Music

Tonight I'm going to my Dad's concert with him. I'm really excited! This is 1 of his last concerts for the season. I'm sad about that. But I'm happy to go see him play. One day I want to play in the symphony with him. My Dad keeps telling me if I practice enough, I'll get there. I practice a lot. Because I want to play in the symphony too! :) C

Busy Week

I'm still tired from last week. But I had a lot of fun! It was fun to see Joe again. He used to live here too. In our town. But his dad got transferred and they moved to Utah. But we still see each other at the different conferences. My Dad pays for him to go. He thinks it's important for us to learn about our culture.

Our show went really well on Saturday. Sunday we went to see lots of groups perform. We got to sing too! And my Dad and me ate lots of food! That's our favorite thing to do at things like this. I also bought lots of jewelry, monos, and ribbons. We got my Nana some too! She likes these earrings.

Joe went home early Monday morning. We came home later in the afternoon. Our bags are still at the door! We haven't unpacked. Because I had to go back to school yesterday. And my Dad went back to work.

Last night we had a long dance rehearsal. I'm glad we don't have one today. I'm really tired. And I got all my homework done before we came back. I'm ahead of my classes because my Dad got my work before we left. I finished it. And my classes haven't gotten that far yet!

Tonight I think I'm going to bed early. I'm really tired. But we had so much fun last week! It's just sad that it only happens a few times a year! There are 4 conferences that I like to go to most. I'm glad my Dad teaches at them and that I get to go. :) C

Our Big Show

Tonight is our big show. I get to wear a pretty dress like these ones. I think ours are even more beautiful! They have lots and lots of lace. My Dad was trying to steam mine this morning. And our aprons have lots of embroidery and sequence on them. I just wish my Nana was here to do my hair. She is really good at that.

My Tia Alicia is going to help me. And she brought lots of hairspray and bobbie pins. There is a hairpiece that you have to put in. I hope mine doesn't fall out! We also have to dance with a candle on top of our heads. I've done it a lot of times. But it still kind of scares me!

But I'm excited for tonight. We have a rehearsal in a little while for the show. Joe and I have to practice out duet too! I'm not worried about that. Because we have sung together before. I'm just really excited for the show! :) C

Learning A Lot!

I've been learning a lot here at the conference. Joe and I have been practicing our duet. We get to sing tomorrow night for the big dinner. And we are singing Friday-Sunday. It's really exciting!

Our dance group has learned a lot of new dances too! Marissa is having a lot of fun. But she is still made that they don't let her dance with the candles. She has to dance with a vaso of agua. All of my tios are teaching like my Dad. It's really a lot of fun here. :)

I'm most excited for Saturday night's show. My tios are performing a big show too! We get to dance for part of it. The whole conference is fun. I'm glad my Dad brings me. And I'm glad he pays for Joe to come too!

We're getting ready to go for dinner. I'm really hungry today. My pansa keeps making noise. I hope we go somewhere with good food. :) C

I'm Excited!

My Dad and I are at the airport. We're going to the Mariachi Conference this week. We get to see lots of friends! My Nono is going to be teaching too! I can't wait to see him! I wish my Nana was coming. But she has school and work. So she couldn't come.

My dance school gets to come too. But they're not coming until tomorrow. My Dad has to be there tomorrow. Because he's teaching. The teachers have a special rehearsal tomorrow. That's why we're going to be there early.

You should see all the bags we have! I have 2 suitcases with just my dresses, hair pieces, and shoes! My Dad and me each have a regular suitcase. Then we have a garment bag with both of our Mariachi Trajes. And we have our 2 violins. My Dad also has his briefcase for his music and laptop!

We are going to be gone until next Monday. But I'm excited to go! I'm taking the dance classes. But I'm also going to study voice. And my Dad is going to be teaching me the violin stuff in the evenings. This is going to be a lot of fun! I can't wait to see Joe. We're singing a duet too! :) C

Birthday Party

Yesterday we had a big birthday party at our house. It was for Maribel, Lauren, my Nana, and me. All of our birthdays are close together. And Lauren and Maribel's moms just had babies. Their birthday parties were supposed to be last weekend. But my Nana and my Tio Berto asked us if we could make them all at the same time. Since that is when the babies started to come. I was really excited! And my Dad said it was OK to have all the parties together.

Maribel and Lauren turned 3. I turned 12. I'm not sure how old my Nana is. But she is 20 something. Tio Berto asked me to keep the secret. We surprised my Nana. She thought the party was just for us 3 girls. But Tio Berto bought my Nana a big birthday cake, her own pinata, and lots of presents. :)

Our birthday parties are always Matanzas too. That's when you kill a pig and cook it. Early yesterday morning, all my tios and my Dad killed 3 pigs. And then they started to cook. They're really good at it. 2 of the pigs had been at my Tio Berto's house. And 1 had been here. We fatten them up until the day they kill them. My favorite part, are the chicharrones. It's pretty much fried pork fat. But it tastes good in fresh tortillas. :)

Everyone had a lot of fun! My tios played too! They're mariachis. And my Nana sang with them. They even got Maribel to sing a song. She's getting really good! There was a lot of dancing and eating. And we got to see both sets of twins. They came for a little while on their way home.

This was my best birthday ever! I got to spend it with a lot of people I love. And I got to share my birthday party with my 2 friends and my Nana! :) C

IHOP and the Symphony

I went with my Dad to work tonight. He plays in the symphony. It was a beautiful concert. I'm super glad that my Dad let me go with him. After the concert we stopped at IHOP. We shared crepes and pancakes. I had strawberry crepes. They're my favorite. And my Dad had pancakes. They were good too! It's late right now. But we're on our way home. My Dad and I had such a fun time tonight! :) C

Recording

Tonight I got to go with my Nono. He was doing some recording at the studio. He got to do his singing tonight. It was so much fun to watch him work! And he has such a beautiful voice. :)

His group is recording a new CD. And it was really neat to watch them put it together. I'm glad I got to go. They even let my Nono and I record a song together. I know it wasn't as professional as the stuff they are working on. But it was fun.

And now I have a CD of my Nono and me singing! It's really special. I'm glad the other guys were there too. Because they did all the music. I had a lot of fun! I'm so glad we got to come. I'll never forget tonight. :) C