Festival with three kids = A whole new experience
Your festival will change, but in ways you can’t imagine. I’m pretty sure at this point if someone came up and said, “Hey, leave your kids with us, and they’ll have the greatest time of their lives while you go to Telluride” we’d turn 'em down.
Mainly 'cause TBF is the time of their lives 
agree 100% with that one. especially when one of them thinks that they can do whatever they want just cause they’ve been so many times.
& i is great being at a kid’s birthday party over the weekend and Happy the Clown asks what everyone’s favorite thing to do in the summer is and your kid yells out “'Telluride!!!”
We could tell by the look on Happy’s face that he just didn’t understand.
:thumbsup The best Town Park Campground quote overheard in 2012.
Hello there, what’s your name? “Porter.”
How old are you? “I’m six.”
How many times have you been to TBF? “I’ve been to festivaaal seven times!”
Great times…
We’ve had a few of those conversations over the years too…LOL
Unsurprising moment involving kids. Walking through the crowd, I feel a small hand grab mine. I look down into a very sincere-looking 4-ish year old face.
Me: Hi there.
Boy: Hi. I want to sit with you.
Me: Excuse me?
Boy: I want to sit with you.
Me: That’s nice of you I’m Jeff.
Boy: And I’m Brody.
Me: I guess we’re friends, then?
Boy: You’re my best friend in the whole world.
Me: Awesome!
I relived the conversation for his Mom, who was watching us, told Brody goodbye, and chased down my own kid
That’s what Joah told me. :flower
Still waiting to see the picture that Tess took of the two of us at the pot luck. :wave
Yeah, we talked about how easy it is to make new friends at that age. When you get dubbed “Best friend in the whole world”, enjoy it…it may only last ten minutes!
I have a bunch of pix to put on Facebook, but I just shared the one you’re talking about over there…enjoy!
I loved just saying the name “Tom” to Joah, and he asks… “Tom Poley or Tom With the Long Beard?”
“Bites with Joah” came along with probably the best dinner conversation I had with anyone the entire fest. Sorry I couldn’t find y’all on the tarps on Thursday morning for Bela & Chris and the “banjaro/mandolin” show! :lol
Auntie Hope :festivarian2 :green
Sam (9) claims 10. I feel like he’s got a point. When I was six months pregnant, every single time Jerry Douglas took the stage he grooved around like mad and let me know in no uncertain terms that despite being in the back with a pillow on my belly, Victor Wooten was way too much. We bought another of Flux’s cds and it happened to be the year that he played at The String Summit, which was coincidentally the weekend following TBF. As we skedaddled home, 24 hours of drive time and a lot of music listened to, he did the same thing every time, only getting excited when he heard that one dobro. And then again at the String Summit. Jerry signed it for him there, writing it to Peanut. Loves Jerry to this day.
Trivia of the day: My computer is named “Flux”
:thumbsup
Can anyone tell me if we will need the big headphone looking ear muff, ear protectors for our kids sitting in Kelty Land? It’s the first year for me sitting in the back and I can’t remember how loud it is back there. Thanks Y’all!!
It’s still pretty loud back there. And sometimes I swear they turn it up even louder just to see if anyone is awake.
Depends on how old and which acts. It can get a little loud (although usually later in the day/night when Kelty land is no longer populated or necessary). Little ones under 4 are best protected by earplugs (available at the First Aid tent or pre fest and extensively discussed in this thread).
Shout out to other townpark campers with toddlers:
I can’t believe festival is almost here. It seems like we were just doing the lottery! We have been townpark campers several times, but never w the toddler. I’m starting to get nervous.
I’ve read through all six years and 15 pages of this thread. Great advise! It’s reassuring to know there will be oodles of experienced festival parents around! The temp tattoos are neat, but I think we’ll just go w the ghetto masking tape on the back of shirt technique. Besides, u can write info on the inside of kids wrist band too.
We are camping in townpark. In this thread there are several suggestions for slightly more family friendly regions of townpark like maybe on the waterfall side (but colder over there at night) or primitive area. It would be fun for our kiddo (he’s 3) if we were camped near other kids. We are gonna be there satuturday for the land rush. We’d be happy to toss a tarp or two down to save space for another fam. Just tell me where to run!
Any advice about porta potties and a mostly potty trained three year old. Yucky. The window between “i gotta go” and accident is brief…and he sits to tinkle. (I know, TMI!) Do I just need to pack the hand sanitizer and get over it!
Are we crazy to take him to wed night yonder at cc show? It’s the earliest of all night grass but also a long way from townpark. If he crashes out is there room in the back for us to have stroller or wagon? I’ve been to that show several times but never payed any attention to kids or parents.
I wouldn’t camp anywhere near the waterfall with a 3 yr old boy- too enticing and dangerous… As for the bathroom issues, I would bring a potty or camp toilet or at least a urinal . YUP, he’s gonna touch every thing in there… It’s gross but you just need to go with it…LOL Just try to prevent licking… YUP, been there, done that… You could bring some toilet covers.
The Conference Center is easily the most doable of nightgrass venues for children. I don’t know if there is room for a stroller, but a few years ago, after getting into town after a long drive, I fell asleep in a chair in the lobby. You could still hear the music out there and there was lots of space. If you have a backpack he can sit it (http://www.amazon.com/Deuter-Comfort-Carrier-Storm-Anthracite/dp/B004LY841S/ref=sr_1_4?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1370540871&sr=1-4), it could be worth bringing it.
BTW, when our kids were infant/toddler sized- we did find that a baby backpack was the best way to do the festival at night… They would sleep while on our backs and we didnt have to worry about them getting danced on… Also, that way we could move around as wanted instead of staying in the back with the “baby” tent while they slept… Strollers work ok during the day but again- they are sometimes really hard to get through the crowd if just going to get food or potty etc and they take up space on the tarp…
What is the cutoff age for kiddos to get into the main venue and the Yonder show at TCC? I hope I didn’t space not getting my 5 year old a 4 day?? I have a 5 and a 3 year old coming for their first time.
12 and under is free