Plenty has happened since Lunch Money, the South Carolina-based indie-pop kids music group, was in the Triangle in winter 2008.

The trio released its second CD, “Dizzy,” in January. Stefan Shepherd, a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate and dad who runs the popular kids' music Web site zooglobble.com, plugged “Dizzy” on NPR in March, launching it to the No. 1 children's CD on iTunes and No. 37 on Amazon.com for a time.

A third CD is scheduled to come out next year. And the group is scheduled to play across the country at some major festivals, including Kidzapalooza, part of Lollapalooza in Chicago, in August and the Austin City Limits Festival in October.

But the trio will stop here first, on Saturday, for an 11 a.m. performance as part of a special summer family concert series at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro. The trio was in town in May to see another
kindie pop star play The ArtsCenter — Justin Roberts.

“I got to see the space,” said Molly Ledford, who plays guitar, sings and writes songs for the group. “I was totally impressed.”

Lunch Money's story is similar to a lot of other popular kids' music acts. Band members spent years performing for adults but never quite made it big. Then something happened. They had kids. Or they were teachers just trying to entertain their students. And before they knew it, they were interviewing publicists and performing at festivals they never dreamed of playing.

“It's completely crazy, and it makes me so happy because I've been writing songs since I was in sixth grade or something,” Ledford said. “I never thought it could be a job. It's a little dream come true.”

“Dizzy” has more energy than Lunch Money's first CD “Silly Reflections” with songs about wanting a cookie as big as your head, getting dizzy and roaring with tiny dinosaurs.

Ledford said the group has changed some as it has gotten more experience performing for kids. They noticed the kids tuning out when they performed quieter songs. So the band, which includes Ledford's
husband, drummer Jay Barry, along with J.P. Stephens on bass and vocals, ramped up its mix of songs kids can dance to.

“The mellow stuff is really getting kicked to the curb for the live show,” said Ledford, the mom of two young kids. “We just want people to dance, and we try to make it as interactive as we can. … We just want it to be like a big dance party.”

Also ...

Bang, honk, blow and pluck at Music Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Marbles Kids Museum, 201 E. Hargett St., downtown Raleigh. The event includes giveaways, crafts and more.

The N.C. Museum of Art will show ‘Kung Fu Panda' at 9 p.m. Saturday at the museum on Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. The movie starts at 9 p.m., but the fun starts at 7 p.m. with crafts, giveaways and more.

The American Dance Festival will feature a special one-hour performance of Pilobolus for kids at 1
p.m. Saturday at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Then head over to the Nasher Museum of Art , 2001 Campus Drive, Durham, for a Community Day from 2 to 4:30 p.m. The event, held in conjunction with the festival, includes the Paperhand Puppet Intervention and Scrap Exchange.

The N.C. Symphony will play video game favorites at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary Saturday evening.

The Sandbox band will play it's very popular annual concert at Fletcher Park Sunday evening as part of Raleigh's summer concert series. It's free and a great place for a picnic with the family before the show.

Serena's Song, the first wheelchair-accessible balloon, will be offering rides in the morning and afternoon for the disabled Sunday through Tuesday at Spring Forest Road Park in North Raleigh.

As always, there's more on the Mom2Mom calendar.