Museum with Kids

So, I went to the Church Art and History museum yesterday, and I was really touched. I had heard about the current exhibit a few months ago at church, but I did not realize until last night that the exhibit was ending March 1st. That is this Saturday!!! I wanted to go back and see more, so I loaded up the younger kids after school and we took an outing down to the museum. 

They were more interested in the water fountain than in going to a museum.

Natalie was reaching into the water to get coins for her and her brothers to use to make wishes. 

They wondered if that was ok to do, worried it would undo other people's wishes to have her reuse the coins. I told them it would be ok. Natalie got a little bit wet though.

Ok, enough wishes, let's go. We didn't end up seeing hardly any of the art work today, cause I was watching kids in the children's area the whole time. It was cute - Katharine gave a talk at a replica of the Conference Center walnut pulpit. 

And they played with the fun interactive areas.

Katharine making a display of all the toys.

Peter working on a temple steeple.

And his family tree. That face in the red square really does look like you, Peter!

Owen worked on drawing different temples with some stencils.

And there were ipads to color on. 

K having a go at the temple spires. 

Soon Owen was bored and wanted to leave. K would have stayed until it closed if she could.

Learning about temple baptismal fonts.

I did want to try to go look at some of the exhibits, but it wasn't as easy as it was last night. So I'm glad that Corey insisted I come yesterday, and that I do it without the kids, cause even though it was only 45 minutes yesterday, my heart was full. They didn't want me to leave them, so they came with me. As soon as we walked out of the children's area, Peter was frightened by this sculpture, called "Laundry Monkeys". I thought it looked horrible as well. "That is giving me nightmares..." Peter whimpered.

Sheesh, why did they put this right at eye level of where the kids come out of the children's area?!?! Well, let's see how something so ugly gets accepted into the church museum... "Contemporary Latter-day Saint artists such as Janis Wunderlich adhere to the belief that candor about the underexplored complexities of life invites empathy and works to the edification of its viewers. In Laundry Monkeys, Wunderlich draws on her Cherokee heritage and uses animals to explore human relationships. She makes palpable many personal demands--emotional, physical, spiritual, and social. Children, animals, and household objects cling to every inch of the female figurine, threatening to topple it. With arms outstretched and legs positioned to bear weight, she braces herself. The cluttered composition and rough surfaces are metaphors for the experience of life, which is often messy and challenging. Fantastical and playful, the piece uses humor to depict the realities of mortal existence and honors the individual's need to engage deeply with family, church, and community." K. I get it I guess, but that is still super ugly, and I would not feel proud if I had made it nor would I ever put something like it on display in my home. The kids weren't too interested in the art, so I'm glad I was able to see some of it yesterday. Maybe Corey and I can come down tomorrow for date night to look around some more. I followed the kids around. We ended up over by the Moroni statue. A nice docent at the museum visited with us. The boys tried to lift up some metal plates that weighed as much as the golden plates would have. They were heavy. Katharine tried to climb on different things and to feel Moroni's toe, and had her feelings hurt when the docent told her to not touch it. She was so dejected!  

Haha, she's so cute. Of course you can still call all the shots at home, little princess, but at this museum, they make the rules and we have to obey. Ok fine, but she still felt sad about that.

Ok, Owen, you were kinda patient. We can go now. 

On our way to the car, I realized I forgot to get a parking validation, so we went up into the conference center to get one. Ugh! More?!?! Katharine can't take it. 

We made it back home. Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that K did #1 in potty for the first time ever! Good job Kat! Earlier today, I went with K to Costco and got stuff for green smoothies. I'm going to give it a try for a bit. Seemed like a good thing to do for March and it's green St. Patrick's day festivities.