We made it to Alaska, and to our destination city, Anchorage! ~smile~ If you have been watching our 4 month trip, then you know we started from San Diego on May 15th, and took a beautiful ride up the Alaskan Highway and visited amazing places!

It has been fun sharing pictures and videos with you along the way! I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have enjoyed sharing them. There is a link on the bottom left of this page called: Follow Lisa’s Trail, where you will find my travel posts.

There was one video in particular that I posted on June 5th with my children practicing piano in the RV. Jacob, who is 15, surprised me and expressed to me that he wanted to learn a particular song called Dark Horse by David Lanz. This piece of music is beyond Jacob’s music reading ability so I was pleased he chose to challenge himself. Here is a video of it being performed by David Lanz:

Jacob’s Choice: Dark Horse performed by composer David Lanz:

Now, the other side of the story is that my daughter, Jasmine, who is 11 is extremely competitive and can’t stand letting Jacob accomplish something better than her, so she also chose to learn a song by David Lanz. Her song, Cristofori’s Dream, is also beyond her current music reading ability.

Jasmine’s Choice: Cristofori’s Dream by David Lanz:

Well, as the story goes… like any other story of being excited about learning something new… the excitement wore off as more interesting activities took place of practice, and the songs gradually became more challenging.

We all know that kids don’t like it when parents try to encourage them… they interpret my encouragement as telling them they “have to practice.” “Do I have to?” is what I hear over and over.

So, I had this brilliant idea to ask you for help! I spoke with my children and they both sincerely want to learn their songs… and you can play a big part in helping them!

First, take a look at their first week with their songs:

Jacob and Jasmine’s First Week with their song choices: (Week of June 5th)

How can you help?

Just leave two comments below, one for Jacob and one for Jasmine. Keep in mind their ages, 11 and 15. Feel free to include advice about goal setting, reaching beyond their comfort zone, and listening to “mommy”. This advice from you will give them a reason to continue practicing. In fact, they agreed to let me video them every 2-3 weeks for you to watch their progress. A little pressure goes a long way! ~smile~

It is my hope that this will encourage you to choose a song that inspires you, make it a goal to accomplish it, and that it’s perfectly OK to go beyond your current abilities! ~smile~

This is going to fun for you, for me, and for them!

P.S. So you know, they are both capable of playing these songs with some encouragement.
P.S.S. Please post your comments below rather than in an email, and please refrain from requiring a response. These are for my children to read.