When Brandon called us to book some painting time, I guessed he was a young man in his 20s.

“I’d like to reserve two spots tomorrow,” he said. “I want to take my mom to do something she would enjoy doing, and I think she would like to paint.”

Based on his out of state caller ID, I guessed Brandon was a soldier at the nearby JBER military base and that his mom was visiting him from the Lower 48.

The next morning I was surprised to greet an energetic 13-year-old young man up from Texas, house hunting with his parents.  The family is in the process of moving to Alaska.  They took time out of their full schedule to do something fun together. They were the first mother/son combination to visit Paint a Scarf.

Brandon and his mom Wendy painted two beautiful, vibrant scarves together, but the fun didn’t stop there.  After enjoying a meal of homemade soup, bread, salad and cookies fresh from the oven (Brandon ate five), it was time to try out the creek. His  Texas-born toes lasted only a few seconds in the 38-degree waters. He dried off his feet by running all over our 1.5-acre lot. He played with Pepper our mini dachshund and obediently posed for pictures.

Brandon eventually found his happy place – lounging in one of our hammocks.

We were delighted to welcome Brandon and Wendy – our first mother-son painting duo. Brandon reminded us that Paint a Scarf is fun for painters of all ages — and both genders.