Yes, you read that right. Nightlife. With Kids. It can happen.

My husband and I used to be all about nightlife. Then we had a kid. But we still did a lot. After all, we traveled for months living in Europe, so she saw a late night here or there. Then we had two more kids at once. And nightlife was pretty much killed with the exception of the lively party happening upstairs when the twins chit-chat and giggle in their room, and my 5-year-old stays up way later than she should.

We still would love to have a nightlife, and oh we tried to have one. We hired babysitters. They never showed. Ever. Something about twins under the age of 2 seemed to spook them, I guess. No one seemed capable or willing or interested in watching our gaggle of spastic children.

So if you can’t beat them, let them join you. We started doing the nightlife thing anyway. With the kids. Now this isn’t the kind of nightlife we indulged in when we first dated (if there are Jello shots involved, they are virgin, and cut into cute jiggly shapes, and have fruit inside).

Each week, we’ve been hitting downtown Asheville (which is a cool and funky place, but is small enough to feel comfortable out with little ones). Our fave thing is to go to the drum circle, which is a weekly gathering of dozens and dozens of people playing drums, dancing, performing and even (oh, yeah, I said it) playing hacky sack. Umm, anyway.

The kids have a blast, and we’ve gotten them their own little drums. They also get a chance to see many other kids there. We’ve been going out to dinner, and just strolling around town. The kids loved eating at Cats and Dawgs, a little kid-friendly hot dog joint downtown.

No, we don’t get drunk or stay up half the night. In fact, we often end up home before it really gets fully dark. But we all are getting a chance to get out and experience some nightlife. The kids get to see a side of life they don’t normally see during the daytime. We get to have what feels like a semblance of our former socializing selves.

Best of all… and I know this probably sounds a little sad coming from a reformed party girl turned minivan mom… I almost think it’s more fun than real grown up nightlife. But don’t quote me on that.