Neil and the boys invested in some balsa wood and made these bridges. Mark and Jeff made their own designs on paper first and then worked hard to bring their creations to life.
Thursday afternoon we ventured to the Hirshorn to try to appreciate the modern art there. But first we stopped at the Smithsonian Castle to see the loot pile from the movie "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." We watched that movie last week on an Imax in the Natural History Museum--it was pretty fun.
A curator at the Hirshorn tried to help us appreciate the artwork. She said "It doesn't matter what it 'means' to the artist. It is the effect the art has on you that matters." When she saw the kids posing she said, "Now they have become sculpture and part of the art." Hee, hee!
So, here is Mara . . . or is it a sculpture? We liked the bright, colorful art the best. Some of the other art definitely had an "effect" on us, but it wasn't all positive. Confusing, shocking, head scratching all might be better descriptors.
For instance, we just didn't quite "get" the bronze sugar beet pile with faces carved in them. The Big Man was quite shocking too. If you want to see him, you'll have to check out the Smithsonian website. I wanted to keep the blog family friendly. :) We did come away with a better appreciation of contemporary art though. It won't be our last visit to an art museum!
Having Ben here was like having a new baby brother! He was so much fun to play with. We quickly realized that everyone was happier when Jon and Megan did sight seeing and Ben stayed home with the kids!
Megan took some nice family pics for us.
Thanks for coming guys! It was great!
Mark and Jeff's armor didn't fit on their heads very well. Hee Hee... I personally think I look pretty in this picture. :)
I liked the Powhatan Village. Pocahontas was part of it. I studied Pocahontas for a home school assignment. :) She's an awesome lady. Did you know that she had 3 names?! When she was born her name was Matoaka. But as she grew older her tribe liked to call her Pocahontas which means "Playful One" because she liked to race and climb trees and stuff. And then when she got married to John Rolfe she was baptised into a Christian Church and was renamed Rebecca. By the way, we are in a replica of a Powhatan house.
Right here we enjoyed sitting in the shade because it was literally 98 degrees. It was really hot! A lady was telling us things about how the tribe planted things in their garden. It was neat.
Buried in the water.
Buried in the sand.
The family bike ride was hilarious. We let Mark steer first because it was his birthday. We screamed in terror for the first few minutes until he figured it out.
Happy Birthday Mark! A perfect day on the beach, McDonald's for dinner, and funnel cakes in the hotel room. It doesn't get much better than this! According to Mark it was the best birthday ever.
Isn't this a nice picture?
We had to stop and feed the amazing koi fish first. They can live up to 50 years! Jeffrey discovered that the coin operated fish food feeder didn't need any coins so the kids helped themselves, and the fish, to the free food. It was a little bit disturbing to see all of those gaping mouths!
The Bonsai exhibits were really interesting. We didn't realize that any kind of tree or bush can be trained to stay miniature. This is an azalea bush. We also didn't realize all of the work and care it takes to create miniature tree art. It is almost like having a pet!
This one is called "Goshin" and was created by Bonsai master John Naka. There are 11 trees here, one for each of his grandchildren. Jeffrey loved this one. It was pictured on the brochure so he was on the lookout for it!
