Princess Mariposa and the Jungle
Her Majesty wanted to go to a jungle yesterday. I don’t try to make it a habit to fulfill her every wish—though it does seem like I do sometimes. But it was one of those days that I didn’t have anything else planned so I said, why not? That is the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom, after all. I might as well enjoy the perks.
So off to the zoo we went. It was the most jungle-like place I could think of outside of this giant nursery that sells plants to offices and the Rainforest Cafe. I thought about squeezing all three places into our day but the zoo ended up taking up all of our time. Which was great! I don’t really like Rainforest Cafe’s food anyway. Our packed lunch was a way better deal.
We rode the train, we visited the monkeys…we tried to avoid the school field-trip crowds but that was tricky. It’s crazy how these hordes of school kids can swarm you and for about a minute you just have to stand still and let them flood by you. Then they’re gone and you have the zoo to yourself again.
I splurged and let Bug get her face painted. I have a soft spot for face-painting because I really want to be a face painter myself someday. I know I can do it. I just need to get the supplies and study up on the do’s and don’ts. One of these days I’m going to hire myself out for a birthday party or something. I really like how some of the artists incorporate the child’s whole face. This one artist I watched painted open dragon eyes on the child’s closed eyes. It was the coolest thing ever. I’ve been told that Johnny Depp has his eyes painted that way in one of the Pirates of the Carribbean movies but I haven’t seen it. Maybe I’ll have to make a point of renting that movie for research.
Bug seems to like face painting as much as I do. She’s such a bouncy wiggly kid but when it comes time to hold still to get her face painted, she’s as quiet and still as a statue. If only I could get her to hold that still when I’m doing her hair!
Bug chose a green butterfly (of course). The end result was fabulous! It really changed her whole face, almost in a tribal way. It was funny to watch younger kids look at her. They were scared of her but fascinated at the same time. One Hispanic mother and young daughter marveled at her for quite a while and as they left I overheard them talking about “mariposas.” I had forgotten that that was how you say “butterfly” in Spanish. So for the rest of the day she was Princess Mariposa to me.
We met up with Calee and her daughter Audrey. Audrey wasn’t scared of Bug’s funny green face at all. I have some photos of Calee but they turned out blurry so I’m not posting them. But one of these times I’m going to get a picture.
It’s funny how many great friends I’ve met through this blog. I get a lot of emails from people saying they’d love to meet up someday or send me something but they don’t want to seem like a stalker. I don’t even think about stalkers much anymore. Probably one day I’ll meet somebody creepy but I haven’t met anyone like that yet. So far every single person I’ve ever met through this blog has been fantastic. I guess blogging is a good friend filter.
A while back I was criticized for exposing so much of Bug’s life on the internet. While I agree that that is a valid concern, I’m almost thinking that blogging works in the reverse as well. I feel like I’ve made such an amazing network of friends here who really love and care about Bug. If, God forbid, something terrible did happen people would come out of the woodwork to help me. I know you guys would. I hate to even think these thoughts BUT I think we are at a much greater risk from the random strangers we meet in the grocery store than we are by the random pervert who bookmarks a page on this blog.
Just a thought I’ve been thinking about for a while…
Of course I still worry and that’s probably why I’m such a paranoid freak about Bug keeping up with me when she wants to lag further and further behind. But overall I like to think of my blog as my extended protection unit. You know this silly green face. You’d recognize it anywhere. I know you guys have got my back.
So we will carry on, Princess Mariposa and me.
26 Comments
Rhi
Face painting has come A LONG way since I was a little girl! I wonder if they’ve made the paint less itchy? I always scratched my face paint off. And, then probably cried about it.
justJENN
I’m still afraid of stalkers.
Let’s hang out. Ha!
sizzle
You’d be an awesome face painter. Looks like you have a model to practice on too. Princess Mariposa is quite a beauty!
Maggie
Yes, we love Bug too! She reminds me so much of my own little darlin’. We would do anything to help her (and you!) if you needed it, although it might be difficult to do much way up here in Canada. I hope the gain is worth the risk, so please keep sharing with us. Especially all her witty little remarks… the red cracks in your eyes comment had me laughing for weeks.
K
She definitely looks like a GREEN princess mariposa in that pic of her on the GREEN gragon with her GREEN face paint and GREEN outfit. She’s too cute!
Danabug
I don’t know if it’s the “eye makeup” or what, but the green butterfly gives you an idea of what Bug will look like as an older girl. Really cute!
Calee
We had so much fun with you guys yesterday! Audrey chattered the whole way home and was a ball of energy all day. Thanks for taking a chance on us. And yes, you’ve inspired me to do Audrey’s hair more. She totally looks like an 80s hippie in that picture… :)
bethany actually
Ha! Jenn’s comment made me laugh out loud.
Also, I am reminded that I should point you to this photo I took while out and about yesterday.
Long Story Longer
What a good mom you are! Very cool that you take advantage of being a stay at home mom. Lovely photos :)
Kate
That last picture of you and Bug is so pretty. And I agree you would make a great face-painter.
txhorns
Get the Kutz face painting book. It is all kinds of awesome. I can face paint better than the ones you hire now, thanks to the book. We bring it to all our playdates and I have even been asked to paint at parties (for $$)! The book is awesome, you hardly need it though.
Melissa
I love the look of absolute concentration on Bug’s face as she’s getting her face painted. It looked great and I could totally see you becoming a world-renowned face painter ;-).
Kuky
I think Princess Mariposa looks cute. We’ve seen kids getting their faces painted before but Isabelle has never show an interest. I showed Isabelle your pictures hoping she’d like it and want to get her face done one day. My thinking was that since she recognizes Bug it wouldn’t be strange to her. But nope. She said she didn’t like it. Well one of these days…
Jennifer
I’m bummed that I was not up to jungle stompin’ with you guys. You got some cute pictures. The zoo looks like a lot more fun than the last time I went. If you’re up to a repeat trip, let me know. I think my littles would love to hang out there.
I love the face painting on Bug. She does look like a little princess.
Jennifer
Oh and here’s a jungle for ya…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jensfam/2473000840/
Danna
I can’t remember if I have commented on your blog before, but here goes anyway. I’m not even sure how I found you, but I love your blog. It’s so fun to read, and I love the illustrations you do. I’m quite jealous of your photos too. Maybe it’s all the beach scenes you have while I’m here stuck in the midwest so far from the ocean. I do love this latest entry and especially love the pic of Bug on the sea horse. So fantastic! I think my little 2 year old Sophie and your Bug would get along swimmingly. They seem so much alike aside from their age.
Anyway, thanks for sharing!!
Danna
Katie
I stalk your blog… Not because I’m a creepy creeper but because I find what you have to say to be interesting. I like creative people and stories of the funny things kids do. Thanks for throwing your whole life out there for us.
The Chatty Housewife
Beautiful! I just love how that butterfly makes her eyes pop. The artist did a beautiful job with all those dots and the colors.
I want to go to the zoo now!
Megan
Just an example of the blogging community helping out a blogger in need
http://www.squidalicious.com/2009/05/gwendomama-fund-make-real-difference.html
Many of these people stepped up to help because they know her and her family from the internet.
Gayle
Awww, you and Princess Mariposa look so cute in the last photo! What a fun day!
Ana aka Mrs. Mom
Lovely outing!
I am still afraid of stalkers too, hehe, hard to believe when people see all the pictures I post, sometimes I’m less scared, I guess that’s why I post them… I agree that this is a great friend-filter.
Thanks again for sharing, bug looked really cute
BeachMama
I love the name Princess Mariposa, it just sounds so beautiful and seems to capture Bug’s personality (or the one we see) very well.
I know what you mean about meeting people through the blog. I have met a few now and so far, it has been quite alright. And I hope if I make it out your way again, that we would get to meet in person, I promise, I am not a stalker :).
Heather
We actually have a Princess Mariposa in our house as well. We let our 6 year old pick out her sisters middle name and when she chose butterfly, we told her that Mariposa was spanish for butterfly and she was all for it. ( i am just not cool enough to let my kid run around as Happy Happy Butterfly, big sisters first pick)
Why Mom Drinks Rum
ADORABLE! I love face painting- my kids are so not into it :o(
You zoo looks beautiful! I love hitting zoos when we visit other cities. Maybe some-day I can come to your’s and run into you!
Or…you could come to Canada? Yeah. I know…our snow isn’t exactly a huge draw. Sigh.
Kathy K
There is good and bad in everything, internet included. We all know the bad is out there and sometimes it does happen to good people. But don’t you think that most of the time we find what we are looking for. Just as in life-you find what you are seeking. I think that for many of us the internet has created that wondrerful “village ” that we need. I agree with you, I know I would know Miss Bug anywhere. :-)
Rachelskirts
That face-painting is adorable! I’m totally stealing Bug’s look and rocking it at the office this week. Perhaps they’ll finally give me a corner office, far away from the visitors. :)
P.S. Are you going to be at BlogHer this year? Because I’m pretty sure you could convince the ladies to let you paint their faces, and I’m pretty sure we’d all pay for the privilege.