Farewell to Summer, Part II

Ordinarily, I might save drawings like this for the dregs of February, when spring seems too far off and fall is only a distant, snow-covered memory. But winter came early and often this year, so it seems apropos to post them now.

First, a calm summer scene from our daughter who, ironically, is scared to death of dalmatians. Not that I blame her. The only dalmatians I've ever met were barking brutes full of teeth.

Now a very serene scene from our oldest, who, ironically, doesn't mind a walk in the woods if we give him very specific goals to accomplish. Just telling him we're going for a walk just sends him into a frenzy.

I'm feeling better about winter now.

Farewell to Summer

The kids are back in school and I anticipate a flood of school-generated art to come home soon.

Today, however, I present one of the last of their summer drawings: Flowers. A fitting subject, given the end of summer. We do still have a few flowers blooming outside. I don't know their names. I'm such a slouch at flowers. But they're still there. Hardy ones that come up in the spring and refuse to die even after the first snows of winter arrive. I love them for that.

And I love this drawing, because I know I can pull it out and look at it all winter long, when there's too much white outside.

Variation on A Theme

We've already seen an example of camper art from our youngest, but I've learned that if a theme is repeated, it's gosh-awful important to the kid. This one is obviously excited about the camping possibilities this summer, given we've now got two vehicles with which we can tow the camper. We're going to the Fathers and Sons outing this weekend, but I'm not sure I want to take the camper, mostly for space considerations at the campground but also because I don't want every other kid in the universe in and out of the camper. So we'll probably tent it, and I think I can convince the boys that tents are fun.

Art Evolution

First you see here  a drawing by our daughter, of me singing away with my iPod. I'm not exactly sure what I'm singing, nor if I'm singing well, but since the passerby -- my daughter -- with the baby in the stroller is smiling, I can assume my singing is above the bar set by your standard karaoke practitioner.

This is, however, an example of art evolution, because as you'll see in the next drawing, this was only the progenitor of a much grander work:

Here we see a more fully-formed idea, though the sun isn't as smilin' in this drawing as in the previous one. This time, it's her singing along with the iPod while her younger brother offers the ungodly sum of $5 for the item. She daydreams of horses -- do eight-year-old girls daydream of anything else -- while she sings this song:

When I was little
I had a herd of horses.
2 survived the earthquake
I was sad.

Don't know where the lyrics came from, except from the depths of an eight-year-old brain.

So, why present the first drawing if the second is more fully formed? Because of the suck-up letter on the back of the first:

Dear Dad,

Summer is almost here! I am so excited because it is fun! No school two birthdays in my small family. I just wish that my birthday was in summer. Well this is a picture that reminds me of summer. People sing and children pushing strollers. And baby's asleep in strollers. Well have fun!

Love,

Alexia Joy Davidson

Who can't love that?