7 posts tagged “play”
A little while ago, while trying to de-clutter my home, I sent a box of fabric I had collected to a lovely young artist in a faraway land. She sent me some of her native creatures my way. Let me just say.....
I want to live in SnuggleMuffins World!
If you just want to see her art, I mean world, here is her Flickr site too.
This is such a reward for thinning out my fabric stash!
I will take better photos of them, I think one will accompany me while I am out and about, I will take them on field trips. ;-)
Snugglemuffin,
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Mr. Lavender and I are Delighted to be a home for these magnificent creatures and drawings. The bookmark is holding my place in a new photography book, The prints are going to be framed an put up in my home, The heart hangs next to another heart on the knobs of my kitchen cabinets, the cabinet holding cookies and candy of course, The card is in my box of keep sakes, the stickers found their way onto my 3 year old niece's body, and the dolls are all around my home, on bookcases, couches, and tables. They add such a playful joyful energy to my home. I THANK you so much!!!!!
XO,
Lavender
I am not really that blue, but Mr. Lavender went back to work today. sigh.... I loved spending so much time with him this last week. We has so much FUN! I loved every moment. I know it seems silly or strange to some, but we have been together for over 14 years now, and we still cannot get enough time together. We love being with each other, we have the same sick sense of humor. We just don't get sick of each other, really! So our first outing was in Portland. Here are a few photos of our time there with Heartshaped Sky and her LOVELY family!
With Mr. Lavender home time has flown by. Mr. Lavender took this week off of work to get some stuff done around the house and to do some relaxing. Well, he has not got a whole lot done around the house, I have been keeping him busy by doing fun things.
1. We went to Portland and played in the park
2. Saw his Aunt get married to a wonderful man
3. we went to Northwest Trek and saw animals and played in the woods
4. we went to Seattle and played with M-----l and Homebody
5. we saw Wall-E yesterday (Did anybody else cry during this? yeah me neither, I must have had something in both eyes)
6. watched the sun set from Point Defiance Park in Tacoma.
7. we have made some really yummy meals together instead of eating out, like Salmon, green bean and radish salad, stuffed bell peppers, stuffed zucchini, cheezy eggplant, avocado pasta, fresh mozzarella sandwiches, etc....
8. walked along the water at Owens beach holding hands and enjoying the cool breeze off the water (record breaking heat here!)
9. Mr. L drew a picture of Helios on the sidewalk (this made me happy, he has been playing more this week. He tends to be a very serious man)
10. We will see a matinee of Pineapple Express today because the theater is air conditioned and we want to laugh
11. maybe a walk in the woods this weekend
12. late night walk in our neighborhood, because our house will be very toasty
13. I am not sure what else we will do, but I will try my best for it not to be work
I have been a very bad neighbor, I have not been reading your lovely posts. So PLeASE, send me all posts you think I would like, or all posts you would like to share, interesting photos, etc. I may not be able to go back and catch up! I don't think I have ever been this far behind before!
THANKS!
Some of my fondest childhood memories are from this local park. Point Defiance. There are Rose Gardens, Duck pond, Reflection pond, large hills of grass we used to roll down, the 5 mile drive through the woods where you can hike, several places to park for beautiful views of the Puget Sound, the Zoo and aquarium, Owen's Beach where you can look for shells and agates (my uncle found an old arrowhead there), The trains in the old logging area (pictured yesterday and the day before), Fort Nisqually, and Never Neverland.
Never Neverland was a place you paid $1 to go in and wander along wooded paths that lead you to Mother Goose themed houses and statues. Old Mother Hubbard was inside her house looking in a bare cupboard while her dog stood on his haunches hoping for a bone. The old lady who lived in a shoe looked out at the playground equipment that was all around the giant shoe. Billy Goats Gruff hid behind some painted trees while you passed over the bridge with water pumping below. The Gingerbread house looked yummy, and you could push a button to make the mouse run up a clock while the canned sounding music sang Hickory Dickory Dock. I remember feeling too old for it around 6th grade, but it was still magical for my younger sister.
I remember My dad and his younger brother taking us kids up there, They drank Rainier beers and we sat in the bed of the truck on the freeway there. (It was the late 70's, these things were not a concern) We would be so excited to watch our fathers climb the clay cliffs at owens beach, and to see the fort. Never neverland was colorful and fun. We would eat at Frisco Freeze and head home.
This is what it used to look like (not me or my family)
After years of decline, vandalism, and stolen Humpty Dumptys here is my park now.
Goodbye Never Neverland, through your stacked book entrance I was able to leave my mom and dad yelling at each other, my sisters fearful crying, my mother telling me that if I let my dad leave I won't have a daddy anymore, my mean teachers, anxiety, responsibility for adult things, the snide comments people made towards me, the church that told me who I was inside was wrong, and my shoes in the car. I was able to cross through that doorway and be a kid full of wonder and freedom. Thanks for that.
I talk a pretty big game, it is time for me to live up to this playful attitude I keep speaking of. The kind of playfulness my soul wants to come out, even though sometimes I just don't feel like it. I took a walk yesterday, and I really do not have a destination in mind, I just go up and down random streets and allies. Just really let my heart guide where I end up. My goal is to be in the sun for at least 20 minutes to soak in some vitamins and get my legs moving in hopes of gaining more energy (the laundry is piling up). So I ended up in a park that I have played in for my whole life. The wading pool, a small cement rectangle dry with leaves in it, I can remember feeling like I could swim in there when I was really just crawling on the bottom. I also brought my nephew there on our Monday we spent together. There are playground equipment not there anymore, deemed unsafe for todays children, would not want them to skin a knee, or bruise a shin or get a goose egg rising painfully from the skull. These things taught us what out bodies could and could not do, anyway, the park. It was empty, the hill I used to roll down is so much smaller that I remember, the smell of Pizza Haven is now replaced by an Italian place, and my favorite thing is still there. The swings.
I think I will make some banana bread.
Childish= see the reflection of somebodies shoes on the wire?
I am guilty of childish behavior, as are you. : ) (I tend to whine sometimes, believe it or not, that is hard for me to confess) Acting like a child throwing fits, whining, pouting, etc. not very attractive on an adult, I am guilty of all of them. Try to recognize it and phase it out, getting older does not mean you cannot play anymore, NO! Play!
Here is a list to get started, if you do something that is not on the list, Add It! Child Like suggestions ALWAYS welcomed!
I strive to do something Child Like every day. Keep that sense of Play important in your life.
*bring sidewalk chalk on your walk and write inspirational or thought provoking quotes in your neighborhood
*Splash in puddles! The sound of your feet kitting the water and the joy of seeing all of those drops displaced into the air
*wear roller skates while you clean up the kitchen and do the dishes (mopping is hard, but it can be done)
*I wear brightly striped socks every day, sometimes they match, sometimes they do not
*tennis shoes with dresses
*your body is a canvas, have FUN with your clothes!
*sing along with the radio and dance wildly
*buy yourself those stickers you think are cute at Target, stick them everywhere a little Goo gone will remedy any changes of heart
*jump rope and try to do some tricks like you did when you were 10. Not only is it good exercise, but it is fun too
*bounce a ball, hear the hollowness inside as it hits the ground
*use dry erase markers and write funny things on your bathroom mirror, or inspirational things
*pick a bouquet of dandylions
*stop and look for 4 leaf clovers (I have quite a few)
*smell those flowers to see if they smell as good as they look
*swing on the swings at the park (but wait your turn)
*build castles in the sand
*buy childrens books even though you do not have children
*color with crayons, make a pattern of circles and color them each a different color. And go ahead and buy the big pack with the crayon sharpener in the back even though it never works as well as you want it to
*cartoons are not just for kids! It is comedy!
*dance at a concert or at the street fair, if the music makes your body want to move, then Move It! who cares what you look like, unless you dance like Elaine, never mind Even if you dance Like Elaine!
Try to do something fun every day, even if it is small. Let your inner child come out and play.
