Last Tuesday I woke the kids up and told them we were leaving in an hour. They made breakfast while I slapped together some sandwiches and gathered produce for lunch, then we all took off after we were done with chores and eating.
Our first stop was the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. I'd been wanting to go ever since a friend told us about it a couple years ago, but I always remember at inopportune times. We each brought a notebook and sketched one of our favorite pieces as we wandered through the different galleries.
I failed to get a picture of Devon sketching, but I did catch him checking out this really cool tower of blankets.
And then he made me laugh. Such an obedient rule follower, right?
We enjoyed the museum and will definitely return as they change exhibits. For those who live in the area, admission is always free for minors and free for everyone on Tuesdays. The city has metered parking, both coin and card options, and it costs $1.50 an hour.
Our next stop was Bush's Pasture Park, a place Naomi and I discovered and fell in love with a couple summers ago. I figured we'd stay for an hour or so, eating our picnic lunch and getting some wiggles out before heading home, so I made sure to get a picture of all of us early on.
We ended up staying almost four hours! It was an overcast day during normal school and business hours, so most of the people there were just walkers and runners doing laps. A few kids hung out in the playground for a while, but we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
The kids played as a group, spent time on their own, and did stuff in ever-changing sibling combinations. They goofed off on the playground, hiked down to the creek, tossed a frisbee in a field, kicked a ball through wooded areas, walked someone's dog, and tried new stunts. I played with them part of the time and spent the rest taking pictures, reading a brochure from the museum, and staring into space. I would have brought a book if I'd known we were staying so long, but it was nice to just do nothing.
We finally left because we didn't want to get caught in rush hour traffic and it ended up raining as we pulled out of the parking lot. Perfect timing!
I'd made plans earlier to go to the museum and park that day, although I hadn't told anyone, but I was awake until the early morning hours with stuff on my mind. I almost ditched the plan out of exhaustion, but I'm so glad I didn't! Staying home would have resulted in one crabby mom and four energetic kids being cooped up in their own four walls all day, probably battling over school and household responsibilities. Instead, we enjoyed several hours of neat art, fresh air, rest, exercise, chatting, and laughter. Such a fun day!
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