Oh, Those Summer Nights...
Chicago is full of fantastic music and gorgeous weather, so Ruben and I have been out taking advantage of it!
Tuesday night Ruben and I went back out to Ravinia Park to see a great concert by Sir James Galway and a fantastic Cuban band, Tiempo Libre. The program was classical music with a Cuban twist. Sir Galway is a world famous flute player, who hooked up with this group of classically trained Cuban musicians, and they created some clever music that was intellectual as well as groovin'. What was great, was when Sir Galway came on stage Ruben said he recognized him from playing on The Muppet Show. :) That's how huge this guy is! ;)
Thursday night Ruben and I went to a fantastic Mexican restaurant called El Barco Mariscos. El Barco is awesome!!! Their specialty is sea food Mexican style, and it is I think my favorite way to eat fish!
Here, Ruben and I dine on the outside patio. It was a gorgeous night!
After that we went down the road to a BBQ joint that has live music. The leader of the band is our neighbor, Urban. A city boy with a country heart! He's playing some great country tunes with his friends. It was so fun hearing him play!
Saturday night was the last free classical concert in the park downtown. They were going out with a bang playing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. A fantastic piece of music coupled with great weather and a picnic sounded too good to pass up!
The concert started at 8pm, and we showed up at 6:30. It was already this full!
Despite the full crowd, it was really fun to dine on the lawn with my fellow Chicago neighbors. :) We ate some grilled BBQ chicken and potato salad, and some bread pudding that I made.So good!
Not only that, but it's just great to be able to spend some quality time with Ruben!
I took a photo of the space during the evening. My camera is not very good at night shots, but you get the idea. :)
As we were leaving the park, we noticed a new sculpture. It was a white swirly blob that was lite up by different colors. It is something that can be walked on and explored. There were so many people around! :)
But it was still really cool!
Besides all the fun, Ruben has been working very hard on audition material. We have learned of several professional bass auditions around the country, which Ruben has sent out resumes and hoping for the chance to audition. Meanwhile, he's working on getting the music down, so that he will be prepared to win a job. It's a exciting time, and we're very hope full. Please keep him in your prayers. :)
The opera house is busy getting ready for the start of the season. Rehearsal will start in a couple of weeks, and we've been busy working on getting each shows sets and lights ready. Lots to do! So, life is good! We are living everyday to our fullest, despite any opposition!
Much love to you all!
