Jazz Fest

Always my favorite time of year.

This year the kids rejoined us (last year, I gave Lehr the 40th birthday gift of a fest with just the two of us for the first time since they were born), and they couldn't have been happier. We drove in late Thursday night so we could attend all day Friday and Saturday and only have to miss one day of school.

Despite the fact that we arrived at the hotel at midnight, Ruby was up just before 6AM, ready to go. Lehr snuck her out and the two of them went for a mini tour of NOLA. They got some beignets, coffee, visited Breaux Mart...some of the staples. The kids and I were up at 8, ready to get some beignets also. (Yes, Ruby got to visit Morning Call twice that morning!)

After a quick meal, we went to the fairgrounds. We wanted to be there when gates opened at 11AM, which meant getting there by 10 to buy tickets and wait in the gate line. Even with all of that prep, we were still not the first ones on the line at the Acura Stage. We planned to set up camp there for the afternoon Revivalists show.

Because they are awesome, the Overlys joined us again this year. I say awesome because their boys were not with them, so they could have had a kid-free weekend, but they still chose to hang out with us for most of both days.

The kids ate, danced, and people-watched through the day. We stuck pretty close to that stage all day because of the great line-up. The weather was amazing...even a little cool to start with (which is why you'll see sweatshirts in some of our photos).

After our boys performed, we ended the day at another stage with another family we love. We didn't leave until the music was done and we had to shut it down. On the way back to the car, we stopped by many street performances for more music (because NOLA!).

Day two was more of the same. Ruby woke up early again, but not as early. We hopped out of bed quicker so we could get a bigger breakfast. And by bigger, the big kids each got a pancake that was the size of their large plate. Ridiculousness.

After stuffing ourselves, we were at the gates, ready to go before they opened. On this day, we hit almost every stage, taking in so much great music with amazing weather supporting the whole thing.

Ruby got to drum in the kids area, all of them danced in Economy Hall, mango freeze was flowing freely... Eli and Maddux got to see Big Freedia and Snoop Dogg (which Eli referred to as "The Snoop"), so we've officially earned the Parents of the Year award. I'd like to think we made up for it by ending the day with Rockin' Dopsie. Another day of shutting down the fairgrounds at 7PM, only to walk through the street musicians to our car.

While her early morning wake-up call frustrates me, she does wake up because she has to relieve herself (she rarely wakes up wet anymore). And she did an AMAZING job with bathroom habits over the weekend, communicating to us when she had to go and not having any accidents (quite the feat when the port-a-potties you have to use have a line or are far away).