The Devlins have a family reunion going on this week, and the girls decided they needed to do something wild—something to bond over. This was someone’s bright idea.

We’re outside Redbeard’s Living Canvas in Hot Springs. From the left it’s my niece Liz, SIL Teresa, SIL Shanna, me and my 70-year-old Mom. See the smiles? We had no idea…

I’m sure the biker dudes/tattoo artists thought we were pretty interesting. We were certainly fascinated meeting them. My poor mom didn’t blink an eye at the F-bombs that exploded, but watching her grit her teeth and blink like mad every time the needle carved into the top of her foot was really pretty funny. Of course, I thought she was just being a little wimpy.

UNTIL, it was my turn. I know I made some interesting faces because my niece laughed her ass off. My SIL told me my fingers were completely white because I was digging them into the chair so hard.

This is a pic of the work in progess. It’s kind of sexy looking at it in hindsight with tattoo dude hovering over my quivering toes.

The experience may have been painful, but we had a blast. And we love the results! We came back to the house and sat out on the patio admiring our new art. The guys think we’ve all lost our minds. They just don’t get it. We know we’ll have something permanent to remind us of family every time we glance down.

Here’s my mom’s awesome dragon:

Shanna’s pretty flowered anklet:

Teresa’s colorful butterfly and rose:

Here’s my final result (my poor foot’s swollen). Keep in mind I intended to go for something small and dainty!