I could live there!!!!

Where? The National Gallery of Art, of course! I remember visiting it years ago (years and years!) and thinking, "If only I lived here and wasn't just touring the city with no real time to sketch and study the art..." And now I do live here, but sadly don't have time still to just hang out in the National Gallery of Art. Can you imagine? "Now, Hannah, Genna, and Isaac, you guys just sit here quietly while Mommy sketches this Renior." I think not even my relatively well-behaved children would be able to do that. Genna's leg would start twitching and soon she would be dancing like the ballerina in Degas' Dancer with a Bouquet of Flowers. Isaac would lay down on the floor with his bottom in the air in prime sleeping position and say, "Hannah, put me to bed!" She would, of course, be doing a drawing of her own and tell him no. Then he would start to pester her since she won't play with him, possibly laying on her drawing. In fact, I think that is all best case scenario. That is not even including the crazy Metro trip to just get to the museum. And, of course the return trip when everyone is exhausted.

However, yesterday, our homeschool group had a field trip to the Gallery for kindergartners. Since it was in the afternoon, I left Isaac and Genna with a friend to play with their friends and nap (Isaac, not Genna.) Then Hannah and I had a quiet afternoon together. We hopped on the Metro with ease. Changed lines like it was the most natural thing in the world for us to be out in the city alone. It. was. so. peaceful. I can't even tell you! We got there just a tad early and looked at a few masterpieces before meeting up with the group for the tour with a docent. I've got to tell you, going with a child to an art museum is so very different. The first piece we saw (the minute we walked into the museum) was a nude statue, and, whoa, did that open a can of worms I had not even thought about. It just never crossed my mind since I think of art in a whole different category. But the minute I saw it with Hannah, "Queen of Modesty," by my side I immediately realized what I had just walked into, even before the words came out of her mouth. So after a quiet conversation about nudity in art, we went on to see the most magnificent pieces, including my favorites, the impressionists. So the tour consisted of the kindergartners studying about 5 paintings and sketching the last one, Wivenhoe Park, Essex by John Constable. Hannah didn't have long to do the drawing, but she at least got the foreground, middle-ground, and background concept in her drawing. I am going to look up the painting online and let her finish it and add color. Watching her get to do that, just made me so happy. If I can't, at least my children can. That's good enough for me. That's more than enough for me.