Mother's Day Weekend...alone with the kiddos!

Fraz left Friday to play some shows; he'll be back Monday. I've had a good weekend alone with both kids for the first time. While the weather was clear and sunny Friday, I took the kids running in the Double stroller. We ended up playing at the Nature Play area at the park. After nap, Jack played "basketball" with our neighbors while I nursed C-Biscuit. After bedtime, thanks to the babysitting skills of Lori Davis, Cora and I headed out to the Station Inn to meet up with 'grass parents Amy & Jeremy Darrow. We watched our buddies, Off the Wagon, and I sang along with some tunes I played with Michael Jezewski in South Carolina 12 years ago! (We had a weekly gig at Jack the Ripper in Charleston with our bluegrass band, Slaw's Uncle)

Julie Pennell picked us up Saturday morning in her party van. It took us 45 minutes to fit four kids, a wagon, and a double stroller in the back. Thanks to her DVD player which entertained our kids, Julie and I got to chat during the 25 minute ride to the Nashville Zoo. And did we have an awesome time there? After a little rainstorm, during which we changed diapers and did toddler potty-time, yes! Even when face to face with an elephant, though, Jack was more interested in playing with Julie's umbrella. And at the tiger exhibit, Jack was psyched to throw his treasured dino sippy cup into their habitat. Bye bye, dino sippy cup...

Once home, the exhausted kids slept for 3 and a half hours. When they woke it was raining, so I put in a new movie for Jack and sat down to nurse while we watched it: "Fox & the Hound II." To my surprise, there was a pretty awesome bluegrass band jammin' out during the entire movie. The plot entails some Singin' Stray Dogs auditioning for the Grand Ole Opry. I was guessing that the banjo player was Dennis Caplinger; but I was trying to figure out which L.A. cats would've been playing Dobro, mandolin, bass, and fiddle. The credits rolled by: Mike Marshall, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Byron House, Casey Driessen, and Noam Pikelny. Noam! I'm curious when this was tracked. Pretty damn good bluegrass band for a rainy Saturday cartoon, and also a strange collision of worlds for me.

This morning, to celebrate Mother's Day, Jack and I made cranberry scones from scratch. Here's a 3 year old's dream: the part when you get to squeeze the butter bits into the flour with your fingers. I let him pour in the milk, eggs and cranberries, and he was in heaven. He said, "Do we get to eat these?" The kid is used to art projects that he can't eat.

We'll be picking bluegrass with some friends later today. Cold sheets of rain are still pourin' down.