Bluegrass Time!!!

Another great festival season has come to an end, and what fun we've had. Rockygrass took place at the end of July and we had so much fun spending the weekend with our neighbors and friends Amanda and Ryan! It was also so wonderful to spend some quality time with Angela and Paul; and Wendy, Nick, and Evelyn (just home from New Zealand).

We got a prime campsite under a permanent shelter. We managed to put Sadie's tent in the shade so she was able to nap happily in the tent every day. I was anxious about how sleeping in the midst of festivarian partying was going to go for our Sadie, but she was a champion! Slept 12 hours through the night every night despite all the mayhem of the campground. Phew!

I knew going into the weekend that Sadie's sleep habits would either make or break the festival (for me). We set ourselves up for success as well as we could. Earplugs in Sadie's ears, a battery-operated white noise machine in the tent, and a homeopathic sleep aid for kids (Calms Forte 4 Kids) seemed to be a great combination. I usually can't sleep in the same room as Sadie because every time she moves, I wake up worried that she's up for the night. But I used the same silicone earplugs, an eye mask, a couple beers, and 2 Benadryl to help me sleep as well as she did. I managed to get more sleep than I ever have at a festival, and Sadie and I both woke up well-rested and smiling every morning! YEAH!

The music was amazing, as usual. Highlights for me were The Infamous Stringdusters; Mark Johnson and Emory Lester; The Farewell Drifters; and the Tim O'Brien band of course.

Ryan and Brian were real troopers and were talked into staying up till all hours of the night (and early morning) playing music and drinking in line in order to get tarp spots inside the festival grounds each day (we really had to twist their arms, believe me). Ryan even managed to get a #3 one night! He was in fine form striding across the festival grounds to secure an awesome spot for the day.

We played in the river, basked in the sun, picked and sang, smiled, drank, ate, listened to tunes, slept, and repeated for 4 days. Heaven....

Thank you to Amanda for sharing her beautiful photos of the weekend!