I'm really missing Hillary

She's been gone for 2 weeks. It is just the first 2 weeks out of the 10 she will be gone this summer. She's touring China for 3 weeks and then off to one music camp for 5 weeks which will be followed by another 2 weeks at orchestra camp. This recording is from a benefit concert she and her friends did last year to benefit the Special Needs Children's Career Training Project at the Zhu Zhou Social Welfare Institute in Hunan Province. There's another video clip of this concert under "Animato's Final Performance" below.

A photo of Hillary in China

A friend saw this photo on the YPO blog and sent it to me. Hillary is sitting just at the tip of the conductor's left hand. We've gotten very little information about her trip so I was thrilled to read about it on the blog. The hotels where she has been staying don't have English speaking front desk clerks so I haven't been able to get many calls through and it seems that internet connections have been hard to come by (these are not 5 star hotels like the White Swan!). Anyway, here's the link to the YPO blog if any friends and family are interested.

http://www.myspace.com/ypochina07

Perhaps she knows......

that her birthday is just around the corner. Emma will turn one on July 1st, next Sunday. She raided the cupboards the other day and found the cake mix. We all just laughed. I guess she is trying to get us going on the preparations!

A Trip To The Farm

Emma had her first visit to Drumlin farm last week. The girls enjoyed seeing all the spring babies and a hayride around the farm. They especially loved the pigs who were very animated. They were running around and squealing and their mom kept chasing them out of the barn.

Girls At Play

The girls have been enjoying the great weather and are having lots of fun playing together. They have adored each other since day one, but Emma's walking has added a whole new dimension to their play. They giggle all day long. This is just what we imagined two years ago when we set off on this journey. We feel so blessed to have little Emma here with us.

Animato's Final Performance

A few weeks ago, we attended the last performance of the Animato Trio. Hillary has been part of this group for three years, but now Sebastian and Jung A are moving onto college. It was a bittersweet moment as I sat at the Walnut Hill School listening to them perform and thinking of all of the incredible music they have brought us over past three years and knowing this was the last time I'd see them playing together. They play with such enthusiasm, joy and intensity. It's been such a gift. Below is a clip from a benefit concert.

Prom Night

Hillary and Yuga attended the Lexington High School Senior Prom (Yuga's) together on June 7th. They traveled by Trolley from Lexington High to the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. They almost didn't get to go as they had a mandatory YPO rehearsal for the China tour that evening, but in the end, Zander let them go. I'm so glad they were able to make it. They had a great time (and we think they looked gorgeous, too)!

Emma's Walking!

No more crawling for her. She can really walk. She took her first steps on May 14th and by the end of month, just before turning 11 months old, she was walking across the room!!!