Extreme Violining: Year 15 (And a Winner!)

I have a winner for the mymemories.com software giveaway! Sorry it's late- I've moved into my parents' house for the week and am computerless. Well, except for my trusty phone, which I'm learning is super annoying to write a blog post on.

Anyway, the winner as chosen by random.org is commenter #11- Shar! Shar, send me an email and I'll let you know what you need to do.

So this week, we're once again at our favorite violin institute. For the uninitiated, it's basically an intense week-long violin camp. Today I think Abby clocked roughly 6 hours of playing, and then another 1.5 of practice outside of her classes. It's a long week. Add to that major jet lag, a vacation hangover, and a baby whose sleep schedule has been shot all to Hell, and you get the recipe for what we had today: epic meltdowns from all three kiddos. (And no, I didn't miscount, Ashlynn was lucky enough to escape the madness this year and stay home with Dad.)

In all fairness, we love our institute. Abby is more driven than she's ever been before, and is having a ball. I'm trying to keep the baby happy, and chatting it up with all my violin friends. Max is hanging in the day care, and Ian is convinced that he can't possibly sleep more than two hours in a shot. I figured out today that this is my 15th or 16th year at ISSI, and while it's a lot of work, it's also an amazing experience for her and for me.

And I do have Hawaii pics. And I know you all want to see them and hear about how the Celestial Kingdom has been hiding on Maui all this time. But all I have is an iPhone, and I'm pretty convinced I couldn't find a power cord to my camera if I tried, so you'll just have to wait.

In the meantime, listen to about 367 versions of Twinkle and then you can feel like you're right her with me!