Seattle Area Adventure: Zoo Tunes

What are your favorite summer traditions?

We are lucky enough to have beautiful summers here in Seattle allowing us to look around, savor, soak in, and admire all that the rain and wet create: GREEN everywhere, flowers bursting with bright colors, and fresh clean air.  All allowing us to breathe a big sigh of relief that we made it to our well-deserved reward (75 and 80 degree sunny days).

One of our favorite summer traditions is the outdoor concert.  The choices seem to go on and on in the Seattle area, and there are so many venues that just can’t be beat.  An outdoor summer concert with an 11-month old though? I wasn’t so sure.

What about the noise?

What about bedtime?

Would Bergen invade the other concert goers space?

Despite the questions, and slight hesitation, we packed a picnic complete with cheese and crackers, my best avocado turkey sandwiches, rainier cherries, and lemonade, and headed to the Woodland Park Zoo for a Zoo Tunes concert.  Grace Potter and the Nocturnals performed with ZZ Ward opening.  I’m no music critic, but the entire show was rockin’! Both bands had us dancing in our lawn chairs with kids showing their approval by running around in circles and jumping up and down.

Bergen had a blast.  He’s already proved his love of music at home by dancing, clapping, and clicking (yes, he clicks to the beat with his tongue) to musicians from Madona to Raffi.  This, however, was Bergen’s first real live concert experience.

The noise? No problem.  It’s an outdoor concert.  The music isn’t so concentrated as it would be if we were indoors.

The bedtime worries? The doors opened at 5:00 pm, and the show started at 6:00 pm.  We may have stretched it a little bit, but we took B’s lead, and were able to enjoy the concert until 8:00 pm.  They had to stop soon after that anyway so the animals can get their sleep.  🙂  These concerts are made for families.

Space invasion? Yes, Bergen did do quite a bit of blanket surfing, and we did quite a bit of baby snatching, but everyone was so nice and friendly.  They were all just out to have a good time, and didn’t mind a cute little baby coming over for a visit.  Plus, once we got tired of chasing our crawl-master, Slaed and I both took turns walking around the venue visiting the sponsor booths, the carousel, and most importantly, the penguins! We could still enjoy the music from each of these places.

We will be back to zoo tunes next year with a toddler in tow.

Info to Know

• If you are in the Seattle area, there are still several Zoo Tunes shows with tickets available.
• While there is food and drinks at the zoo for purchase, it’s best to pack your own picnic.  You’ll be glad you did when you see the choices available for the price you have to pay.

• Some of our other favorite outdoor concert opportunities:

  • University Village Sounds of Summer Concert Series (Wednesdays from 7/11/12-8/15/12) FREE!
  • Concerts at Marymoor in Redmond, WA
  • Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery Summer Concert Series in Woodinville, WA

  Share your favorite summer tradition! What rockin’ concerts have you been to this summer? Did you drag the kids along?

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