Day Five

This bronze statue stands at the top of Art Hill and in front of the St. Louis Art Museum. It depicts King Louis IX of France, 1214-1270, riding into battle. He was the only canonized king of France and St. Louis is named after him.

Both the girls were off school today. Audrey takes workshop classes through our homeschool group on Fridays. So because two different school districts were called off, I got my girls again! I have had the BEST week with them.

A recap-I took Ava to school on Monday only to discover it was canceled. Tuesday through Thursday we didn't leave the house at all. We did venture outside and the girls did go play at neighbor friend's houses, but we didn't get in a vehicle and go somewhere. I stayed in my pajamas and built fires for three days. I organized and relaxed.

As far as Friday goes, there are three happy stories to write about.

Story One- We reentered the world! We left the house. I had a great plan for the day. A perfect mix of yum, fun, and celebrating. First stop-the yum. We go to pick up donuts and coffee. As we're getting out of the car, I can't find my debit card. Mild panic. Luckily, I have a few dollars and we leave with our sugar and (my) caffeine fix. We go home, I look around a bit. I log on-line to check my bank account (there was money in it!). I call Eric and he couldn't have been cooler about the situation. So as I'm on my way to the bank to cancel the card and get a new one, I decide to stop at the last place I used the card.

On Monday, I went to the gas station to fill up the Jeep and a 5 gallon container in case we needed our generator. I'm not super hopeful about finding my card. I walk in, there are no other customers. The woman at the register smiles this huge smile and says,"Good morning! How can I help you?". I tell her I lost my debit card. She asks my name, turns around, and hands me my freakin' card!! She comments about how it has been there for a week (yes, I know, I temporarily dropped out of society). Happy, happy ending to story one!

Story Two- the fun. I took my girls to the St. Louis Art Museum! It is under major construction and should be completed sometime in 2012. Art Hill was covered in a shiny coat of ice. The girls were cold and ran into the museum with out me.

Wow, I had my hopes about this experience. I tempered those hopes with my knowledge of my children and their attention spans and interests. Before we even got there, Ava declared the day to be "the worst day ever!" because I told her she couldn't play at the museum.

I really wish I could fill this post with information about the various pieces of art we loved, disliked, and were scared by. But I can't. This experience was for my children and not for me to carefully document it in detail.

SLAM offers a fun scavenger hunt for kids and we did it. It was terrific fun. It took us on the first two levels and to the gorgeous West Staircase. There are eight works of art to locate. Ava's favorite was a yellow couch in the Decorative Arts and Design Area. Audrey loved the stainless steel tree that we viewed from the West Staircase landings. I liked the suit of armor in the Arms and Armor gallery.

Now for the girl's reactions: Sculptures of nude male bodies... turn and run away. Mummies are cool (Audrey). Mummies are scary (Ava). The African art section with the really tribal looking stuff did NOT sit well with either girl. They loved every painting with horses.

The VERY best and coolest part of our visit happened at the end. We made our way up to the third level (which for some reason was not included in the scavenger hunt). It has Contemporary Art, Modern Art, New Media, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. Again, here is where I wish I made notice of painting's names and which gallery we were in. There is a series of oversized paintings by Gerhard Richter. Ava immediately walks over to one and declares it to be her favorite painting in all the museum. While this was happening, Audrey goes to the painting to the right of the one Ava loves and tells me how it is her favorite painting. Aunt Cory had taken Audrey to SLAM two years ago, and that is the first time Audrey had seen it. It remains her favorite. I love that my girl's favorite paintings are part of the same series and hang side by side. They are mostly black and white. The one Ava likes has paint moving vertically on the canvas. Audrey's has the paint moving horizontally. Maybe we'll make our own versions based on these.

While the art was amazing, I did take a five and ten year old to the museum. Their first focus may not have been on the art, but on the cafe and museum shop. I decided to give them a little food and shopping so that I could have their attention for the rest of the day. Two bags of chips and two cans of Coke filled their tummies. I allowed them to look around the shop with the promise of returning at the end of our visit to make purchases.

When we did return, the girls walked out with mint chocolates, a 3D color puzzle called Colorcube (Audrey), and a solar powered robotic car (Ava). We went to the bar afterward, and Jason Paul helped Ava assemble her car while Jason Williams helped Audrey snap her cubes together.

I love the directions on Audrey's puzzle:

More than a billion possible combinations! But only one is right!

From color cacophony to harmony in only 3, 227 steps.

She is still working on it.

I didn't know what the girls would get out of this trip. I know I can't control, only guide them through life. I try and provide opportunities and experiences that will help me in this process of exposing my children to things that I think are important. I think they were stimulated, excited, and impressed with what they experienced. I'm already looking forward to our next visit to SLAM.

(Side note about me) I really liked two pieces at the museum in particular. One was an oversized painting found in the same gallery as Audrey and Ava's favorites (artist, name?). It was abstract- brown, gray, black, white, and had small numbers written on it. The second piece I liked is by Marc Chagall and is titled Temptation. The colors are amazing, as are the shapes.

Third Story-the celebration. I accompanied Eric to his friend's engagement party. He fishes with him and a lot of the guys that were there and still others are Mardi Gras regulars who pour beer at Hammerstone's once a year. I really do like the happy couple we were there to celebrate. I've only met his fiancee a few times, and she seems really genuine and nice. It was a lovely party and I wish them the very best. Oh, and I kinda had a really good time.