We had a family picnic here on Easter Sunday.
It got quite a bit warmer than we were expecting, though, and we don't have shade trees in our back yard.
So, after we had eaten, we moved our sun-burning selves to the shade of our large front porch.
And sat there.
The conversation was nice, and our grandshoot hunted for eggs briefly, but after awhile I began to feel a little antsy.
So I got out the sidewalk chalk.
I get out the sidewalk chalk once or twice every summer.
It is interesting to see what grown-ups do with sidewalk chalk.
Two of the college peeps decided to have a contest to see who could draw the best giraffe.
They asked me to judge.
An admirable job by our first contestant:
When I told our second contestant that it looked as though he'd neglected to plan ahead, he laughed and told me...
... "No. That's exactly what I did do. I planned a head."
I awarded him first place.
It has been my experience that preteen girls almost always draw a flower.
Our visiting preteen girl was no exception, and she donated this beauty to the showcase.
But, for me, the most beautiful thing of all was my first "art experience" with my grandshoot (whom we relieved of his dress clothes for the occasion).
His talent is already obvious.
When the sidewalk looked like this...
...and the Little Man looked awfully hot, I remembered something Me Darlin' Mither used to let us little shoots do on hot summer days.
She would fill a bucket with water, add a bit of laundry soap, give us some old house-paint brushes, and let us 'paint' on the driveway.
The water cooled us off, without the commitment it would have required to run through the sprinkler or play in the hose (did you do those things as a child?), and the detergent left just enough residue that we could still see our artwork when the water dried.
My grandshoot is still a bit young to handle a big brush and bucket, but...
...where there's a will, there's a way.
He loved it.
I got two art experiences with my first grandshoot in one day?
And only an inch for such joy?