A Big Duck and the Zoo

The Chrysler Museum recently reopened after a remodel, and part of the reopening was an art festival and a huge duck.  Because art.

When I glanced at my phone over the weekend, it seemed like everyone was going to see the duck, but there was no way for us to make it out there.  I decided to take all of the kids after school yesterday.

Wyatt was hesitant to get excited about the duck, "What is the big deal with a big duck?  How tall is this going to be anyway?"  When I told him it was taller than his school, he was on board to see it.  The thing is HUGE.

Brian's grandmother lived in an apartment complex nearby.  I told Brian I couldn't even imagine what she would have said about seeing the thing in the river!

Wyatt arranged this photo of the three of them - smallest to biggest.  Finley was untrusting of the massive duck and didn't want to face me for the picture.  She preferred to keep it in her line of vision at all times.

I tried to take a picture.  She scowled.  

Reese had her final art class of the year yesterday.  It was kind of fitting that we visited the museum on the day of her last class.  I wasn't planning on taking the kids in (because hello!  four crazy kids in an art museum!), but she begged and the boys obliged.  And there were already millions of children there to see the duck. She was so excited to "see art!"

This is a blurry picture, but I don't want to forget that this boy walked in and immediately asked if we could leave - true story.  BUT!  Once we got to the room with the samurai armor he was hooked.  Then we saw the Egyptian display and he would just walk up and start reading what everything was.  He actually started talking to me about a sarcophagus and the mummification process and hieroglyphics (there was a helpful video that explained things to him). 

Of course this was all next to the marble statues.  I saw them and immediately took a mental inventory of my children to estimate which one would be the first to say something about the large marble statue of a naked man.  Wyatt walked by.  Hudson walked by.  I pushed Finley by (she wasn't a suspect anyway).  Reese stopped, looked up, and shouted, "Hey Wyatt!  You can see it's penitz!" (Because that's how my children say it.)  Real mature, Reese. Real mature.  

Too bad Daddy wasn't there.  I'm sure he would have added some equally mature commentary.

Since we were already out in Norfolk, I decided to squeeze a zoo trip in.  

I should preface this by saying that all of this is very out of character for me: to surprise them after school with a trip, to go an art museum, etc.  With our crazy schedules (and Brian's busy season at work just starting), it's typically easiest for all of us to stick to a schedule when we have other things going on during the week.  Wyatt also isn't very big on surprises. We typically head straight home after school, the Smalls take naps, the Talls do homework and play outside, and they all have dinner, baths, a show, and bed on nights when we don't have anything else happening.  On nights that we do have games, everything is the same except for the playing outside and the show.  We have dinner before we leave and baths are MUCH faster on game nights!

But I am just starting to discover that taking them places is getting easier when I'm on my own.  I think the fact that Wyatt and Reese are older and don't run off helps!  Also, I don't have a teeny tiny one to stop and feed and a toddler and two preschoolers anymore.  I have a toddler and a preschooler and two big kids.  It's a little sad that my newborn days are over, but it also means that we can do more fun things together, so I'll look on the bright side!

But I digress.

We got to the zoo about an hour before it closed.  Wyatt and Hudson insisted on seeing the snakes first, so by the time we made it to the Africa section, most of the animals were on the way in for the night.  We watched the elephants go to their rooms, and the giraffes were already having dinner!

We decided to skip the Asia section because the first 5 displays we saw were empty.  Since we left during peak traffic, I got them all dinner at Wendy's to keep the happy in the car, and we came home.  It was definitely a really fun day with these four - and I'm hoping for many more this summer!