Zoo

On Monday, Mom and I went to the Toronto Zoo with some homeschooling friends.

We finally went to see the pandas from China. They had information about where the pandas live and what they eat and even how much they poop each day.

I got to see what it's like to hold bamboo with a panda-like grip. Pandas have 5 fingers and 1 pseudo (fake) thumb.

One of the pandas was sleeping.

But the other one was wide awake and busy eating.

The panda exhibit was close to the Kids Discovery zone, but the exit is closer to Australasia, so we had to use our maps to find what we wanted to see next.

We wanted to see the orangutans. They were on the other side of the zoo!

War of 1812 - Battle of York Reenactment

On Saturday, Mom, Dad and I went to Fort York to see the Battle Reenactment of of the Battle of York in 1813. On April 27th 1813 the Americans, commanded by Brigadier-General Zebulon Pike, attacked Fort York. Canada was still under British rule then, so the British soldiers and militia tried to defend against the attack. The British, headed by Major-General Roger Hale Sheaffe, didn't know which direction the Americans were going to attack from so they divided their troops. The British lost the battle that we watched.

When the war ended neither the British nor the Americans got any territory and a peace treaty was signed in 1814.

Here are some pictures that we took from the festival.
The first thing we noticed when we came in was the musicians practicing.

This was the Surgeon's table! You can see the alcohol that they used for drink since the water wasn't clean. They had laudanum which they used for pain (It's the white stuff in the bottle.) You can also see the bone saw and the instruments that they used to cut off limbs and the things they used to bleed people.

Here is a picture of the regulars and militia.

The York Regency Dancers demonstrated period dances.

I got to pose for a picture with the 19th Light Dragoons. They are cavalry but they fought dismounted in this battle.

Here is some information about the battle that we watched.

 After the American landing, the British retreated from where they were.

You could see how the Americans were organized in their fighting. When they all fire at the same time it's called "volley fire".
You can see the smoke of war!

Here you can see the muzzle flash!
(Dad is a great photographer!)

We didn't have a good view of the British.

But the Americans kept advancing.

The British retreated.

There were casualties. 

Some died fighting for their countries.

These men weren't able to go back home to be with their families. 

After the reenactment, we met Peter Twist. He narrated so that people like us could understand what was going on. 

Yuja Wang et le TSO

Hier soir je suis allé au concert classique du Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Le programme avait:

Kevin Lau: Treeship (Première/TSO Co-Commission)

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Le chef d'orchestre était Peter Oundjian avec le soloiste Yuja Wang (piano) et Jonathan Crow (violon).

Je ne comprend pas la musique de Treeship.  

J'ai bien aimé Yuja Wang; elle est une pianiste superbe.  Elle a bien joué le concerto du piano.  C'est une pièce très difficile à jouer.  Elle a donné un bis mais je ne sais pas ce qui c'était.  Alors, j'aime bien le bis!

J'aime Scheherazade de Rimsky-Korsakov le mieux parce  que c'était très vivant, et j'ai déjà écouté ce morceau de musique.  Je préfère la musique avec beaucoup de drame et d'energie.  Il y avait un enregistrement de cette interprétation, donc on ne peut pas parler ni faire du bruit.  Alors, il y avait beaucoup de bruit pendant cette partie, plus que normale.

Ce blog est mon premier en français. J'espère que ça te plait!