Sunday Jazz and Cafe Coco

Kristi, Alice, Jack, Brian, Aria, Roland and I ventured downtown on Sunday morning for the Nashville Public Library Puppet Festival. We opted for the free shows, as our kids are little and well, we like free things. It was a perfect day and the courtyard had a cool breeze - amazingly - blowing through for the entire performance.

See this lady? She's the lead vocalist for Coal Train Something-or-another - a children's jazz group. Yep. Thought it was a puppet show. Anyway, Aria, Roland and I really enjoyed their style and pretty inventive songs.

Aria enjoyed the belly-button song and even showed hers off when she was supposed too! She also danced a bit for everyone and then tried to wander the crowd for new kids to play with...sigh.

Then we made our own puppets, which was really fun for us adults and challenging for the kids.

Here's Roland tacking a new approach to getting the cap off the glue. Hm...

Aria was all about gluing poms to paper. I made a pretty stylish puppet that is probably still in the back of my car. 

We then dined at the completely empty Cafe CoCo, what luck! Such good food!

 Roland, in a trance from the soft hum of the cicadas. "Cicada Soup" was on the menu. I didn't ask.

What I don't have photos of is the awesome slumber party we had. We christened the Old Hickory Beach Club with a bonfire in our fire pit in the sandbox and attempted s'mores but settled for warmed marshmallows because I was completely out of graham crackers. Not once did the kids protest!

We set up the tent in the back yard, but the most action it got was from kids and dogs racing through it with flash lights and glow sticks. Let's be real. None of us are really interesting in camping outside right now. There's not enough wine to convince me of that while I've got AC and a bed 40 feet away. :)

When Roland's older and really wants to, of course. But for now we're leaving the sleeping bags safe and sound on the top shelf in the garage.