ACL on the horizon. And the kids are going to be alright.

Ah, the Austin City Limits festival!

I am particularly excited about this year's ACL because (1) I am not pregnant, (2) it's in mid-October so maybe it won't be over 100 degrees, (3) I have new sassy rain boots and a bright orange poncho to wear in case it rains, (4) I have access to one of the backstage VIP areas (free drinks and snacks! clean porta-potties!), and (5) both of my kids are finally old enough to go for at least a few hours.

ACL being much on my mind at the moment, here are some bossy and somewhat judgmental observations about attending ACL with young kids (under 6, in my case):

1. Know and respect your family's limits. Do you really think your 3-year-old can handle the full 11 a.m. -10 p.m. day at ACL? In the heat/rain/noise? Getting stepped on by staggering college kids in the dark? I think you know the answer. Consider this schedule: get there right when the gates open, early in the day for some non-crowded fun. Start out in the covered CLEAR4G tent (i.e., what used to be called the gospel tent - I don't know if people still refer to it that way) for some rousing gospel tunes and then go a couple of hours at the Austin Kiddie Limits area. Kiddie Limits is awesome. Last year I actually had more fun there than anywhere and not just because E got to go on stage with Lulu from Thievery Corporation (see photo below). It's nice and shady, the bands are fun, there are all kinds of art and other activities for the kids, and it's next to the volleyball sand pits. Which they turn into a "beach" and which are also shaded. Walk around a bit to hear parts of some non-kid bands, have some late lunch, maybe head back to the "beach."

Then right as they are about to get to their grumpy place, which is sometime in the mid-afternoon for us, take them the heck home (or better yet, have them retrieved at Shady Grove or somewhere), leave them with a family member or sitter, and go back out to have grown up throw down time. OR, if the back and forth travel isn't an option (i.e., you bought two one-day passes instead of a wristband, SUCKAH!), consider having one day be "for the kids' sake" only, design that day totally from their perspective, and then go on the other day with just adults.

While I am generally of the "just try it!" mentality when it comes to adventures with kids like dining out in nice restaurants, camping, airline travel, or sitting through a full-length church service, I also believe you have to know when it's time to throw in the burp rag. If your monkey has completely lost it and is showing signs of dehydration, I don't care how much you paid for that ticket or how bad you want to see The Black Keys, pack it up and get her home asap. Sheesh. You're just making her, yourself, and everyone around you miserable.

2. Hydration, shade and sunscreen. Duh. Obvious, but had to mention it. I've seen some bad deals in past years. As in I-should-probably-have-called-CPS level bad.

3. Respect other festival goers. I know this sounds preachy, but . . .please don't make all the other parents look bad by, for example, wheeling your massive double-BOB up and parking it where you know darn well the dance pit is going to be. Please do not change poopy diapers right there in front of everyone! I know you are tired and you worked hard to position your blanket just so, but go over near the porta potties or behind a tree to do that. Don't let your kids run madly around and bother people who are there without kids - either because they don't have them or because they are paying someone $150 to keep them all day so they can by gosh enjoy the festival. Common sense, parents, common sense.

4. Food. Food at ACL is generally pretty fantastic for festival food, but it's expensive and they don't always like it, which can make the $7.50 per sandwich investment painful. Feed them a HUGE breakfast and last minute snack and then it won't be such an issue. Oh, and the sauce on those yummy Hudson's chicken cones is spicy - watch out for that.

5. Don't be confined to the kids area. Maybe a bit contrary to #1 above, let them try enjoying some "grown up" bands if things are going well. Just don't be a jerk (see #3 above) and don't try to force them to tolerate wall-to-wall sweaty stranger bodies or standing in front of a blaring speaker because you want to be close to the action. We tend to hover around the edges of the crowd. Dance, world music, gospel (the clapping! the swaying!), and hip-hop were all generally popular choices for my preschooler even if she wasn't familiar with the act. Oh, and if there is a Jack Johnson sound-alike playing this year, I guarantee they will love that dude. My girls think Jack Johnson is a kids' musician. And. . .they kind of have a point there, don't they?

6. Be prepared, but don't load yourself down with too much crap. I have seen some families make a Beverly Hillbillies thing of it and have one parent camp out at the "kids beach" with loads of supplies and sand toys and chairs and whatnot, and they use that area as a home base for their festival exploration operations. I think this might work okay if you have a group of several parents and slightly older kids than mine (mine are 3 and 5), but I like being mobile.

My ACL bag will have water, one snack per kid (shhhhh!), sunscreen, lip balm, sani-wipes, hand sanitizer, a fully charged cell phone, maybe a small camera, cash/cards/id, bandaids, a copy of the schedule and one insect wipe towelette (OFF makes them - yes, I know they are not natural, plant-based repellents in the OFF. Sometimes you have to go with the chemicals to get the convenience). Maybe some rain gear if that looks to be necessary. No blanket, no chairs. I even go stroller-free, but I am that way.

7. Safety first. See March 16 post below on crowd/festival safety. The "Tag a Kid" thing is key.
8. Relax some limits and get a little goofy. Let them get really dirty, let them have the extra sugar and the lemonade, let them get inappropriate temporary tattoos. Let them see you cut loose and dance wildly in the rain. It's just one weekend.

Downtown Girls

I wish we were cool and rich enough to live in a downtown Austin high-rise with children, but we're neither. Living in the '04 is the next best thing, though, and our proximity to downtown makes zipping over there and pretending to be hipsters a fulfillable fantasy. There are dozens of downtown activities to experience with children (AMOA, the library, the bats under Congress bridge, the Capitol, picnic at Town Lake, performances and classic movies at the Paramount, etc.), but down below are my five favorites.

The Downtown Austin Alliance's "This Week in Downtown" email list and website is handy for keeping up - with the email sign up you'll get email updates on street closures (which is not only convenient for driving plans, it also tells you what parades and fests are going on) and downtown activities.

The only downtown museum I'd say stay out of when accompanied by kids is Arthouse at the Jones Center, which showcases contemporary art, unless you've previewed the current exhibit first. It's tempting to run across the street after a visit to AMOA, but E and I once waltzed in there and the young punky girl at the front desk gave me her Teacher Face and was all "you do know there are some explicit exhibits here, don't you?" Er, did I just get mama-judged by a tatted-up 22-year-old art chick? My parenting standards must be really low. We went for pizza instead. Although, I have to say it's refreshing to see a museum that is bucking the trend and not falling all over itself to attract families. It's a comforting feeling to be a targeted demographic, but I appreciate places other than bars that remain havens for grownups only.

These are my favorite activities particularly appropriate for younger kids (under 7) in downtown Austin, with apologies/a shout out to local doyenne of awesomeness Anne Elizabeth Wynn, who wrote a delightful feature on this topic for the Austin-American Statesman some time back with more of a older kids focus and which I would link to if I could find it.

Mine here are in no particular order and if you live in Austin, you've probably done at least two of these things already, but who doesn't love a list?

1. Austin Children's Museum + Jo's Coffee + strolling around 2nd Street (2-5 hours). Yes, I hated a bit on the ACM back in my rainy day post, but here's the secret. Go on a pretty day, not when a new exhibit is first opening, when all the other parents are out doing outdoorsy things with their kids. Try for a 1:1 adult:kid ratio if you have both a baby/toddler and an older one(s). That way someone can stay with Lil' Bit in the toddler corral and the other person can do the fun big kid stuff in the other rooms. Go early in the day (they open at 10), have lunch or a snack at Jo's and then walk around and window shop in the 2nd street district. Speaking of Jo's. . . on films shooting in Austin, does every actor's contract require a visit to one or both Jo's? Every day? 90% of my celeb sightings in Austin have been at Jo's. C'mon Hollywood, we have other coffee shops here. Granted, none of the others offer a tasty pulled pork sandwich, but y'all don't eat anyway, so branch out.

2. The Farmers Market at Republic Square (1-4 hours). I know it's tired to go on and on about how we should all shop at farmers markets all the time, but the downtown market is not only a great place to get your food, it's a hoot for young kids. Sure, you can meet farmers and buy great local veggies and safe, humanely-ranched meats (the Berkshire pork and Loncito's lamb in particular are tasty), but you can also dance to a band, watch a cooking demo, have a snack and tea, pet friendly dogs, and run around on the hill. And if it's warm, you can play in the fountain. You can fill almost an entire Saturday morning with this outing, and it's easy to combine with other downtown activities, because you will have already found a great parking space, and why waste that? When we go I always feel like we are rushing just to buy food and hit the road, and I am resolved to stop doing that and experience the market more slowly and from my children's perspective. As soon as it warms up.

3. Parades and Walks/Runs. (2-5 hours) Even if the parade has a lame premise, kids will go bonkers over marching bands, boy scouts on floats, the Luling Watermelon Queen waving at them, whatever. And participating in a walk or watching a marathon or a triathlon can be really entertaining - always something to see in a crowd. Our girls love the AIDS Walk. I already have red tutus for them to wear next year!

There's the Chuy's Thanksgiving "Children Giving to Children" parade, or Veteran's Day, or Juneteenth, or go down there when the Republic of Texas biker rally roars into town, or the Pride Parade. Sometimes those last two happen on the same weekend in June, a coincidence I've always found charming.

Except for walks, we opt for a backpack carrier instead of a stroller for most crowded events. Easier to keep track of your kid, you have hands free, they can see great from up there so there will be less complaining, and noone (including you) will spill a drink on their heads. Come to think of it, we frequently opt for the backpack over the stroller. Ironic result for a family that owns 4 strollers, two of which each cost more than I used to pay in rent.

You can find out from the City of Austin special events website which parades and street fairs are coming up, although with a few exceptions (like First Night Austin) we usually avoid large street fairs with young children - a lot going on and not enough of it little-kid-friendly, it's too easy to lose them, food is expensive and lines are long. But there are more parades and smaller street fairs going on in Austin than you think. Coming up March 6 - Texas Independence Day parade. Yee-ha! My hands down favorite, though, is the Dia de Los Muertos procession and festival hosted by Mexic-Arte in October.

This photo taken at Dia de los Muertos is old because we weren't able to go in 2009, but I can't wait until next year. I am already sketching out how to paint a calavera on E's face. I have a feeling S won't let me get near her with a brush and paints, but we'll see. Maybe I'll just swipe a Frida unibrow on her and call it a day.

4. Tea (or hot chocolate and pastries) at the Driskill Hotel (2-3 hours). During the holidays, the Driskill's 1886 Cafe does a formal afternoon tea, perfect for little girls who consider Fancy Nancy a celebrity. But even during the rest of the year you can put together your own special tea time or hot chocolate break, and then stroll upstairs to walk around the gorgeous lobbies and maybe hear some piano in the bar.

5. Check out whatever they are presenting at Ballet Austin's rehearsal space, then go have a treat at one of the 2nd street restaurants (2-4 hours). BA has performances at the rehearsal studio that are perfect for children, and sometimes even kid-specific performances. We attended an outstanding mini-Peter and the Wolf (45 minutes - perfect) performance last year. Lots of thoughtful aspects - for example, they had the dancer playing the wolf come in before the show holding his wolf head and demonstrate putting it on in front of the children, so noone freaked when he later crept out on stage in character. Simple, brilliant. A couple of weeks ago, E and I went to a Ballet Austin Family Dance workshop. I tell you what, that was the best $10 I have spent in ages. The junior company did some demos, then worked with the kids to assemble their own dances. E was in heaven. That night when I tucked her in she said "I am closing my eyes so I can see the dance I'm going to create in the morning." I about passed out.

See you downtown!

Babies, it's COLD and rainy outside

A quick Google will turn up endless lists of things to do with your kids in the house on rainy/snowy days, but let's be honest, after day 3 of cooking (see photo), art projects, fort-building and compromising of media-consumption limits ("yes, you get to watch the WHOLE movie! Here's some popcorn."), no amount of creativity or patience is going to adequately address the fact that everyone has house fever and things are about to get ugly.

So, where do you go when it's too cold or rainy to play outside? At least when it's 100+ degrees for the 15th day in a row you can go to the pool (again), but cold and rainy weather challenges Southern parents. We're weather wimps. I've been trying to readjust my attitude about weather. If it's warm and it's not raining buckets, go out to the park anyway and get super muddy and gross. Remember how much fun everyone had at ACL fest last year in the mud before they found out the grounds were created with treated sewage? You'll have more laundry to do, but they'll talk about this for days afterwards. Is 35 degrees really too cold to play outside? Bundle up and head out! But if fighting your personal weather demons is not in the works, or it is both cold AND rainy like it has been for the last three days, here are some ideas for Austin.

1. Museums. I bet you thought I was going to say the Austin Children's Museum, right? H-to-the-NO. I would only go to the ACM on a rainy day if it was with a toddler/preschooler on a weekday during the school year, during school hours. On the weekends and during holiday season, it's a zoo, especially if the weather is inclement. Fine if your kids are older and can be set loose to roam, but keeping up with a 3-yr-old at ACM on a busy day drives me to drink. These other museums are much less crowded and pretty entertaining:

George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center. (free admission, charge for special events/performances) African-American history center and adjacent to the Carver library branch. Don’t wait for a special event to visit – it’s outstanding year-round. http://www.carvermuseum.org/; 1165 Angelina Street; (512) 974-4926.

Possibly the most visually over-the-top display of collective Texan Pride ever, the Texas History Museum (lots of video, audio, and diorama-type stuff, can also see an IMAX and a Texas history movie there, and have a snack in restaurant), then clear the palate with a dash across street to the sleek, chic, technically too cool for me Blanton Art Museum - both located on corners of MLK and N. Congress. Can I get a YEEE-Hah? http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/; http://www.blantonmuseum.org/

Texas Memorial Museum & Natural Science Center (free), on The University of Texas at Austin campus. Fossils, dinos, minerals, gems, Texas wildlife (not live!), fish, insects, etc. www.utexas.edu/tmm/exhibits/

AMOA’s downtown campus. AMOA's official "family days" are too crowded for me, but the family lab at the downtown space is always available, and typically has kid-accessible art projects that dovetail with current exhibit. Better for older than 3, but our little ones have enjoyed the lab in their own ways. http://www.amoa.org/

2. The library. I'd like to say my children and I can spend a l ong, lovely, quiet afternoon just perusing the books and reading together (awwww!), but I would be exaggerating to a degree that would make LBJ proud. However, as they get older, this is becoming more possible, and we just keep practicing our library skills. The big one (4 1/2) and I can kill an hour or so here, which sometimes is all you need, especially if you are coming from somewhere else and facing down a long afternoon of house arrest. In a couple/few years, budget deities willing, the Austin Central Library is doubling in size and moving to Seaholm. The new kids' section will be walled off from the daytime homeless shelter, I mean, the adult area, and you won't have to shush the kids all the time for fear of disturbing others, especially others who probably are suffering from PTSD. http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/newcentlib.htm Nice!

3. Best for getting the wiggles out: Indoor bounce house playspaces are popping up around Austin and the surrounding area like mushrooms. It must involve a really low initial investment because it seems like I hear about a new one every week. I like these places for energy expenditure and they make for some really fun birthday parties. Something about them kind of bugs me and I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps it's the idea of paying a total of $14 for admission for two kids - what if I had 4? Sheesh! But still we go. My current favorite in South Austin is Loco Motion at Westgate and William Cannon. http://www.locomotionplay.net/

LM is great for younger ones, and they have several well-stocked pretend play areas (a grocery store, diner, veterinarian office, garage, and dress-up/princess). There's a small gated area with Little Tikes stuff for the under-2's and they have free coffee (!) for grownups in the eating area (which is extremely clean and plenty big, even when birthday parties are in the house). LM is a little smaller than the other South Austin place I know about - Goin' Bananas http://www.goinbananastx.com/ - below is a video of our girls' favorite slide in the GB repetoire.
If you've got multiple kids to manage, especially younger ones, LM is perfect because you can pretty much stand around sipping your free coffee in the center of the place and effectively supervise say, a 4 year old and her friend playing dress up, a 2 year old in the corral, and still be able to see the bounce house area for when they make a mad dash over there and back again. I also just found out that they will let you pay once, leave, and come back on the same day - handy for naps! What's even more fun and Austin-y is the fact that LM is located at the back of an indoor flea market called Marketplace Austin, which has a dynamic that is so, so odd I can't even describe it. You can kill a good 30-45 minutes just walking around and looking at gorgeous quinceanera dresses and broken electronics.

Where do you like to go on rainy days?

[September 2010 update on bounce houses: There is a lot of information out there about the presence of lead in inflatable play structures. I did some research on this and it appears that the structures that were manufactured prior to 2008 are the problem. Most permanently installed bounce house locations use newer equipment. Regardless, before you take your kid to a bounce house place, call and find out if they have tested their equipment or obtained lead-free certification from the manufacturer. All the ones I've called so far are fine. Seems to be the little mom and pop rental places that are still using the older structures. If you do run across one of these at a birthday party or festival, don't run away screaming like a scalded monkey. Just have the kids wash their hands and faces thoroughly after bouncing. No big deal. No need to be Suzy-No-Fun about it.]