A Creative Arts Family Vacation

One of the best family vacations we had was very spontaneously planned. We headed to Austin in the summer of 2006 just to get away for a few days before school started. We knew we wanted to go to Austin and so we decided that we would only eat where Rachel Ray had eaten when she took a trip to Austin. You can read about that trip here. While at one of these restaurants, I picked up a local arts scene magazine. In it was an ad for Cafe Monet (www. cafemonet.org). It's a paint your own pottery place.  I thought it might be a good "hour" killer before we headed on to another family activity on the list (like swimming at the hotel pool).  We arrived at the store and quickly determined that on our ministerial budget--we could all afford to do a tile.  So we jumped in and did our own artistic best.  My daughters  did their own names; my son chose a favorite sport and my wife did her name.  I chose Psalm 121.  Anyway, after 4 hours of pure family fun and creativity--we broke for lunch and came back and did some more.  All totaled we spent about 6 hours doing this family craft activity.  It was the best family time and vacation that we've spent together.  The kids still talk about it and we have them prominently displayed in our family room.

So, when you are on vacation, look for the offbeat to do.  You might just have one of the best family memories by doing something creative together.

This post is part of Watercooler Wednesdays where creative artists are talking about changing the culture around them