afternoon of celebration 

Hello from the hotel again!  The time is now 5:04pm EST. 

Santiago Strings blew the ASTA adjudicators away with their incredible performance earlier at 9am this morning.  Mrs. Kroesen was over the moon and the musicians were praised highly by the three adjudicators, who provided us lots of written comments that Mrs. Kroesen will share when we return to Orange County.  Santiago Strings even received a 2-foot trophy (which will be carted back to LAX in my suitcase) and after our performance, we immediately went across the hallway to have a 45-minute clinic with a wonderful violist and string educator high in the ranks at ASTA.  Here are some photos from this exciting morning:

After a quick stop at the hotel to change out of our concert black attire, we enjoyed a box lunch back at the convention center, where energies were high and students excitedly giggling and chatting.  The hard part is over!  After lunch, we took a 15-minute walk to the Florida Aquarium, where we spent a couple hours to see the fun exhibits, meet (and touch) some sea animals, and – most importantly – peruse the gift shop!

Our group gathered at 3:15pm EST to walk back to the convention center to follow our regularly-scheduled itinerary of seeing the ASTA Winners Concert at 4pm.  However, we noticed that energies were fading.  We all had to wake up early this morning and will need to be up even earlier tomorrow morning.  Plus, the concentration, energy, and gusto it took to produce this morning’s performance would take a lot out of any musician, well-rested or not. So, we decided to give the kids a little break in lieu of attending the performance and enjoy free time at the hotel until dinner time at 5:45pm (in half an hour).  We gave them this time to pack, rest, sleep, or spend time with their roommates. 

They will need their energy and playfulness for our dinner, which will be a pizza buffet in a ballroom at our hotel.  It will just be our group plus any accompanying parents joining the tour.  We plan to eat and then play some fun interactive games led by Mrs. Kroesen until about 8:30pm.  We have a very early morning tomorrow, and we want to make sure to end our trip on a sweet note without tiring the kids out.  This will also allow them an hour or so to pack in the evening before getting ready for bed.

That’s it for now.  I hope you like the photos.  Again, we’ll be compiling all photos taken and submitted by students, chaperones, and staff on this trip – including the ASTA staff who recorded and photographed our concert this morning. 

- Bella