Gudrun was intent on doing something that would get the girls' ya-yas out but did not know what this might be. I suggested Leapin' lizards, an insane indoor jumping play area as one option but it can be unpleasant in there for the parents. Sure, the girls have a blast but we have to deal with all the little shit-head kids whose parents are nowhere to be found, the noise level, the static electricity, the injuries. So, since our happiness is important to us, we opted for the art museum in midtown Atlanta. We are members, and we rationalized that it will be "good" for the kids.
I had slept in until after 10 am. This seems outrageous for a father of two until you consider that our entire family is on a strange version of southern time. The girls stay up late and rarely wake up before 8 am. This morning it was closer to 9. I just got a little bonus time today, a gift from my lovely wife. It took us a long time to get out of the house and eventually we were bickering (Gudrun and I were, the girls were happy as anything). On the way we stopped for coffee which had a miraculous effect on our moods. We arrived at the High Museum of Art just before 12 noon to find a considerable line-up. There is an exhibit on the "Allure of the Automobile" and this has brought out the car show crowd, as well as the usual MOA types. Some here may be sad to learn there are no NASCARs in the exhibit.
The girls impressed the other people in the line up by giggling and yelling and running around. I wish we had such charming kids, they thought. I played the part of the grumpy dad, impatiently telling Georgie and Elise to stop doing this and that, and to try to not be so loud, etc. Gudrun was polite to not point out that I was being somewhat of a buzz kill.
The car exhibit was actually quite impressive (and I think cars are silly). Or rather, I think the love of cars is silly. But there was an Aston Martin in there that I am pretty sure is the coolest car ever. It was a 1961, I think. It looked like the real version of the James Bond car model my cousin Bruce had when we were kids. There were some other really silly big cars from the 30s and 40s and some neato early french and Italian jobs.
Mostly though, we hung out in the kids area where the girls got to interact with various media and learn about art (they drew on dry-erase boards, played with blocks and stuck magnetized things on a wall). Georgie did get to see a couple of Rodin pieces and seemed interested in the whole sculpture thing. Elise was bent on touching things which was stressful. The kids' area is all about interaction while most of the museum is of course not. Not an easy concept for a two-and-a-half year old. When Elise debuted her performance art piece: I got some art for ya right here in my pants, we knew it was time to call it a day.
The day of rain had not materialized and it had turned into a sunny warm afternoon. We left the museum and stepped out into the courtyard bathed in sunshine. Once again we squinted without our shades. We enjoyed the sculpture and other pieces outside. The girls were equally intrigued by the model house and the cherry blossoms on the tree next to it. We had a nice stroll up Peachtree to our car and were happy to find no ticket. Looking back, the museum looked fabulous amidst the skyscrapers of midtown.
We made it home before the skies became threatening. As they did, the temperature went up which was strange. It got darker. The Bay Hill Invitational was interrupted for the severe weather alert and tornado warning. Soon there was thunder and the big rain came. We haven't had a rain like this since the fall. Rumours of the tornado, it turns out, were greatly exaggerated.
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