Meraki Festival Part 2 – How Different A Festival Experience is a Year Down the Line
The 2017 Meraki Festival was a good event and a great place for Emerson to have his first ever festival experience. So, with little hesitation we purchased tickets for the following year on site, mid festival. The plan was to recreate the “Vibes” of the previous year whilst dealing with our newest parenting problem; the little boy who’s mastered the art of walking!
We decided to use this as a sort of mini parenting experiment. How different could it be, doing a festival with a 3 month old compared to a 15 month old? There was guaranteed new challenges ahead with Em’s increased mobility, but what other differences would we face this time around?
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Packing and Preparing:
2017
In 2017 packing was “extensive” but it was heavily aided by the fact that Emerson wasn’t moving. We timed his sleep to perfection and strapped him into his car seat. Strategically placing the car seat dead centre of the kitchen floor to make life easier, thus allowing us to take turns ferrying stuff to the car whilst keeping a watchful eye over Em.
Once the car was loaded we scooped up the seat, did a mad slow creep out the door and ta-da! Two clicks later and we’re pulling away with E still sound asleep in the back. That pretty much, is how he stayed till the morning, only waking for his usual feeds. Although this done absolutely nothing to prevent the emerging stress fest that was to be setting up, (if you didn’t read Meraki Vibes, then here’s another plug – read here) a sleeping baby was still one less thing to worry about.
2018
This year was a whole different kettle of fish. A 15 month old Emerson defies any type of sleep pattern and demands a great deal more attention. He is constantly on the go and getting him to stay still for anything longer than a minute is tough.
Let’s not forget his new found interest which is well, interest, in anything and everything! Our pile of camping gear quickly became a mountain of sensory items to scale and pull at. Seeing your child pretend to drink from an empty camping kettle that’s half his body size is undoubtedly very cute, but it’s amazing how quickly cuteness fades when 20 mins later you still can’t prize it out of his hands, and all you want is a hot cuppa. Yep, a year on and a hot beverage is still a myth!
We soldiered on regardless and in an attempt to speed up the entire process we resorted to special diversion tactics. Basically, Keeley calling him from another room was enough to distract Emerson from his latest obsession. As he toddled off giggling like a crazed munchkin, I grabbed whatever I could and dashed to the car. With the extra challenge of a baby attached to everything, packing this year took us at least an extra hour.
This may not seem like much, but when your’re chasing the last hours of sunlight (AGAIN) every second counts. Needless to say it was another year setting up in the dark!
Setting up camp:
2017
I won’t go into lengthy detail here because we’ve already covered this in the original post (yep another plug). The seemingly simple task of pitching a tent proved to be a monumental challenge. This caused a slight bit of tension between me and the Mrs, and it wasn’t really the best way to start what was meant to be three days of fun.
Emerson seemed to avoid the whole drama by sleeping through it, and the weather was on our side – double win. Which meant once the tent was pitched all we had to worry about was getting fed and watered, by grabbing a gin from the bar before closing. We even got Em’s equivalent of a lie in, with a 6am wake up call.
2018
The summer of 2018 will go down as one of the hottest and driest in history. We had a relatively quiet festival season by our standards so we were pretty hyped for Meraki. The idea of three days enjoying sun rays and music had us buzzing, but in true unpredictable English weather stylee it was bucketing down when we arrived on the Thursday night.
Helpful
Now we’re not scared of a little bit of rain here at Vibes Life Us, but this wasn’t just a passing shower. The torrential downpour showed zero signs of stopping, as we drove through the entrance gates. When I say torrential, I mean act of God, rain of apocalyptic proportions. One of the stewards even gave us some kind words of advice as we drove through the gate. “ It’s muddy as f**k in there mate, are you sure you wanna be setting up a tent in this?”
Er, No, but thanks? I guess?
He then went on to tell us that a lot of people had decided to leave setting up till tomorrow. That’s all good if you’re local, but not so good if you’ve just driven 40 mins to get here. We had no choice, the tent had to go up and it had to go up quick!! After a quick logistics meeting, me and Keeley decided the best course of action was to keep Emerson in the car. Daddy drew the short straw and armed with my umbrella and torch I waded into a muddy field to setup.
And The Award for Entertaining a Child In the Car Goes Too…
In all honesty Keeley had her work cut out for her as much as I did. Emerson thought 50 minutes in a car was plenty and now he was climbing and clambering in a bid to escape. If there was a gold medal awarded for “entertaining a child in a car” Keeley deserves it. Her funny faces and silly songs kept Em happy for the 25 mins it took to get the tent up. That wasnt the end of it though, we still had to get all our stuff from the car to the tent without getting completely soaked! If you’ve ever been camping you know its not about getting soaked, especially not on the first night.
We knew it was gonna be tough with only one pair of hands, so we needed to think clever. That’s when it hit me, in the boot of the car was our secret weapon; the pushchair! This quickly became our makeshift work horse, bags hanging from every handle and boxes stacked on the seat. As I began to push our temporary trolly it became clear the extra weight was going to be a problem. To avoid getting completely stuck in the mud I had no option but to drag it too our spot. Credit goes to the wife again here for getting a now irritable and wriggly Emerson to the tent.
The Mummy Grip
I watched as Keeley desperately tried to resist Em’s attempts to run free, full mummy grip was deployed. The last thing we needed right now was a mini version of the swamp thing bouncing around inside our tent. After what seemed like a lifetime (5 mins) Mummy and Em came crashing in, relatively dry and mud free. Finally we could relax, eat some food and get cosy in our sleeping bags – well sort of.
It had completely slipped my mind that I needed to book the Friday off work for Meraki. Realising about 4 days before the festival it was already too late, and I had to face facts. The only option was get up and go to work from our tent.
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Who Forgets To Book Time off?
I knew it wasn’t going to be fun but I didn’t grasp just how unpleasant it was going to be. Friday morning consisted of clambering over the perimeter fence in a pair of shoes, while ordering an Uber with one hand. Now who said Men can’t multitask? Once at St Albans station it was a long journey in to Kings Cross, and the worst thing was knowing I would have to do it all in reverse after a full day at the office. I’ve had easier starts to the weekend!
You’re probably wondering what all this has to do with Emerson being a year older? I think we’ll stick this in the baby brain excuses section which seems to be getting worse as time goes by. Apparently having a mental Filofax containing the colour/consistency of your child’s last 12 poo’s does absolutely nothing for your short term memory.
What do you think about baby brain? Is it a real thing? Can Dad’s get in on the action too? Let us know in the comments.
Day Time Activities & Music Stages
2017
Emerson has always been a bit of a tough one to entertain. He gets distracted pretty quick so we had no idea if he would even sit through a baby sensory class. 20 mins is a long time to go without him squirming to escape.
Surprising us both he took to Hartbeeps‘ Baby beeps like a boss, and gave Leanne the teacher his full undivided attention. He was mesmerised by the booming voice of Ash from the Flying Seagull Project, and he managed to pull a few little head nods/bops and smiles of approval as we listened to some of the live bands. Sure enough there were enough stimulating activities to keep the boredom meltdowns to a minimum.
Although Emerson loved some of the unsigned bands during the day, and we could tell he was loving the sounds of Natalie Williams by his jerking feet on the Sunday, during the evening he slept mostly. We were able to rock up to the main stage put on Em’s ear defenders and enjoy the crooning sounds of Tony Hadley and the other headline acts.
On a whole Emerson seemed to get the most out of the experience by just being at a festival. He was quite content taking in the sights, sounds and smells from the comfort of his buggy, and It’s safe to say we weren’t complaining. A number of gins were consumed to celebrate.
2018
As Em has grown so has his personality. It didn’t take long for his head nods to develop into full blown dancing. Some may call it a jig on account of the way he moves his feet like Micheal Flatley. We like to think it’s just his house shuffle in its early stages.
Knowing full well the baby classes on offer wouldn’t cut it anymore we went in search of toddler orientated fun. There was plenty for Emerson to get stuck in too, like building blocks in the Fundamentally Children Playzone, and getting our craft on at the Creation Station. It was nice that me and Keeley could both sit with Em round a little table while he was playing, and there was definitely a bit of the competitive spirit between me and Kee on who built the better tower. It was me!
The Children’s Field was full of items for him to explore; hula hoops, ball pond pens, and mini trampolines. Obviously Since Em has mastered walking there’s only so much sitting he will do before he bolts for freedom. This provided us with some well needed (100% not needed!!) cardio, as we sprinted around in pursuit of him. It’s suprising how many trip hazards suddenly materialize in a seemingly empty field when your child is running across it at full speed.
Flying Seagull Project
It was great to see Ash, and his team back with The Flying Seagull Project, they really are the highlight of the Kids Field. The team are always amazing, and they really do have a way of captivating kids and adults with their shows, games and tricks. When it was raining heavily on the Saturday, and Keeley was parenting solo, due to me being at work, it was these guys who basically kept our son entertained… and of course Keeley’s funny faces. When they’re not putting on shows they are teaching kids and adults how to do circus tricks like high wire, or riding a unicycle.
Incredible Charity Work
The work that they do over the summer at festivals up and down the country is all to help aid their charity, which brings their acts to children across the world in refugee camps. They are an incredible group of people, please do check them out if you haven’t heard of them, the work that they do is invaluable.
As Emerson wasnt in the buggy all the time, we actually made it into the dance dome to catch Judge Jules. We really wanted to make it in 2017, but the queue to get in was massive, and we didn’t want to take up precious space with our giant pram. A year later and Em had quite a few festivals, and raves under his belt so was well used to shaking a leg to some old skool house classics, although it wasnt long before the bass sent him to sleep and we got to enjoy an hour of dancing with a sleeping baby.
Meraki FOMO is Real
Emerson not sleeping as much, meant that the Headline slots weren’t as easy going as the year before. The FOMO traits that run in the family are well and truly taking hold, and Em will do all in his willpower to try and stay awake so he won’t miss out. He did manage to catch the beginning of All Saints, but all the running around during the day was too much to contend with and he eventually fell asleep, leaving me and Kee to enjoy a trip down 90’s memory lane to the sounds of Black Coffee, and Pure Shores.
Emerson survived the weekend unscathed and he was so burnt out by the end of each day he actually slept better than the previous year, waking up at 7am is still classed as a lie in right?
Food options
2017
There’s not a great deal we can say about this in 2017, Emerson was feeding on average about 10 times a day, breast milk being his (only) tipple of choice. Thankfully Meraki was equipped for breast feeding mother’s with a tent exclusively reserved for nursing mums, and Dad’s who wanted to help out with the changing. Visiting the nursing tent and our own tent 10 times a day wasn’t much fun for Keeley, but in hindsight it was still easier than the “fussy” eating sagas that came the following year.
2018
Ever since Em started eating solids we have been trying to make a conscious effort to steer him towards healthier food options. Obviously this is easier said than done but we keep trying regardless, even though at nearly 2 he enjoys anything that is covered in bread crumbs over greens all day every day. So, on the first day we headed for the vegan food stall to get our daily quota of veg and pulses.
In Times of Need Always Draw for the Fried Potato
In true Emerson style he wasn’t having any of it and immediately refused to eat. Pointing with absolute authority in the direction of the Waffle Wand stand his exact words were, “dat, dat”! It was a few minutes before we managed to turn his attention back to real food. Even then we could only get a nod of approval and “hmmmm” of agreement by asking the following question: ” Do you want chips Emerson?” It was off to the StreetDiner.Com on many occasion to stock up on the Dog Father and other grilled treats.
Keen to avoid any food related tantrums in public view we reluctantly got him some chips. Yes, we caved and took the easier “fried potato” option but we had a good reason. In our experience a fed child who’s had chips is always less “volatile” then an unfed child who won’t eat broccoli. So when you really need a child to remain well behaved for a good 12-13 hours it’s chips over broccoli every time. 😉
Honestly, We do Pack Some Healthy Food
We only packed healthy bits in our cool box, so we did manage to get some goodness into him. Unfortunately it was only first thing in the morning or in the evenings before putting him to bed. During the day the very suggestion of healthy food seemed to manifest a red mist within Emerson. We did succumb to the Waffle Wand, and it was worth the wait!! A posh toasty from the Horse Box also went down a treat.
In general it was harder keeping Em fed and watered than the previous year, but a lot more fun watching his face as he sampled all the delights on offer.
A Year On at Meraki Festival
So there you have it, we survived another year camping at this family festival. Yes, there were a few added obstacles this time round due to Emerson’s increased physical and mental ability but as parents you learn to wing it.
I guess that’s the very essence of parenthood, you are constanly adapting with their growth. Just when you think you’ve got it sussed a new set of challenges arrive and it’s back to square one. You never stop learning how to be a parent and more importantly, how to parent in a way that nurtures your child’s true personality.
Always be prepared for a change in your child’s tastes, interests or beliefs as they grow and be prepared that as much as they enjoyed a certain activity or event once before they may find it utterly boring or unstimualting the next time around.
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These tiny little people are here to keep us on our toes. One good thing about Meraki is the all inclusive aspect to it. As Emerson get’s older he will get more use out of the activities on offer which are all included in the price. Bumper Cars, the ferris wheel, laser tag, and circus shows are just some of the activities on offer to keep the kids entertained. Meraki tickets for this years festival are now on sale.
Comment below to let us know if you’ve experienced this type of development with your child’s interests and tastes. How did you learn to adapt your parenting to deal with these changes?
We will be heading to Camp Bestival, and hopefully Boomtown this year so it’s going to be interesting to see how these festivals, through the eyes of a 2 year old.
Pete. X
Despite the challenges it’s always great to experience everything with them, and the best memories are created that way. I always want to bring my babes everywhere too.
This is so true, it’s 100% worth it in the end
You have a beautiful family ! I love going with my babies everywhere:)
Thank you so much !
Your little.family is truly inspiring. I love that you still do all the fun things you did before E came along. And its incredible how amazingE loves all the fun events you all go to. Way to go.
Thank you so much Mai for your kind words !! It’s tough sometimes but totally worth it when we see how much fun he has.
Your little guy is going to be such an adventure seeker like his parents! Enjoyed this blog post. Funny how much things change 🙂
It is crazy how quick time goes! Thank you so much for reading x