A Good Day to Paint—and Name—Ceramic Animals

, 26 S. LaGrange Road, was the site for a recent "Out & About" activity planned for young adults by Downers Grove based  SEASPAR (South East Association for Special Parks And Recreation). David, Jack, and Greg (last names withheld) were there to paint and have some fun with Seaspar recreation specialist, Kim Huggins and assistant support staff member, Stephanie Ceranec.

David picked out a piggy bank for his painting project. While he busily painted his pig pink, I asked his if his pig had a name. ”Strawberry,” he quickly replied to me while chuckling. Jack was sitting next to him working on his lion mug that he named Simba. A lot of thought was going into every stroke of the brush with Jack. He would put his brush down at times and ponder his next move.

Sitting across from Jack was Greg, the quiet one in the bunch. He was quietly dabbing his paintbrush on the elephant with yellow and blue. When asked what his elephant’s name was, he looked his elephant over and then blurted out: “Diddy, Diddy Choo Choo Train!” That brought laughs from everyone at the table, including myself.

The group was starting to get a little restless so I thought it was best for me to say my goodbyes. Huggins and Ceranec were busy trying to keep the group on task and helping with trips to the sink to wash their hands. It was a fun event and I enjoyed spending time and laughing with the group. More fun is in their future plans, which include a trip to an arcade, Wii fun and baking cookies, open gym time and candy making and fondue fun. Hmmm, I might have to go back for the candy making and fondue fun to be the official taste tester.