Saturday, June 25, 2011

Just how big is a whale? / Summer Painting

I have a child who has been obsessing over marine life for about a year. And what I have learned about these obsessions is that you dive in, and obsess right along with the child. They are going to whether or not you are along for the ride, so you may as well join them in going over the top and make it fun.
 
We live around lovely older people who are fairly quiet. They don't drive in and out much. We view this as a perfect opportunity to take over the street whenever we want. 

Marine life obsession ("Just how big is a whale mom? A bottlenose dolphin?!! A common dolphin?!!") combined with our quiet neighbors has resulted in some serious street painting this summer.


For the curious, a bottlenose is around 10 to 12 feet long.
And a blue whale is over 100 feet. So our blue whale is over 100 feet.
Blue Whale took us 4 hours to paint. And it's a darn shame that I couldn't get up in a helicopter to photograph him because the pictures will never do him justice.


And the common dolphin is around 7 - 9 feet long.
The killer whale is about 35 feet long. Yes these are all life size.

11 comments:

jodi said...

yes, you have to go along with the obsession. Now the next stop needs to be Sea World. How unbelievably cool that you were able to do this.

suzy said...

What a great way to put things into perspective. You are a great teacher.

Heather Dixon said...

Oh how fun. Your kids are so lucky!

Camille said...

My mom always induldged my obsessions whatever they were-Paula Abdul included. This is awesome.

Anne said...

For a while there my life's ambition was to see a blue whale (during a child's whale-immersion period). Saw a baby in the waves at Newport Beach. Amazing.

Katie said...

Wow!!! We've been working on remodeling a house for most of June and I feel my kids are being neglected. I need to do something fun with them. You are inspiring.
What kind of paint mix do you use?

megadog said...

Very, very cool! Love it. Wish we could have a whale of a tale in our front yard. That is awesome!

THM said...

Same question as Katie - what did you use to paint the animals - sidewalk chalk (crushed up and mixed with water) maybe? Great idea! I wish our street was as quiet - this might be a fun neighborhood activity.

pamela said...

all, paint is equal parts cornstarch and water, plus food coloring.
TIPS:

buy the cornstarch at target - very cheap there.

the wilton brand food coloring works the best by far.

when mixing, put water in bowl first and SLOWLY add and mix in the cornstarch. don't dump it altogether all at once or it takes longer to mix.

Anonymous said...

I love it!! Teach us how! What kind of paint? Chalk?? They will remember this forever. The blue whale is awesome.

Crafty Mama said...

This is just so so cool. Can you get on the roof and get a panorama pic with the iphone app? Your ideas are fabulous! (if the paintings are still there!) I'm sure the older folk on your street love seeing the kids playing outside, as that seems to be going out of style in some places.