Sometimes It's About Art

I know I've established that we like to go look at art. That's totally true. But why is that? Is it because we think it will make our children smart? Yeah, we actually do. It's good for them. Do they like it? Nope, not always. Sometimes they are annoyed or aggravated or 13 and it's just not what they want to do. But sometimes, like the other day, we were looking for something on the inexpensive side to do and it just so happens that the art museum at UGA is my favorite price, FREE.

Free for a family of six is like the best word ever.

There was a lot to see before we even got inside. Julia plunged her hands into the fountain, and slapped them against the wall shouting "ART! BEHOLD!" which was fairly entertaining.

What's it like to take two severely autistic 12 year olds to an art museum? Well, first I'd say you need to back up and know what you need to do first to be prepared FOR said Art Museum.

We pack a backpack everywhere we go with extra clothes, wipes (for face and butts in separate places) and diapers and some sundries. Museums don't always allow those, so you'll need to be prepared to check it. Before we do that and go in, we hit the bathrooms.

This place had huge clean restrooms that were lovely. We changed diapers and got everyone freshened up for our journey into culture and entertainment.

At that point, things are as good as they are going to get. The husband and I learned long ago that with kids it's nearly impossible to read all the little signs of info. At best we trade off one of us wrangling kids and one of us quickly reading the information placards on the pieces we are most interested in. Sometimes it's quiet enough that we can sit them on a bench and BOTH of us quickly read and try to absorb what we're seeing.

Sometimes you look over and see a moment, though, between siblings, that you might not have gotten at an amusment park or some loud "kid oriented" place.  Every once in a while, you see that they're bonding and making their own memories and that's priceless to me.

Relatively good behavior was rewarded this day with a stroll in downtown Athens and a bit of Ben and Jerry's - which was amazing.

The best things in life aren't always free but on this day they were very close to it.
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Sometimes It's About Art

I know I've established that we like to go look at art. That's totally true. But why is that? Is it because we think it will make our children smart? Yeah, we actually do. It's good for them. Do they like it? Nope, not always. Sometimes they are annoyed or aggravated or 13 and it's just not what they want to do. But sometimes, like the other day, we were looking for something on the inexpensive side to do and it just so happens that the art museum at UGA is my favorite price, FREE.

Free for a family of six is like the best word ever.

There was a lot to see before we even got inside. Julia plunged her hands into the fountain, and slapped them against the wall shouting "ART! BEHOLD!" which was fairly entertaining.

What's it like to take two severely autistic 12 year olds to an art museum? Well, first I'd say you need to back up and know what you need to do first to be prepared FOR said Art Museum.

We pack a backpack everywhere we go with extra clothes, wipes (for face and butts in separate places) and diapers and some sundries. Museums don't always allow those, so you'll need to be prepared to check it. Before we do that and go in, we hit the bathrooms.

This place had huge clean restrooms that were lovely. We changed diapers and got everyone freshened up for our journey into culture and entertainment.

At that point, things are as good as they are going to get. The husband and I learned long ago that with kids it's nearly impossible to read all the little signs of info. At best we trade off one of us wrangling kids and one of us quickly reading the information placards on the pieces we are most interested in. Sometimes it's quiet enough that we can sit them on a bench and BOTH of us quickly read and try to absorb what we're seeing.

Sometimes you look over and see a moment, though, between siblings, that you might not have gotten at an amusment park or some loud "kid oriented" place.  Every once in a while, you see that they're bonding and making their own memories and that's priceless to me.

Relatively good behavior was rewarded this day with a stroll in downtown Athens and a bit of Ben and Jerry's - which was amazing.

The best things in life aren't always free but on this day they were very close to it.
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We Enjoy The Louvre - And You Should Too

Well - in fairness, it was a travelling Louvre exhibit. But I might never GO to the Louvre and my children might not, and with that being said - I think that getting to see the amazing pieces is not to be missed. So I take my children to the lovely HIGH Museum of Art when we can.

My kids are there, and that probably messes with your awesome experience of soaking in the art. I don't really care. They also deserve to see these amazing pieces, learn about the Tuileries gardens and have their minds enriched. Yep, even the autistic ones. Why?

Because art is good for you even when you don't exactly know it is. I know it makes an impact on the twins, because when they've done their "what I did this summer" reports for school, one of the pictures they choose for their responses is "museum".

They might make some weird noises, and jump or flap their arms, but they aren't chewing on the art so you don't have to worry.

Also at the HIGH was the GO WEST exhibit which Louis was VERY interested in seeing.

There was an interactive work space where kids could make their own OLD WEST style art, with tons of options and honestly, so easy a three year old sat down and make a picture. This is hers.

Louis spent more time making his and and was pretty proud of it. It's always interesting to see the choices they make when they have the opportunity to create things.

Miles decided he had to get into the action too, and once Julia was done with HER picture, he created a social commentary of some sort I think.

Charlie on the other hand wasn't having any of this "doing activities" business.

My sweet little Charlie doesn't understand that he isn't a tiny little boy. So he gets very sad when I won't carry him about halfway through anything we ever go do. Luckily most museums have spots to sit and take in (or ignore) the art for patrons.

Days full of art are good days, even with Charlie's protests and the confused eyes of strangers on us.

I can't wait till our next one.

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We Enjoy The Louvre - And You Should Too

Well - in fairness, it was a travelling Louvre exhibit. But I might never GO to the Louvre and my children might not, and with that being said - I think that getting to see the amazing pieces is not to be missed. So I take my children to the lovely HIGH Museum of Art when we can.

My kids are there, and that probably messes with your awesome experience of soaking in the art. I don't really care. They also deserve to see these amazing pieces, learn about the Tuileries gardens and have their minds enriched. Yep, even the autistic ones. Why?

Because art is good for you even when you don't exactly know it is. I know it makes an impact on the twins, because when they've done their "what I did this summer" reports for school, one of the pictures they choose for their responses is "museum".

They might make some weird noises, and jump or flap their arms, but they aren't chewing on the art so you don't have to worry.

Also at the HIGH was the GO WEST exhibit which Louis was VERY interested in seeing.

There was an interactive work space where kids could make their own OLD WEST style art, with tons of options and honestly, so easy a three year old sat down and make a picture. This is hers.

Louis spent more time making his and and was pretty proud of it. It's always interesting to see the choices they make when they have the opportunity to create things.

Miles decided he had to get into the action too, and once Julia was done with HER picture, he created a social commentary of some sort I think.

Charlie on the other hand wasn't having any of this "doing activities" business.

My sweet little Charlie doesn't understand that he isn't a tiny little boy. So he gets very sad when I won't carry him about halfway through anything we ever go do. Luckily most museums have spots to sit and take in (or ignore) the art for patrons.

Days full of art are good days, even with Charlie's protests and the confused eyes of strangers on us.

I can't wait till our next one.

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Santa Picasso

We had only two events we could make it to this weekend (the BIG event was Tim and Justin's wedding and we couldn't get there for that - sadface).

The Twins Club Christmas party is our favorite Holiday party and as always Mr and Mrs Claus didn't disappoint with the magic they brought.

The craft this year was so much fun - GREAT IDEA GUYS - we made reindeer food. Sparkly sugar, marshmallows and oats will be the perfect treat for when Santa's reindeer need a snack at their stop on our street. Miles had to taste test though.

The little people had a great time because - party with Santa can't go wrong!

This weekend we also decided to try out a new art museum - at Oglethorpe University.

University art museums are a great place to take your kids, because they are usually small, and there aren't hundreds of people who just paid a ton of money to get in and are too cool to have kids being annoyed by you and yours. 

This little art museum had two exhibits we had to check out, one was a series of sketches by Picasso - I mean - PICASSO come on! That's awesome. These are the only I could get a snap of because they weren't in the forbidden zone.

There was also an exhibit about the artist who created the Coca Cola (and thus the modern era) Santa Claus. It was awesome and the kids really loved it - if we had gone on Saturday apparently the big man himself was there.

I always love seeing things like this - the artists version and then the ad version of the same work. Little things like perspective, angle plus obvious props change. It's oddly fascinating.

I'm still getting over being sick so we took it easy most of the weekend, but it was a lot of fun getting out for just a little bit.

Plus going outside is always an excuse to say hello to Mr Penguin.

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Santa Picasso

We had only two events we could make it to this weekend (the BIG event was Tim and Justin's wedding and we couldn't get there for that - sadface).

The Twins Club Christmas party is our favorite Holiday party and as always Mr and Mrs Claus didn't disappoint with the magic they brought.

The craft this year was so much fun - GREAT IDEA GUYS - we made reindeer food. Sparkly sugar, marshmallows and oats will be the perfect treat for when Santa's reindeer need a snack at their stop on our street. Miles had to taste test though.

The little people had a great time because - party with Santa can't go wrong!

This weekend we also decided to try out a new art museum - at Oglethorpe University.

University art museums are a great place to take your kids, because they are usually small, and there aren't hundreds of people who just paid a ton of money to get in and are too cool to have kids being annoyed by you and yours. 

This little art museum had two exhibits we had to check out, one was a series of sketches by Picasso - I mean - PICASSO come on! That's awesome. These are the only I could get a snap of because they weren't in the forbidden zone.

There was also an exhibit about the artist who created the Coca Cola (and thus the modern era) Santa Claus. It was awesome and the kids really loved it - if we had gone on Saturday apparently the big man himself was there.

I always love seeing things like this - the artists version and then the ad version of the same work. Little things like perspective, angle plus obvious props change. It's oddly fascinating.

I'm still getting over being sick so we took it easy most of the weekend, but it was a lot of fun getting out for just a little bit.

Plus going outside is always an excuse to say hello to Mr Penguin.

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The Allure of The Girl With The Pearl Earring

Yesterday afternoon we traveled into Atlanta to see the High Museum's exhibit of Dutch masters including the amazing Girl with a Pearl Earring. It was SO breathtaking. If you asked me, I'd never choose the works housed in Maritshuis as my favorites, yet standing in front of them I am so awestruck at their brilliance.

The oldest boy is old enough now that I annoy him whispering in his ear all the important details of the paintings, why they are relevant, what to look for. But I can't help but think that some day as an adult with a proper world view, he'll appreciate that once he stood two feet from Girl with a Pearl Earring and looked her in the eyes.

The entire gallery was a feast for my brain. I think I'd hang every one of them in my house and never get tired of soaking up their details. 

We wandered around to another exhibit, specifically one that featured local artists, which was pretty interesting.

Even Julia found things to like.

It's interesting because you wouldn't know if the twins did or didn't like it much, as they usually just putter along with us, but I know it makes an impact on them, they know we go to museums - because on a "What I did this summer" project Miles chose "visit a museum" as one of his answers. 

I think it's just as important for the twins as it is for Lou and Julia, to be exposed to art. 

I love living in a world class city where I can show my children these things, and expose them to so much.

Well, except this. I'm not sure anyone should be exposed to this.

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