let's play...

we were all craving for sushi last night... 

so we visited our local japanese grocery to pick some up 

and headed to playfair park for a picnic.

after satisfying our bellies with such fresh and yummmmy delicacies, the kids wandered
 around this beautiful park and found the playground.

one yelled "let's play !!!" and they were off into another dimension...

they were laughing so hard that i had to capture some of the action.

here are some inspirational quotes i found on the Internet on why play is so important...

 

"we don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing..." george bernard shaw

 "you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."  plato

"each player must accept the cards life deals him or her, but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game..." voltaire

 "there is work that is work and there is play that is play, there is play that is work and work that is play.  and in only one of these lies happiness."  gelett burgess

 "the playing adult steps sideward into another reality, the playing child advances forward 
to new stages of mastery."  erik h. erikson

 "those who play rarely become brittle in the face of stress or lose 
the healing capacity for humor."stuart brown, md

 "it is a happy talent to know how to play"  ralph waldo emerson

 "the creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct"  carl jung

 "children learn as they play.  most importantly, in play children learn how to learn."  

o fred donaldson

 "almost all creativity involves purposeful play." abraham maslow

"a person's maturity consists in having found again the seriousness one had as a child at play."
frederic nietsche

 "play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game"
winston churchill

"some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."  c.s.lewis

 "you have to learn the rules of the game.  and then you have to play better than anyone else." 
albert einstein

 "in every real man a child is hidden that wants to play"  friedrich nietzsche

 "necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father." 

roger von oech

erica

xoxo

pounding on the steinway

my daughter has been taking piano lessons 

since she was 6 years old.

that means that for the last 7 years of her life, (maybe more), 

she has stopped to take a seat on the piano bench

 and play a jingle or two before heading on back to whatever she was doing.

there were plenty of times during dinner when she couldn't resist 

jumping up to play for us, a quick rendition of what she has learned.

it is such a treat to listen to the melodies that she practises, 

no matter how out of tune our piano is.

but every year, on a very special evening, 

she gets to play her pieces on a steinway !!!

the cadillac of pianos , 

supposedly valued at $100,000.00.

we all gather at the phillip t young recital hall 

at the university of victoria school of music,

to listen as the children play their chosen pieces.

even though they are up on a stage, under a spotlight, with the audience all in darkness,

there is no pressure to perform...

 the children go up whenever they've mustered enough courage...

or they don't go up at all

as the evening continues... each child eventually found their way to the great piano !!!

it is such a remarkable and beautiful instrument...

the steinway's pull was definitely powerful.

it's so lovely to listen to and watch and these children progress with their music.

the evening of performances was such a treat for all, 

especially for the parents !!!

 thank you neala, for encouraging and guiding their little piano fingers...

and for such a lovely evening with the steinway !!!

erica

xoxo

par...tay !! (part 2)

you are invited ... 
to the grade 8 farewell party

time:  6 pm to 9 pm

place:  windsor pavilion

date: thursday, june 26, 2014

it was a beautiful night for a party.

so many came to celebrate the end of grade 8 and the start of summer.

 the boys came ready for a quick game of soccer...

(we had to lure them to the party somehow)

and all the girls were beautiful with their summer dresses on ! ! !

very few were shy of the camera that night !!!

all were ready to get a picture taken with their bff -iest of friends...

and of course the chaperons were the least camera shy of all !!!

there were soooo  much yummy treats to munch on....

everyone got a bite to eat...

then headed to the dance floor !!!

the lights had to be dimmed... 

to get the full effect of the strobe and the glow sticks !!!!

our very own nima...did a spectacular job as d.j.

because the place rocked !!!

when the clock struck..."time to go home"...

everyone made sure to leave their mark...

on the signature sheet.

there were no goodbye tears this special night...

only loads and loads of great memories to keep !!!

erica

xoxo