School's out for... Columbus Day

We are in the midst of a rare four-day weekend. There's no school today, Columbus Day, which makes sense, but then tomorrow we have a teacher institute day. At one point, Mike and I contemplated taking a trip somewhere, but Mike has so much traveling this fall, it just didn't make sense. 

I went to bed last night thinking today would be a jammie do-nothing day. And that sounded awesome. But when I woke up this morning and saw tomorrow may be rainy, I made a last minute decision that we'd have a city adventure.

We threw on our clothes and caught the 9:45 train to Union Station.

Awaiting the train

It's so nice to have crisp fall weather. When I put on my sweater and jeans, I felt so relieved to know that I would actually be able to stay in these clothes all day. Lately, I put on a jacket in the morning and then have to change to t-shirt and shorts by the afternoon. We're finally solidly situated in fall (fingers crossed).

We knew we wanted to meet Mike for lunch, but I needed an anchor to the afternoon. Anna's recent acquisition from the library, "What Makes a Picasso a Picasso?" provided an opportunity to hit the Art Institute and look for some Picassos. My strategy for museums lately has been to narrow the field dramatically. Go in with just a few things in mind, head directly to them, then use spare time to wander. This way you end up seeing what you really want to see and if there are any meltdowns, well, you just hit the gift shop and get out. I've taken the kids to the St. Louis Art Museum and the Nelson Art Gallery this year and the strategy has held.

So the Picasso Hunt was on. We took the book with us on the train ride so we could read up on Picasso's life and style. It was great. I love how much I learn from these kid books. And I do think there's an incredible opportunity to create meaningful and memorable experiences for kids and families if you look for tie-ins to books and movies.

But I'm about to eat all my words here. Every single one of them.

Mike suggested we head out and see the Picasso sculpture near his office first. So the kids climbed up and down the crazy art piece before lunch.

We saw a Cosi down the street and opted for a quick bite there because Mike had to get back for a conference call. After a stand-off with Abe regarding finishing his pizza, I walked the kids towards the Art Institute. The kids are troopers about walking and I like to think I'm training them for future trips. I still get there, "how long will it be til we get there???" questions, but they're not nearly as frequent or frustrating. It's just getting easier.

When we got inside, I saw a very disturbing sign.  The European Modern Exhibits are closed until April 2014.

What the #%$?

I asked the information booth if there were any Picassos anywhere and got a resounding, "no." So that was totally awesome.

But Abe was relatively clueless about the Picasso educational theme I was going for and Anna was just excited to be there, so we made the best of it and wandered into the Impressionist area. It was a loose museum visit without any real objective. And it kinda supported my theory that we need a game plan if we are going to hit a museum.

We stumbled upon the knights and armor section, which Abe loved. I'm very lucky I got a picture of him because lately he won't let me take his picture. He runs and hides. I guess the opportunity to be close to a real suit of armor was something he couldn't pass up.

The Native American and African art exhibits were nearby and we saw a few things there. But we didn't have quite the energy level needed to push on through the rest of the museum. So we stopped at the cafe and got something sweet to eat.

Don't ask me how, but when we left the cafe, we ended up in a place I'd never been in the modern wing. Right in the middle of this wing sits a huge courtyard with an Asian sculpture and chairs for sitting and relaxing. I'm not sure my kids and their running and laughing and yelling really helped anyone else relax, but it did us a world of good.

Anna and Abe ran around like crazies and drew in the sand/dirt mixture all over the ground. Abe needed to move. It's not easy on him to have to stay quiet and walk and wait. I was glad for the chance to let him run around.

The garden is gorgeous. You would never have guessed that the busy city streets were just a few feet away.

We gathered our things and walked back to Mike's office. We'd been walking for a long time at that point and we all needed to sit down and veg out. The kids played on the carpet in his office and had a snack in the kitchen. We're so lucky that the partners and staff in his office really enjoy having visitors (kid ones) and get a kick out of interacting with Anna and Abe.

So now it's time for a little Cardinals baseball. The kids have already crashed and I feel like I could crash any moment, too. But I'm glad we did this. The weather was beautiful and, at least in Chicago, you can't take it for granted.