Photos and stories of an ordinary life.
Happy Friday, y’all! What are you up to this weekend? We’re going to the Detroit Jazz Festival, and I am so excited because it’s going to be our first time attending the festival!
We’ve lived here for over a decade, and I can’t believe I’ve never been to the Jazz Festival. I’m a BIG jazz lover, so I’m looking forward to hearing live jazz music and taking photographs of our experience.
Here are four fun things for your Friday…
Today, I enjoyed a calming activity with the kids—sketching and coloring flowers. 🌸 The flower activity was part of a science lesson for the kids to draw, color, and label a flower with pollen.
I turned on a jazz playlist to help us focus on our artwork, and as we were creating our sketches, it started to rain.
Perfect timing! 🌧☺️
We discussed shapes we could see in the image of the flower.
One shape that stood out to Zaya (5) and Zephaniah (8) was the middle of the flower reminded them of a hexagon.
So, together we sketched a hexagon shape onto our sketch pads.
Surprisingly, drawing a hexagon is not as easy as I thought it would be! It took me several tries to finally get the six sides connected to form the shape. 😆
Next, we discussed the vibrant yellow color of the pollen and its purpose. We also made connections to the flowers and vegetables growing in our garden.
There was something unexpectedly joyful sitting at the kitchen table with Zaya and Zephaniah, drawing and coloring together.
Keep in mind I am not an artist 😅.
However, the children told me they thought my purple flower looked amazing, and really, that’s all the recognition I needed. 🥰
💜 XO
I’m always amazed that my four younger children love going to the art museum. They never get bored of it.
Sometimes they even ask me if we can go to the art museum without any prompting.
On this particular December day, we had been out doing our monthly grocery shopping at the farmer’s market. (I try to go to the farmers market once a month for fresh farm eggs, loose leaf tea, and in-season produce.)
After our farmers market visit, I asked the kids if they’d like to go to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). They excitedly exclaimed in unison, “YES!”
🎨 The Kids Share Why They Love Going to the Art Museum
I asked the kids why do they love going to the art museum so much. Here’s what they told me.
Zechariah (10) said he loves walking around the galleries and “looking at all the art people made.”
He also enjoys attending the art workshops for kids when the museum hosts it.
Zhen (13) said she couldn’t put into words exactly why she loves the Detroit Institute of Arts and other art galleries we visit, she just knows she likes how cozy it feels.
Zephaniah (8) likes that we can sketch artwork we view in the galleries. For instance, the DIA hosts an event called “Drawing in the Galleries.”
The museum provides the art supplies and sketch paper for attendees. The kids loved doing this activity last summer, and we hope to do it again!
Zaya (5) said she loves taking pictures at the art museum, and she loves when there are interactive games such as “Eye Spy.”
On this day when we went to the DIA, there were “Eye Spy” boards found in some of the galleries.
The object of the activity was to read the riddle and try to find which artwork answered the riddle. The kids loved it! 😁
👩🏽🎨 Art Enthusiasts But Soon-to-be Future Art Collectors
Now we’re not art experts or anything like that. I’d say we’re more art enthusiasts. We appreciate good art and exploring art galleries.
I often dream of being an art collector. I told Travis that will be one of our life milestones when the kids are grown and we are in our golden years. 😄
I imagine that by the time we are in our 60s, we’ll have a house filled with artwork— collected from local art fairs and art exhibitions. 😌👩🏽🎨✨️
Until we enter that season of our life, I’m enjoying perusing art galleries with the children.
“You are beautiful in every way, my friend, there is no flaw in you!” Song of Songs 5:7
On our way to the Saturday farmers market, I noticed a small crowd of people gathering around a large statue and taking pictures with their cellphones.
I didn’t have a chance to see what the statue was because I was driving, so I just didn’t really think anything of it.
But after our market trip and lunch at a local diner, I still saw people gathered around this statue.
We were curious to see what this mysterious statue was all about, so we headed over in the direction of the crowd.
As we got a little closer, I realized the statue was RoboCop! Wow!
I honestly can’t remember if I ever watched the 1987 movie, so I can’t say that I’m a big fan. (More than likely, I probably didn’t see it because when the movie came out I was around 7 or 8 years old. 😂)
But I do remember at least seeing images of RoboCop in the media when I was a kid, and I probably heard other kids talk about it.
I’m not originally from Detroit (I grew up in Tennessee), so RoboCop doesn’t have any strong connections for me like I know it does for many Detroiters.
But it was still very cool to see the RoboCop statue in person! 😁✨️
Also, my kids were so confused about why RoboCop was such a big deal to everybody. “Who’s RoboCop, Mom? Why are all these people taking pictures of this statue?” 😂
It made me feel super old to say, “Back when I was a kid, RoboCop was a famous movie.” 😆🤣
Photos: Pictures I took of the new RoboCop statue in Detroit, Michigan. You can find it in Eastern Market on Russell Street if you’d like to go see!
All images in this blog post are my own photography. If you’d like to use a photo, please contact me first for permission. Thank you!
