Nashville for Free

Readers with children, I know you exist. I also know you have to work pretty hard to find good, inexpensive entertainment out with your kids.

Regions bank wants to help. Today beginning at noon, Regions will be giving away 500 free tickets to the Nashville Children Theatre’s The Beauty and the Beast (today’s 4pm performance) as part of their “Free Days” program. Man, we sure do love those Regions Free Days.

You can get these free tickets at noon today online at www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org or by phone at (615)252-4675. Reservations are limited to four tickets per family. All tickets will be held at will-call and you can start lining up at 3pm.

-Emily

It really wouldn’t be the holiday season without several thousand donation drives. From canned foods to small toys to children’s books, there’s no excuse to not give when people and organizations make it this easy for you. And hey, if you give sometimes you even get something in return. A dollar of admission to a movie or maybe you get out of a class, enough to give you something extra on top of that warm, fuzzy feeling.

Adventure Science Center is going above and beyond in that something extra this year. Every Monday from Nov. 14th – Dec. 19th they’ll offer one free child admission for each new children’s book to support Book’em, a non-profit that provides books to needy children throughout Davidson County.

Make your child (or niece/nephew, grandchild, kid you’re babysitting) happy while making a child in need happy as well? Sounds like the ultimate win-win.

-Emily

I’ll bet a lot of you have kids who are fans of the Cars movies (even though the second one was probably the only bad Pixar movie). Some of you probably even have kids who dressed up as a character from Cars for Halloween last night. I mean, I guess they make costumes for that, right? I only saw a Buzz Lightyear and a Ghostbuster (aka the coolest kid ever) as I don’t live on a main street. But it seems like they should…otherwise that’s just a lost opportunity, but whatever.

Anyway, today the “Agents on a Mission” Cars 2 Tour presented by State Farm will be in town The Avenue Murfreesboro with four-time Piston Cup champion Lightning McQueen, best friend Mater and master British spy Finn McMissile. There will be life-size models of the cars and you can take part in a variety of Cars 2-themed activities including a video kiosk, inflatable, e-photo opportunities, games, giveaways, and more.

Yes, it’s basically a big marketing event, but when your kid LOVES Cars what does it matter? Also, there will be prizes! Yay! Family fun! Wahoo! Oh, and it’s a great opportunity to break out that Cars costume for a second night, you know, if you have one/they exist.

-Emily

Note: None of these instruments will actually be at the musical petting zoo

If the question “oh crap, what am I going to do with my kids this summer?” has popped into your head in the past few weeks I’d like to let you know that you are by no means alone.

The babysitting service known as school is out of session, so you’re likely to have the young ones around a lot more often than usual. If you’re like most parents who don’t want their kids to sit on the couch all summer playing video games and watching cartoons you might be looking for some other activity to involve them in. I mean, it’s too hot to play outside all day, and how many storytimes can you go to?

Well, here’s an idea: the musical petting zoo.

Yeah, the name is a little silly, but it’s a pretty good representation of what it is. Just like a normal petting zoo, which allows kids to get a hands-on idea of different animals, the musical petting zoo is a way for children to physically experience music. Your young’ns will get to strum guitars, pick at banjos, and play autoharps (with a professional nearby to help them out)! Who knows, they might even love it so much that they’ll beg you to let them get a ukulele or something. At the very least they’ll be learning something and will be getting their fair share of entertainment for the day, and you’ll feel like the awesome parent you are.

In other words, everyone wins!

The next musical petting zoo is tomorrow, Thursday June 17th at 10:30am.

-Emily

I thought I’d create a post that highlighted some of this weeks cool events. This isn’t meant to include everything, but if you feel like I missed something major then let me know.

MONDAY:
8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge at 9PM
This is a weekly event, and though I’ve never gone it seems really great. The Mercy Lounge is a great venue, and I always have a good time hearing new bands, even if they sort of suck. You should definitely consider going at least once

TUESDAY:
Cotton Jones performs at Grimey’s at 6PM
I LOVE going to in-stores at Grimey’s, even if I don’t know the artist. It gets a little cramped sometimes, but the tunes are great, and sometimes Grimey’s will have some surprises like free beer or prizes. If you’re a fan of the artist this is probably the most intimate setting you’ll ever see them in, and you can almost always get the to take a picture and sign after their set.

Lunch and Learn with Martha Stamps at Nashville Farmers’ Market – 11am
Eat some lunch and learn a little about the food you’re eating. I don’t think that we give enough thought to what we put into our bodies, and this sounds like a great way to learn more about it. This week’s topic is “Local is Everything”.

Dime Cookie Day at Whole Foods – while supplies last.
I don’t think it’s a secret that I LOVE cookies, especially good ones that only cost 10 cents each. The first Tuesday of the month means 10 cookies for $1 at Whole Foods in Green Hills, and let me tell you, they’re delicious! The cookies are left sitting out in little bags of 10 each on the bakery counter, and you just grab one and take it to a register. One greenback later and they’re all yours to eat or to share. I eat mine.

NANA Day (Anime) at Sonobana Restaurant and Grocery
It’s July 7th, which apparently means it’s NANA day in celebration of the anime comic of the same name. For more info click here

New Faces Night at The Basement – 8pm
A free show with some up-and-coming acts. This week features Theodore, Douglas Lucas, Wendy Duffy, Tennessee Hollow, Mariesa Frank and Andrew Bryant. This, like all Basement shows, is 21+

Local Author Elizabeth Pace signs and discusses her book The X and Y of Buy at Davis Kidd – 7pm
This book discusses the differences between the purchasing habits of men and women. It sounds pretty interesting.

(more…)

Tonight I hit up Movies in the Park with a friend of mine. I’d never actually been to one, and it was a lot of fun, though there were lots of noisy pre-teens.

I was really impressed with the number of vendors there. They had Dog of Nashville, Ben & Jerry’s, and Cici’s Pizza, but I had to roll with Mas Tacos, which aren’t exactly cheap, but are totally awesome. It took a couple of minutes to get mine because they had to MAKE the tortillas. It doesn’t get fresher than that.

I found that while the festivities all started at or before 7pm, the actual movie didn’t start until 8. During that hour there were little crafts for kids, food to be eaten, and prizes to be given out. Things you could have won: Harry Potter midnight screening tickets, Frist tickets, the Jonas Brothers 3D DVD, and tickets to the Bluegrass Underground’s 4th of July concert. Alas, I did not win a thing.

My View

All said and done, I had a pretty good time tonight. I was impressed that I could actually see AND hear the movie, and it seems like the people running it have it down to an art form. There’s only one movie left: Mean Girls, which is showing next week. I love that movie, so I might have to go back for more…