Watching the expansion of Lansdowne and Lansdowne Town Center was one of our first Loudoun experiences… I am pleased to report that something good has come of this bit of suburban sprawl. The fountains and the live music on the green are some of suburbia’s most redeeming qualities. (And with the addition of Go Bananas Toys there is one more place to find hula hoops in Loudoun County...)

Their summer concert series seems to be advertised only by poster. Since it is not captured on Lansdowne Town Center’s website we have added it to our community calendar.

The joy on my kids’ faces when we arrive at this fantasy land of spraying water and happy children set to music (on Wednesdays during the summer anyway…) is one of those things that my words cannot begin to capture. It’s up there with Christmas morning, waking up on the day of a long-anticipated plane trip, or being told that their stingy mother is going to buy them something.

Frolicking in the fountains was only done by tot-sized law breakers and their guilty parents last year. (You can read more about it at Suburban Fizz.) Many thanks go to all those involved in making the fountains safe and legal for our kids this year. I want the folks at Lansdowne Town Center to know that the fountains and concerts are the reason we spend our hard-earned money at their shops. Thank you for listening to your community!

I also want the performers we have enjoyed the last few weeks (Westpole and Steven Palmer Band) to know that, even though our backs are turned to the stage so we can supervise our children, we appreciate and enjoy the music. It must be a rather thankless endeavor to play to an audience that keeps its distance and half of its attention elsewhere, but the music is a key part our experience. Thank you for providing the soundtrack to our summer evenings!

Click here for a short video clip

At today’s Dulles Town Center performance, Mr. Knick Knack announced that next week will be his final Thursday morning at Jammin’ Java. I don’t see any confirmation on his website or Jammin’ Java’s site, so you can consider this a rumor for now.… but Peter heard what he heard and he heard it straight from Mr. Knick Knack, so it may be the end of an era.

Update: Still no updates on Mr. Knick Knack’s site, but the above appears to be true… Jammin’ Java now lists Oh Susannah! for the Thursday morning show. My preschool aged crew and I will schedule an early September field trip to check them out and report back.

Update #2 7/31/08:  Here’s the word from Mr. Knick Knack, as sent to his email list.

Things are moving in a good direction these days, but because of that, I’ve had to give up a long-loved weekly show to open up more room in my schedule for special events.  As many of you know, I have been performing weekly, and for many years, twice weekly, at Jammin’ Java in Vienna.    Last Thursday was the last of hundreds of shows I’ve done there.  Thank you to all of you who have come out to see me at Jammin’ Java over the years.  I have loved seeing all your smiling faces in the audience.  Many “firsts” have taken place there – even a few children took their first steps during some of those shows, and I was thrilled to be part of it.

I hope you will check out my website as time goes on to see where I will be performing.  In the meantime, with regard to other shows in Virginia, I’ll be at Reston Town Center on Mondays at 10:30 a.m. through mid-October, at the Tysons Silver Diner from 6–8 every Tuesday evening, at Dulles Town Center every 3rd Wednesday of the month, and, as always, at Tysons Corner Center every Friday at 11.  I look forward to continuing to see you at these venues.

Enjoy your summer!

Love,

Mr. Knick Knack

We’ve seen Mr. Knick Knack play at the Cascades Library, at Jammin’ Java, and most impressively at Reston Town Center on a very, very cold Christmas shopping kind of day. (Yes, you apparently can play guitar while wearing gloves.)

On our recent visit to Mr. Knick Knack’s Jammin’ Java gig, he indulged my children and won my heart by playing a few extra songs for them after the masses had left. After spending the first part of the show glued to me they slowly warmed up and started dancing. Eventually they got so comfortable that my big guy got a little sassy with the drummer who quickly forgave him and sassed right back. I think we may have been the last happy customers to leave.

Mr. Knick Knack is an engaging sentimental wordsmith who has mastered the art of playing his guitar while singing and dancing amidst a sea of toddlers without stepping on them. Don’t get me wrong, I loved his music — a few songs were so sweet they made me tear up — but the feat of not squashing anyone with his feet impressed me even more. We look forward to catching more Mr. Knick Knack shows soon and will be listing some on our community calendar.

We have finally seen The Banjo Man (aka Frank Cassel) live! When we first walked in to Jammin’ Java this morning, I was decidedly underwhelmed — it’s just a man and his banjo, after all. Beware of first impressions, though, and give the banjo a chance! As soon as we got settled we began to get caught up in his music. The kids danced. I sat back, tapped my fingers, and enjoyed being one of the few moms not juggling a toddler or babe in arms and actually able to sip coffee. I was so empty handed I was asked to help hand out shakers. Soon the shakers were louder than the banjo and the dancing reached a new level.

Despite a little chaos on the dance floor, it was probably one of the least over-stimulating toddler events I have attended. At one point The Banjo Man started playing a Guy Clark song I’m familiar with and I was hooked, but then it was back to kids’ classics like B-I-N-G-O. The show ended before any one of the two dozen plus toddlers melted down. (Smart man!)

After the performance portion was over, Banjo Man let each kid strum the banjo. When my two year-old called her beloved Grammy this afternoon, all she could talk about was how she touched the banjo, so it must have made an impact. We definitely look forward to catching The Banjo Man at another show in the future. In the meantime, we’ll be adding some of his performances to our community calendar for you.

My kids visited the Animal Ambassadors table at the Audubon Society’s Conservation Celebration at the Rust Nature Sanctuary last weekend. They are not squeamish children — I once ordered chocolate covered bugs for my son to try at his request — so they were happy to handle giant cockroaches and touch a millipede. In addition to these exotic animals, I was pleased to hear that Animal Ambassadors has plans to focus more on native species in the future.

I loved that the experiential educator (a mom!) staffing the booth actually let my two year-old hold an animal. The kids enjoyed checking their stuff out.

As a bonus, the schedule of upcoming shows on their website seems like a great place to start when looking for fun area events to explore on weekends

The Great Zucchini

Shortly after we moved to Northern Virginia, I somehow managed to find time to read the newspaper and I was captivated by Gene Weingarten’s article on The Great Zucchini. I was thrilled when I found out he was scheduled to perform at the 2007 Leesburg Garden Festival, and kept my kids out long beyond over-tired in order to catch the performance. It was simple, all the kids laughed, and my kids and I were answering the telephone with bananas and shoes for weeks.

Shenandoah Coffee House Series

If you enjoy singer/ songwriters and are looking to hear some live music close to home Shenandoah Acoustic’s Coffee House concerts are worth the $12. We saw The Dreamsicles last night, and it was a great night out in a beautiful setting! The female half of the Dreamsicles, Cary Cooper, sang a beautiful song about mothers and daughters that brought tears to my eyes (and I usually only cry at funerals & Hallmark commercials).

If you’re kids are the portable type and able to stay up late or fall asleep on you or a hard pew you can bring them. We saw kids both times we were there, but prefer to leave ours home with a co-op sitter.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun hosts the series. This little church is the perfect setting for a small concert series… it is on a country road a few miles off route 15 just south of Leesburg, and it looks like it has been there forever. The acoustics are good (according to my untrained ear), and the ambiance is the perfect setting for an intimate performance. In fact it is so intimate it is hard not to talk to the performers over coffee and cookies during the break. I loved the cookies almost as much as the music.

Capitol City Carnival Faire & Brew — Sept 21–23, 2007

This event is not specifically geared towards kids, but it does a good job of making sure that both parents and kids get a chance to indulge.

For parents… if you like good beer there is an amazing selection of beers to taste, and where better to enjoy good beer than outside on a beautiful day.

For kids… a moon bounce obstacle course, a ferris wheel, and the option to run barefoot in the grass with live music were all that was needed to convince our kids that it wasn’t just mommy and daddy’s day out. They were also in awe of the Yard Dogs Road Show, as were some other little ones

The downside.… $$$.… we were frugal — packed a lunch and didn’t buy any souvenirs (except a pint glass), but still dropped $96 today. Breakdown: $30/ each for two adult tickets (saved $ by buying ahead online), $10 sober up food, $15 pint glass and extra taste tokens, $11 ride tickets.

Also, in northern Virginia, where there is alcohol there will be smokers. There was a smoker’s lounge set up, but we still came across a lot of smoke and cigarette butts, so if you are especially sensitive in that department it may not be the place for you.

This was the first year of what promises to become an annual event, and we plan to attend again (and maybe even to volunteer to pour if there’s a Bear Republic table again…) next year. Hope to catch some of you there!

Tips for your trip: an off-road or jogging stroller will be easier on everyone involved. Also, there is limited shade so come prepared with hats and sunscreen. And finally PLEASE drive carefully… we left behind a mini-van that had no business being on the road. Don’t be that guy!!!!!