Sunday in the Park with Jacob

After Sunday nap time, we headed out to a local park to enjoy the playground and whatever else we could find there. We'd gone last week and heard the last bit of a brass band concert and found a water fountain that Jacob loves. He calls it a waterfall. It's true, the water does fall. But the playground is still the main attraction.

Not a voodoo drum to control zombies

This week we parked our car on the other side of the park, so when we inevitably went to the potty, we'd be close to the car and not have to walk back through the playground when leaving. That meant we were near the concert stage. This week's performers were Drums Agogo. The group of about twelve plays African drums. We heard about 20 minutes of the concert, which was a lot of fun for Jacob. He loves drumming. I joked once that for Jacob, there's only two types of things in the world. If something isn't a drum, it's a drumstick.

The drums played at the concert were hand drums, so no sticks were needed. Lucy was a little bored by the concert, so she and I went to the little restaurant in the park and bought some ice cream cones. Available flavors were vanilla or Turkish Delight. I bought one cone of each. I had a little trouble getting them back to Mommy and Jacob, mostly because Lucy insisted on being carried and was trying to get at the ice cream. The cones had little cookies stuck in, so Jacob had a treat too. I liked the Turkish Delight flavor more than my wife did, so I ate as much of that cone as I could while Lucy gobbled spoonfuls.

After the concert was over, Jacob wanted to go up on the stage to check out the drums. With a little encouragement, he asked one of the people if he could try out a drum. The lady offered her drum and she showed him how to play it--deep booms when you slapped the middle or higher-pitched thunks by the rim. At first he hesitantly banged on the drum. As he played he gained more confidence and daring. He wound up impressing one or two people, who said he was pretty good. The lady said she had been playing for two years with the group and still hadn't bought a proper bag for her drum. She's been using a plastic garbage bag. She said the drums were about £140 and she hasn't spent more on a bag yet. We may have to check into lessons for Jacob. After the success with dancing, he may be ready to take a class. We will investigate further. We aren't sure about buying a drum yet, but a hand drum will definitely be quieter (and more portable) than a drum kit.

We did eventually go to the waterfall and the playground and had a lot of fun. This type of outing may become a regular for us while the weather is still good and the sun still shines in the afternoons. I wonder what concert will be there next week!