Music and Movies by Moonlight

Congratulations to Jo, who won our giveaway for Animal Planet's Emergency Vets for the Nintendo DS. Thank you to all who entered!

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If you haven�t been to the North Carolina Museum of Art for an evening out, add it to your list right now. Their summer series includes a variety of movies and concerts, all performed in the open-air theater beside the museum. You can bring a picnic, buy a bottle of wine when you arrive, and enjoy a lovely evening under the stars.

My husband and I used to go there regularly before we had kids �- we even went to see all three parts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. At the time I had no idea that going out to see a movie on three consecutive nights would soon become a crazy luxury.

Last weekend was our first time back to the amphitheater in years when we went to see Pink Martini (and opening act Sneakin� Out ). It felt like old times in the best way �- the music was fantastic, the weather was beautiful, the picnic was tasty, the moon was full and the people-watching was highly entertaining.

Although we went without kids, we saw plenty of families with children of all ages. I was most impressed by those with new babies, strolling up and down the sidewalk trying to lull their little ones to sleep during the concert. When my firstborn was fresh, we were so overwhelmed and exhausted that we never took him out at night. It wasn�t until many months later that I realized we missed our window �- we weren�t sleeping anyway, so we should have just tucked him into the baby carrier while he was tiny and gone to every outdoor movie and concert we could find.

Now that our children are almost four and just turned one, it�s too hard on them (and us) to keep them up past their 7:30 bedtime. And since neither one of them turned out to be those kids who can fall asleep anywhere anytime, we can�t bring them along and tuck them into their blankets under the stars. I�m hopeful that will change in a few years and we�ll be able to take them to fun shows -� but for now, it�s nice to have the occasional night out without them.

Picnic with sushi and chocolate cake� $12
Two concert tickets� $40
Babysitting by the co-op� $0
Date night with my husband� priceless

An original Triangle Mamas post. When she�s not packing picnics and dressing up for date night, Cyndi can be found writing about why she wants to come back as China Forbes from Pink Martini at Junius & Pippi Take the Cake.