Ludi finished her senior year at STEAM High so strong.
Ludi reaches the high school finish line
Three Renauds in “The Little Mermaid”
With Ludi, Josie, and Joseph all in high school together for this one year, the fall musical presented a unique opportunity for all of them to be in the same show.
Watch out! Ludi’s on the road
It’s been a long time coming, but Ludi finally took the written driving test and earned a learners’ permit.
Renaud winter performance wrap-up
In early November, Josie made her high school acting debut in the role of “Sissy Clemm,” the teenage bride of Edgar Allen Poe, in the musical “Nevermore.”
She, and all the STEAM High actors, gave a wonderful performance. Poe’s life is pretty depressing, but Josie did a great job of showing Sissy’s lightness and spark. She looked at home on the stage.
A few weeks later, Ludi performed for the final time with Miss Kathey’s Academy in the “Christmas Is…” shows held in Orlando and St. Louis. She’s been part of MKA for seven years, and has grown enormously in her confidence and stage presence each year. It was bittersweet to see her on this stage with these folks for last time, but we’re thankful for she’s been able to have this amazing experience.
Ludi the conductor
Last night Ludi was one of several student conductors at the STEAM High spring concert. It was pretty amazing to see her lead the orchestra, waving the baton.
You can watch and listen here:
Corona chronicles: Violet lemonade
Violets in mason jars
Violets in mason jars
We poured hot water onto the violets, and immediately the water began changing to blue.
This is the final lemonade.
Ludi tells the story:
One of my favorite creations I’ve made so far this year was Violet Lemonade. I first saw it when one of my friends posted about it on social media. It looked really cool and we had all the materials to make it.
To start, I picked enough violets to fill a mason jar. Later I made a violet syrup. Once I mixed the syrup into a pitcher of lemon water, the color changed and it was a pretty purple.
It tasted very good, just like normal lemonade with a hint of… I don’t quite know how to describe it. I almost want to say it had a hint of watery ground pepper.
It was very good, very pretty, and very time-consuming but overall it was very fun to make.
Broadway, here they come!
This summer, Josie and Ludi performed in “101 Dalmatians” and “Oklahoma!” with Miss Kathey’s Academy. It was a new experience for the girls, who previously had been in several Christmas shows, but not Broadway-style musicals.
I asked the girls what they thought of the shows.
The Very Big Christmas Show
Editor’s note: This year, Ludi, Josie, and Joseph all participated in “Miss Kathey’s Academy,” and performed in “The Very Big Christmas Show” in December. All of them did awesome. Josie in particular had a memory she wanted to share:
I am in Miss Kathey’s Academy. I didn’t really expect it, but Miss Kathey said she wanted a small kid to sing a solo called “Happy Birthday, Jesus.” She wanted someone 8 or under.
Me and my friend both went to Pastor Bob to try out. He chose me to do the solo! After that, we practiced once a month every month until December.
I was super-scared at our first performance. Even the tape that held the microphone on to my cheek made me scared. But when I got out on stage and looked at the audience, I realized I couldn’t just chicken out. I said my lines to Santa, the music started, and I began to sing.
An All-American Christmas
Ludi got her first taste of the theater this year. We enrolled her in a new program at church called “Miss Kathey’s Academy for the Performing Arts.” She spent the last several months learning dances and songs in preparation for a big Christmas production.
No training wheels!
I can report that today Ludi finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She is the first of the kids to do it.
I am a very proud dad!
UPDATE (Sept. 20, 2016): I was so proud that I tried making an ANSI art portrait of Ludi. Read about it here