We live near a local university and for the last several years an organization has sponsored a concert series on a grassy lawn adjacent to a row of shops behind the school. We thought last year was the final year for these free, family oriented concerts (rumors of a new basketball practice facility intended for the space were floating around), but the lawn remained and the concerts continued.

Saturday's concert, which featured a group called Malt Liquor Sundae, was the first of the summer.

It really is a family affair. People bring beach chairs or blankets and all manner of food and drink from beer and wine to margaritas in John Deer cups.

Babies cling to their mommas before getting brave enough to veture out.

The whole area is fenced in, leaving the kids free to roam (within reason) while the music plays. See that little guy trying to escape?

Of course Neel and Cal took a ball and their gloves, leaving me alone long enough to soak up the scene and the music.

A girl walked past me wearing a shirt that said "Daddy's Little Girl," but the way it was laying on her torso, it looked like "Diddy's little girl!"

At one point there was a woman a few blankets ahead of us bent over her picnic in a skirt too short to be bent over in! As soon as I nodded to my friend Catherine to point it out, the skirted-woman's husband came over and must have told her the same thing because she promptly straightened up! Good man.

Men wandered among the crowd drinking Mickey's Big Mouth, which brought back a host of memories for me. That was our college beer. Appropriate to drink during a concert by Malt Liquor Sundae.

A Lady in Red got up and danced for everyone. Braver woman than I could ever be.

Kids darted in and out and over blankets. Playing and fighting and playing more.

There was face painting.

Malt Liquor Sundae is described on the concert series brochure as playing funk/reggae/rock. Hmmm. That's quite a combo! But you know, they did it all, and pretty seamlessly too. When they played Wagon Wheel, I got tears in my eyes. I'm not a huge concert goer, but live music can do that to me. And it was everything. The sun setting and all those happy families around us. Our friends on the blanket next to us and knowing that we'd run into even more friends (I love small towns.). Summer. Saturday night. Contentment.