Violin Concert at Volunteer Park

I've been living in Seattle for 7 years now, but I had never been to Volunteer Park until last Sunday.  Takumi, a fifth grader in my neighborhood, invited us to his graduation recital from the Suzuki Method Violin School he was studying at.  The concert was held in the auditorium of Seattle Asian Art Museum located in Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill neighborhood.  I took Sean with me because I wanted him to learn to appreciate classical music and to show him that children can be excellent musicians if they practiced.   We drove through streets of colorful shops and cafes and turned into the leafy Victorian neighborhood where the park is located.  We were greeted by a classical brick water tower which almost looked like a fort.  The park was built in late 1800s and it has lots of history.


We rushed inside and seated ourselves because we thought we would be late.  We saw some familiar faces from the neighborhood and waved at them from our seats.  Takumi was amazing!  He played like a professional classical violinist.  The other children who played together with Takumi were impressive as well.  I played piano as a child and never achieved anything like they have already.  Sean was impressed as well, but he was feeling a little nervous and couldn't stop moving.  So, we left at the first intermission.  I was very glad we had a chance to listen to Takumi and his friends' performance.  They made me want to play piano again.

We had a little time before we make it home on time for the Superbowl, so we decided to look around the park.  There was a big reservoir in front of the museum.  We could see the top of Space Needle on the other side.  It seemed there is a big incline between Capitol Hill from the waterfront.  I imagined the people and horses trying to make the trip up from the bottom of the hill.  What a trip it must have been!

Sean spent some time looking at the man made lake and Space Needle, doing the usual happy dance.  We then walked towards a large greenhouse we saw when we parked the car to check it out.  It turns out it's a botanical conservatory which was built in 1912.  As soon as we stepped inside, we were greeted by the moist warm air.  My camera fogged up and had to keep wiping the lens.  What a pretty place it was.  Bright colors of tropical plants and flowers were a great contrast to the deary winter-scape outside.  There were four areas and Sean liked them all.  He enjoyed looking at the cactus room in particular. 

We missed the first three minutes of the game, but we had fun watching it with Nana.  I wasn't into the game this year, but enjoyed food and doing whatever else I liked to do while watching.  We had a very good Sunday thanks to our wonderful little friend Takumi and his family.  We found another gem in Seattle and I am now motivated to introduce music to the kids.  You can't go wrong with music!