"Oh, great," Mark grumbled when I told him. "She can see me in my dumb costume."
I'd forgotten about his new costume--the pit kids all got a new wardrobe for their Americana-themed show. Mark was now a Minute Man.
Edra and I had a lovely day, visiting the super cute historic district of San Juan Capistrano, where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch and wine at a local wine tasting room.
We then drove to the high school competition, although I got a little confused by the parking signs. I ended up near the school buses, where a nice volunteer told me to make a u-turn.
"There's parking on the right for $5," he said. "All the money goes to supporting our band, so you can park there if you'd like to help out."
"I'm already supporting a high school band," I told Edra, steering toward the free lot. But karma laughed at me, because I missed the free lot and ended up at the paid lot instead.
"Just pay the five bucks," Edra said, so I did. Sometimes you can't beat the universe...
We got there just in time for the 45 minute dinner break. We were a little bummed about that, until we saw a bake sale, which took the sting out of sitting around the bleachers for an additional 45 minutes.
The bake sale was unbelievable! There were trays and trays of gourmet treats, all individually bagged and tied. There were s'mores cupcakes with roasted marshmallows on top, and hand-dipped pretzel sticks. There were homemade cookies, three to a bag, and brownies with thin, perfect layers of frosting on top. There were cookie bars and rice krispie treats with M&Ms, and all of it was beautiful--everything looked fresh, like it came straight from the bakery.
"Did the parents make all this?" I asked, incredulously.
"Yep," the parent volunteer answered. "Everything is only a dollar each!"
I couldn't believe it--I barely got my kid to practice on time, and he left with a barely-nutritious lunch and 10 bucks for a snack bar dinner. And here, these Orange County parents had time to bake and bag tons and tons of beautifully crafted treats, and decorate them with ribbons.
"That would be my contribution," I told Edra, pointing to a pink box of purchased donuts. "I'm a terrible parent!"
"Don't beat yourself up," she said, as we walked away. "Parents didn't make all these--the nannies did!"
I took a look around the swanky neighborhood and agreed with her.
Finally, it was time to start again. The Millikan band marched out to the far end of the field. I craned my neck, looking for Mark and his new costume, but all I saw were blue and gold uniforms, and the flag team.
Then the announcer called the team onto the field. Immediately below us, the pit raced by, pulling the percussion instruments with them. Mark appeared maybe ten feet away, and Edra and I called out to him.
Here was his reply:
That's right, as soon as the little stinker saw us and saw my camera phone pointed at him, he turned the other way. He refused to acknowledge us at all. (Ahhhhh, teenagers.)
But no worries, I still managed to get a photo once they were all set up.
The kids sounded and looked great. They even added a third song to the show, and new marches. They did a phenomenal job, and we cheered wildly for them at the end.
We stayed to watch the bands in Millikan's level, five bands in all. Edra loved it--she'd been on the color guard team all through high school, and said this competition really brought back a lot of memories. She had a lot of great insight, and explained why the teams did what they did--how some kids marched quickly in big steps to cover a lot of ground, while others took tiny steps or just moved in place. She pointed out how they marched heel to toe. She pointed out that marching is really hard to learn, and even harder to learn while playing instruments. And she pointed out the color guard moving seamlessly between the musicians.
"We used to get so mad at the band," she said. "Because we knew how to move around the field, and they didn't. They were used to playing, not marching, so they were always messing us up."
We also talked about college bands, and how complex their shows are. Edra told me it's because the college kids already know how to march when they get in--they don't have to perfect the basics, like high school kids do.
It was awesome--I learned as much about marching, dancing and competing from Edra as I did about music from Mark. Between those two, I may actually figure out what's going on by Mark's senior year!
The other bands did a great job, too. I'd seen one of the other bands before. They have an awesome marching show, but the musical part was definitely lacking. I'd told Edra that they spent too much time on marching, and not enough on the music--but now, I understood why.
Edra and I left happy and proud of Mark. And of his band and band directors, too. Every time I see them, they've improved by leaps and bounds, and you can see all the hard work they've put into their show.
Rock on, Rams!
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