An unexpected surprise for our family home evening
My wife and I decided to check out some of the things around us last night as a family activity. Officially, it's called Family Home Evening, but we thought we'd have a Family OUT Evening. So we went down to Washington DC.
Okay, so we were sightseeing in our Nation's Capital last night. We were driving past the Washington Monument when my wife, who has been thumbing through the Family Fun guide to Washington DC, mentions that there is a free concert series at the Kennedy Center every night (365) at 6 pm. It was 5:40, and we were only a couple of miles from the KC, so we thought we'd go.
After paying $15 for parking (FREE?!?!), we wheeled the stroller and hiked the kids into the grand foyer of the Kennedy Center and sat down for a concert.
The performer last night was Diane Zeigler, who is a folk musician with her husband (bass player) and another guy, a steel guitarist. We thought, oh great. Folk music. Yikes. Knowing the hippie-ness that was about to begin caused me to shudder in dread. I think it was "A Mighty Wind" that said the only difference between a folk band and a rock band is a rock band has a drum.
Diane's web site
The band was excellent. Folk music only in that they didn't have a drum. The kids were enraptured, even the baby was content. Very good show, excellent stage presence, and it turns out Ms. Zeigler and her bass player husband, Geoff Sather, have two kids exactly the same age as our oldest boys. She told a story of the last time they played the KC, when their kids ran up and down the aisles during the concert. Luckily, their kids were home in Vermont during the show, she quipped. But at least they would have had playmates last night. Maybe not, since my kids were extremely well-behaved and didn't divert anyone's attention from the stage. (Proud daddy speaking here...)
Anyway, excellent show. I highly recommend checking this out for yourselves. Their nightly show has a webcast, as well (their kids at home in Vermont were watching). The link to start the webcast is embedded in the page I linked to previously. Really neat program, too. Our tax dollars at work!