33.4 - Creation of Baby's First Piece of Art

Today was awesome.  I just want to go ahead and put that out there first.  AWESOME.  Melinda took me to the zoo, to meet an elephant named Micki.  Micki painted a picture for my daughter's bedroom.  An elephant painted a picture for my daughter.  See what I meant when I said today was awesome?!

 

Melinda supplied the canvas, and I got to choose the colors.  They told me it was best to only pick a few colors, because otherwise it could end up as one big blob of indistinguishable paint on the canvas.  I chose purple, green, pink, and orange - all colors that are prominent in the curtains that will hang in baby girl's room. 

 

Then it was time to meet Micki.  She's so pretty, and so huge.

 

 

Mark is a good friend of Melinda and her husband; he's the trainer who works with the elephants on a regular, and the inside connection that made today possible.  He was also the master of the brushes and paints, and wiped off Micki's nose between brushstrokes.

 

 

I stood off to the side and took pictures and grinned from ear to ear. 

Micki is so beautiful. 

 

I tried not to cry, but my eyes were full the entire time.

 

 

 

Micki loves sweets.  To get her to do the "trick" (paint), they bribe her with jelly beans. 

I brought her some marshmallows, too.  Apparently, they're one of her favorites. 

She likes to suck on them until they dissolve. 

 

 

Time to flip the canvas for the next color applications.

 

I was just so in awe. 

I was trying to soak in every awesome minute of this experience.  I want to remember it forever.

 

As a safety precaution, Micki has to keep her trunk up between brushstrokes.  She was so sweet, but she's ginormous and it's probably a good idea to keep in mind the fact that she's a million times bigger than any of the rest of us.  As much as I would've liked to just love on her, it was probably a good idea to keep her in line and on her best behavior.

 

Almost finished, just needs the artist's signature...

 

That's her trunk print on the bottom left, in orange. 

 

Me, Melinda, and Micki.  (And baby girl, of course.)

 

They let me pet her. 

I thanked her for painting a picture for my baby girl.

 

 

 

 

It was a wonderful, awesome, AMAZING experience.

I can't wait to hang that painting in the nursery.

I don't know how I'll ever thank Melinda enough for making this happen.