University of Redlands' Kids Concert

My aunt told me about a fun local event and invited us to attend with her and Makenna's second cousin Paityn.  The children's concert was held at the University of Redlands and I jumped at the chance to go.  The concert was the day after the Renn Faire and just an hour after getting home from church (ie. NO NAP), so Makenna was a bit more tired than usual, but oh well that is the way things go sometimes.  Having one live event under our belts recently, I knew that Makenna would have to be a little quieter this time than for the Disney on Ice event; so I was a little worried.  Getting out the door proved to be a bit of a challenge, but we managed to make it to the concert towards the middle of the first section when they were still introducing all of the musicians, instruments, and the sounds that the instruments make.

Then the concert began.  They began each section by describing one of the fairytales and then playing an instrumental piece.  Makenna got a bit restless during this part because she couldn't grasp the concept of music portraying a story without words.  I must admit that I even struggle with this a bit, not being musically inclined, so it was hard for me to explain all of it to her.  The last instrumental piece that they played was from Peter and the Wolf.  Having grown up listening to this, I could easily explain to Makenna what was happening.  Aside from that it also helped since each character had a specific instrument and they narrated different segments of the piece to let you know what was happening.  Makenna really got into this piece and had fun quietly letting me know what was happening throughout Peter and the Wolf. And she was very excited to tell everyone about it afterwards too.

After the concert portion everyone went outside for the "instrument petting" area.  I think that is such a creative name:-)  The kids got to go around and try all of the instruments that were used during the concert.  We didn't bother going to try the wind instruments but Makenna and Paityn did like the percussion instruments and the drums.

It was so fun that Paityn was there too!!  Makenna always loves to play and have fun with her.

I thank my aunt for inviting us to this fun event and hope that the University will put this event on again next year. Makenna will look forward to attending again.