Visual arts x 3

I've been kinda slow on the "firsts" lately, as in, no activity for weeks! But this weekend has been more adventurous.

24. Paint pottery.

This "first" is brought to you by Groupon, as several others have been, and several others will be. I bought a Groupon for Firefly Studio, a shop in LR where you paint your own pottery. Just realized last week that the certificate expires in 2 weeks and we will be at the beach at that time. So, Mindy & the boys & I went there yesterday. In case you are wondering, it is not the most exciting activity for a 21-month old. Poor little Cale really wanted to be creative- "I do it!"- and did manage to paint a little & donate his thumbprints for a cute design on a bowl he & Mindy made for Ted for Father's Day. Jude & I made a bowl for Granddad. Pictures will have to wait 'til after the gift-giving, so as not to totally spoil the surprise. Sadly, I am extremely un-creative when it comes to making something from nothing. I should have brought a picture of a good design to copy. Think I'll stick with making cakes and cards.

25. See "real live" famous actors in person.

Only readers my age or older will appreciate this fun outing, but we went to Hot Springs last night to the Ray Lynn Theater. Never heard of it before, but it was a great little theater, vintage Hot Springs. We saw the live show "The Sunshine Boys"- starring 2 well-known actors from our younger days- Jerry van Dyke and Tommy Smothers! Jerry is a few weeks shy of 80 years old, and Tommy is a few years his junior. Made me a little nervous that they would forget their lines, or suffer an age-related malady on stage, but they finished strong & we had a great time. Our friends, David & Roberta Wallace, went with us and we ate at McClard's before the show. Of course- where else would you eat in Hot Springs, now that Coy's is gone!

26. Attempt a grouting project.

My sister is an expert in home improvement projects. She tiles & grouts & probably even solders things. Me- not so much. Man's work, in my opinion. But, in the interest of "never tried that before"- I grouted a little of my new island in my newly-being-redecorated kitchen. Honestly, I only tried it for about 60 seconds, but I did learn that you are supposed to go across the joints at an angle. Brian didn't have to undo any of my "help," so I consider that a success. Again, I'm sticking with cakes & cards...

We are heading to the beach soon, and I have a few "firsts" planned, and will hopefully try a few others spontaneously. Parasailing??? NO!

A "medium-size" boy sleepover

23. Ben's first sleepover- at Nana & Granddad's!

During Micah's surprise visit here last week, she got to have some good quality & quantity time with her 3 close friends from high school. They had a sleepover together- therefore, we got to have a sleepover with 20-month-old Ben! This was his first time to ever spend the night away from both of his parents. I'll admit it- I was a bit worried about the actual putting him to bed, as well as how much sleep we might all get. Oh me of little faith! He did SO well!!! I read his 2 obligatory books (well, I threw in another for good measure- introduced him to "Mrs. Wishy Washy :). Then I sang him the Nana lullaby and the "Love my Ben" song. He snuggled for a minute and then he decided we needed to visit for a little longer. About 20-30 minutes longer! His adorable smile looked as happy as I felt.

Just a few anecdotes:
*When you ask Ben what size he is, he says "medium size." Ask him if he is a cat/dog/bear/etc--- he says "no- person." What is Granddad? "Man." Nana? "Girl."

*Ben looked at our mannequin in the living room window and said "izzit?" I told him that was Mandy. He said "mannequin." (My bad!) I said, "Where do YOU see mannequins?" He stated, "Mall." All righty, then!

*We are all going to the beach soon, so I asked Ben what kind of birds we will see at the beach. He said, "Seagulls." So we played a game of hold-up-the-food-&-let-the-seagull-snatch-it. He thought this was great fun :)

*When I put him in the crib, I wanted him to put his little booty up in the air & let me cover him up. Nope. He had lots of things he needed to tell Pippo & teddy bear & blanket... So I just kissed him, turned the monitor on (didn't want to miss a word) and the light off, and that was it. We all slept all night!

A few pictures---








The Arkansas humidity curled Ben's hair a little more than usual :) And look at his funny little thing he does with his mouth :)

Sure wish the Wiginton family lived closer!!!