Skipping April... May is for Mom
Like most of the world right now, I am hibernating at home until the end of April.
While I am actually thriving creatively during lock-in, I'm missing my family... even though we don't get together that much normally. This got me thinking about what we're going to do to come May, when we'll *hopefully* be able to be go back to normal. Mother's Day is a good thing to look forward to! I've got some work to do to top last year's celebration!
My mom is pretty cool. She always encouraged me to be creative as a kid, and I always thought she was Wonder Woman because she could do anything. Lately she's been pretty sad and lonely though, working too much and living alone after her little dog Schoodles passed away in late 2018.
I wanted to do something special for Mother's Day last year, so I called my brother in Milwaukee and planned to have us all stay at his house for the weekend. I'm in Green Bay and Mom is in Kaukauna, so it's not often that we're all together aside from Christmas (not to mention that my brother travels A LOT. I keep telling him he should start a travel blog...). I also did a bunch of research on what types of fun activities were going on in the Milwaukee area that weekend.
I landed on Splash Studio- one of those painting pub things. I had never done it before, shockingly, and they just happened to have the perfect painting for the occasion... a mama and baby panda! I should explain how much my mom loves pandas- but maybe this photo will show you.
Mom got the opportunity to travel to China with WWF in 2005, and holding the baby pandas at the Wolong Panda Reserve was the absolute highlight of her trip. Maybe of her life, to be honest.
Anyways, back to Mother's Day 2019!
We all arrived at Weston's house on Friday evening, and went out for some fantastic Thai food at Thai-namite. Yum. We then headed to the Total Wine store to pick up some beverages for the weekend. Their selection is overwhelming... and we ended up with six bottles of wine, some beer, and the guys got some whiskey. Don't worry- we didn't drink it all. I guess that's the fun of having an adult Mother's Day party? Ha ha. We stayed up late playing card games, looking at Weston's amazing travel photos and hanging out in the hot tub, and then finally went to bed.
I don't remember what we did Saturday morning. I think the guys slept in and I attempted to make brunch, but it ended up being lunch time before everyone was up and about. Our painting class was scheduled for 2:00 downtown, which is about a half hour away from Weston's house. We all got dressed and headed out to grab actual food before hitting the paint. I'm going to go ahead and guess we went to Bel Air Cantina, but I could be wrong- it's one of our favorites and we pretty much go there every time we're in the area.
And then it was painting time! Spash Studio is a really cute place in a fun neighborhood in Downtown Milwaukee. We walked in to a cozy, colorful space with paintings all over the walls and paint splatter on all the furniture. The main class area is in the center, where there are long tables set up with easels and stools facing a small stage for the instructor, and there are TVs up in the ceiling to show the finished painting. Tables surround the edges of the space and towards the back for "independent painting", and there is a nicely stocked bar with a few video games at the back of the class area (the guys jumped right into Mario Kart while we waited to start class).
I checked us in and paid for all four of us- it wasn't cheap, but it was a treat. Weston got us all a round of drinks while I grabbed us aprons and claimed some canvases towards the outer edge of the room.
None of us had ever done a painting pub class before, and we all had a really good time! My mom and I are pretty artsy (obviously), while Neil and Weston are, ummm... not. But even the guys created some really cute paintings! Neil went a little overboard on the paint so his took forever to dry, but I was pretty impressed with his interpretation of the painting.
We had a ton of fun with this! I think the guys were happy it was only two and a half hours long. They were getting antsy, but Mom could have stayed and painted for another hour or two. Ha ha. I highly recommend checking out Splash Studio for a fun family outing! It's on the pricier end, when you consider it's around $35 per person plus drinks, but Mom still talks about how fun it was so it was definitely worth it to me.
The next day it was just the guys and me, since Mom had to leave Saturday night to work on Sunday. In our usual fashion, we visited a brewery! The Milwaukee area has about 40 different craft breweries, so it's been a tradition for us the last few years to visit one or two each time we're there.
On this occasion, we checked out 1840 Brewing Company and had some really tasty barrel-aged beers. In case you hadn't noticed... my husband and brother love beer.
I really enjoy visiting the Milwaukee area, and this is just a small sampling of some of the fun places we've been. What are some of your favorite places to check out in the Cream City?
While I am actually thriving creatively during lock-in, I'm missing my family... even though we don't get together that much normally. This got me thinking about what we're going to do to come May, when we'll *hopefully* be able to be go back to normal. Mother's Day is a good thing to look forward to! I've got some work to do to top last year's celebration!
My mom is pretty cool. She always encouraged me to be creative as a kid, and I always thought she was Wonder Woman because she could do anything. Lately she's been pretty sad and lonely though, working too much and living alone after her little dog Schoodles passed away in late 2018.
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| For Mother's Day 2016, I took family portraits. |
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| Tripods and timers are super helpful. |
I wanted to do something special for Mother's Day last year, so I called my brother in Milwaukee and planned to have us all stay at his house for the weekend. I'm in Green Bay and Mom is in Kaukauna, so it's not often that we're all together aside from Christmas (not to mention that my brother travels A LOT. I keep telling him he should start a travel blog...). I also did a bunch of research on what types of fun activities were going on in the Milwaukee area that weekend.
I landed on Splash Studio- one of those painting pub things. I had never done it before, shockingly, and they just happened to have the perfect painting for the occasion... a mama and baby panda! I should explain how much my mom loves pandas- but maybe this photo will show you.
Mom got the opportunity to travel to China with WWF in 2005, and holding the baby pandas at the Wolong Panda Reserve was the absolute highlight of her trip. Maybe of her life, to be honest.
Anyways, back to Mother's Day 2019!
We all arrived at Weston's house on Friday evening, and went out for some fantastic Thai food at Thai-namite. Yum. We then headed to the Total Wine store to pick up some beverages for the weekend. Their selection is overwhelming... and we ended up with six bottles of wine, some beer, and the guys got some whiskey. Don't worry- we didn't drink it all. I guess that's the fun of having an adult Mother's Day party? Ha ha. We stayed up late playing card games, looking at Weston's amazing travel photos and hanging out in the hot tub, and then finally went to bed.
I don't remember what we did Saturday morning. I think the guys slept in and I attempted to make brunch, but it ended up being lunch time before everyone was up and about. Our painting class was scheduled for 2:00 downtown, which is about a half hour away from Weston's house. We all got dressed and headed out to grab actual food before hitting the paint. I'm going to go ahead and guess we went to Bel Air Cantina, but I could be wrong- it's one of our favorites and we pretty much go there every time we're in the area.
And then it was painting time! Spash Studio is a really cute place in a fun neighborhood in Downtown Milwaukee. We walked in to a cozy, colorful space with paintings all over the walls and paint splatter on all the furniture. The main class area is in the center, where there are long tables set up with easels and stools facing a small stage for the instructor, and there are TVs up in the ceiling to show the finished painting. Tables surround the edges of the space and towards the back for "independent painting", and there is a nicely stocked bar with a few video games at the back of the class area (the guys jumped right into Mario Kart while we waited to start class).
I checked us in and paid for all four of us- it wasn't cheap, but it was a treat. Weston got us all a round of drinks while I grabbed us aprons and claimed some canvases towards the outer edge of the room.
None of us had ever done a painting pub class before, and we all had a really good time! My mom and I are pretty artsy (obviously), while Neil and Weston are, ummm... not. But even the guys created some really cute paintings! Neil went a little overboard on the paint so his took forever to dry, but I was pretty impressed with his interpretation of the painting.
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| Blank canvases... |
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| Adding the background. |
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| Mom painting away. |
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| Our completed backgrounds. |
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| Already developing unique styles. |
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| The artist at work... adding bamboo. |
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| The guys' interpretations of bamboo. |
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| Mine vs. Neil's. |
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| Mom's vs. mine. Hers would be anatomically correct. |
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| Mine, Neil's and Weston's. Neil went for a blue daddy and purple baby panda, I guess. |
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| Our finished pieces; Mom's, mine, Neil's and Weston's. |
We had a ton of fun with this! I think the guys were happy it was only two and a half hours long. They were getting antsy, but Mom could have stayed and painted for another hour or two. Ha ha. I highly recommend checking out Splash Studio for a fun family outing! It's on the pricier end, when you consider it's around $35 per person plus drinks, but Mom still talks about how fun it was so it was definitely worth it to me.
The next day it was just the guys and me, since Mom had to leave Saturday night to work on Sunday. In our usual fashion, we visited a brewery! The Milwaukee area has about 40 different craft breweries, so it's been a tradition for us the last few years to visit one or two each time we're there.
On this occasion, we checked out 1840 Brewing Company and had some really tasty barrel-aged beers. In case you hadn't noticed... my husband and brother love beer.
I really enjoy visiting the Milwaukee area, and this is just a small sampling of some of the fun places we've been. What are some of your favorite places to check out in the Cream City?
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