Target Family Thursdays at Woodruff Art Center in Atlanta

We were invited by Alicia Hagan from AtlantaMoms.com to attend last week’s Target Family Thursday hosted by the Woodruff Art Center in Atlanta. I was thrilled that it coincided with the time Barry would be at home because he misses SO much while he’s offshore so I accepted the invitation, excited to be able to mingle with other Atlanta moms and give Zoe the chance to get some play time in :)

We got to Atlanta just in time to make it without being late, parked in the garage (noting that they have a 2-hour parking limit), and headed toward the theater entrance only to find out there are actually two Woodruff Art Centers and we were at the wrong one. So, we took off walking the 5-or-so blocks to the right location. Well, not all of us walked. Zoe, of course, had the benefit of daddy’s arm. Next time we will be sure we’re at the right place before parking. Oops! The Woodruff provides parking for $10 at the RIGHT location (1280 Peachtree St. NE | Atlanta, GA 30309 ) without any time limitations. Leave it to us to mess that up LOL!!

Once we finally got to where we were supposed to be, I checked in at the front desk to let them know I’m a blogger and one of their coordinators, Camila Crews, directed me to where the rest of my group was. I said my hellos to the familiar faces and left Barry to feel extremely uncomfortable in a room full of mommy bloggers and toddlers (*snort-laugh*) while I took Zoe to potty before our activities began. Once we returned, Camila was giving instructions on how our group would relocate to the waiting area while the cast prepared for the interactive children’s play we would be attending first. Zoe and the other kids got to get some coloring and snacking time in :)

Once we got into the show, all of the children were highly entertained and engaged during the performance. It was a play called A Child’s Garden of Verses during which the kids got to plant a word and a seed into soil pots arranged on a wagon and wait for them to grow into flowers and poems while a crazy bird (played by the lady standing on the yellow boxes in the photo below) tried to eat everything in sight! The kids also got to feed that crazy bird sunflower seeds out of an envelope that they found inside the satchels they were given when we entered the room.

All of the kids were given pillows at the start of the show and later were invited to bring the pillows to sit on once the play became interactive! See my ZoeBug looking up to smile at the camera? lol She never misses a photo opp!

Ohhhh how all the youngens enjoyed having the fabric fall-colored leaves dumped and thrown around. They squealed with glee as they romped through the pile… and then gladly helped with the cleanup as they anticipated a great surprise once they were finished (I won’t disclose the surprise for those who intend to go see first-hand)!!

As the children took in all of the excitement, a man sang and alternated between playing the banjo and the guitar in the background which complemented the whole arrangement. I must admit, I was smiling the whole time myself lol Barry and I had a great time watching Zoe as she just completely became absorbed by the whole thing.

Many of the children had “starring” roles in the play, unbeknownst to them — Zoe was in charge of handing the farmer a piece of treasure! She did so with grace and style, if I do say so myself *chuckle*

At the end of the show, all of the children got to keep the flowers that had sprung from the seeds they planted! They also enjoyed all of the poems that were born in the interim.

After the play, the cast thanked Zoe for sharing all of her kartwheels and handstands with them during the performance (yes, I could not get her to stop doing gymnastics as she perused around that huge floor LOL!) and she got to shake the hand of the bird and even get a snapshot with her first celebrity friend!

After the play, our two hour limit at the wrong parking garage was exhausted and Barry had to make the trek back down 5 city blocks to drive it back up to where we were which means he missed half of the second activitys so BE SURE you’re at the right Woodruff if you decide to attend the show – 1280 Peachtree St. NE | Atlanta, GA 30309.

Unfortunately, my camera died before we made it to the acting workshop for parents and tots but it was a lot of fun! The parents sat on the floor in a circle with the toddlers while we acted out a bunch of funny scenes and then the kids had to use their imaginations to turn an ordinary box into all sorts of things — a couch, a pool, a turtle… and even a drum set! By the time it was over and we were headed home, it didn’t take long for Zoe to konk out in her carseat :)

Zoe watched the video with me while I stitched the three together and as she relived all of the excitement, she exclaimed, “I wanna go back, mama!!!” I definitely recommend that you click over to learn more about Target Family Thursday hosted by the Woodruff Art Center and get involved in something new, interactive, and exciting with your family!