An Afternoon at the Art Museum

A couple of weeks ago, I took the girls to the Art Museum. We had never been to the Art Museum before (we had only admired it from the outside), and we actually ended up seeing only two out of the four floors. The museum is shaped like a ship right on the lakefront, and it's really beautiful.


Our first distraction of the day was walking along the lake and watching the ducks. I clicked a very similar picture to this one where Alyssa is all worried that Rebekah is too close to the railing as she looks into the water and another where Rebekah is pointing up in the air at a sea gull. It wasn't easy getting one of all 3 girls looking at me :-)


Ka'iulani outside the ship.


Emma showing me how big the bottom, front section of the boat is.


Alyssa is very motherly towards Rebekah. Especially when we are in an unfamiliar place, she always wants to hold her hand and be close to her.


Kahiwa running to me with what became our second distraction of the day. When we stopped to take pics of the lake and the outside of the ship, she had gotten her slippers (flip flops) all muddy. Fortunately, there was a fountain nearby.


Dipping their hands into the water.


Kahiwa's hands scooping water from the fountain after washing her slippers.


Swirling the water around.


Running away from the spray of water that the wind was causing.


Sprinkling their feet in the water.


Bekah by the water.


What a beautiful afternoon, perfect for playing in a fountain!


Time to go into the museum...
I collect tea cups, so I loved this old antique collection.


When we arrived at the museum, the girls were asked if they wanted a sketch kit to carry around. All three girls took it, and A and E sketched quite a few things while we were there. Kamele liked sharpening all the colored pencils that came in her kit. This is the 1st thing Alyssa wanted to draw, the triangular shaped tubing was filled with roses.


Emma is sketching the colorful glass bowl that is on the far right in this photo. It was actually a very neat way for the kids to experience the Art Museum to have the chance to sit down and re-create something that interested them. I think they are still a little too young to entirely appreciate a fancy museum like this one, and so this helped them have a lot of fun while they explored the art.


The girls' favorite kind of pieces that we saw today were ones like this purple shell.


And this thing too. They kept asking me to take pictures of art like this.


Kamele by a painting that Ka'iulani sketched. The museum guards were watching us like hawks, I think in part because Kamele rarely put down her colored pencils. They might have been worried that she wanted to add to one of their masterpieces :-)


Alyssa liked this painting. I didn't even think at the time to write down the title or artist of the pieces that really caught their attention.


There was a display of anitque German and Austrian furniture and paintings. Emma thought this armoir was pretty, and it was, the wood shined and looked perfect.


This artwork was very cool! Rebekah looking into the suitcase art...


Wow, it's an "ocean" down there!


The girls by a piece of headless artwork. Rebekah's face is very funny in this photo if you click on it. Usually when we are at a museum and the girls ask me a question, I can give them some kind of answer (even if it's not great) that helps them understand a little bit what they are looking at. Or in the very least, I tell them that's a great question, let's look for the answer, and together we learn about it. But here at the art museum, I didn't have a whole lot I could tell them when they asked a question about what a certain piece of art means. It's just what the artist wanted to create, I found myself telling them over and over.


From inside the ship, looking out at the lake. It does in a way feel like being out on the lake in the huge ship that is the museum.


In the main corridor of the museum. I took a few pictures right in a row of the girls walking ahead of me. In all of the shots, they are all three looking up into the ship, seemingly taking it all in. The ceilings are WAY UP from where we are standing, and it's really cool.


Playing games at the front of the ship.


In the infiniti room. It was just a small room with mirrors on all sides, even the ground and ceiling. We had to put on the slippers that doctors wear in the operating room in order to protect the glass floor. The reflection of all the orange twinkle lights seemed to go on forever.


The girls by a painting titled, Three Sisters. Rebekah is upset with me in the picture because I wouldn't let her touch the painting.


Being silly in the long white hallway that leads to exhibits.


The white hallway was a perfect place for taking photos, and the girls had lots of fun skipping ahead of me and playing. We had the place just about to ourselves.


A close up of Emma's expression in the above photo. She looked up to see my reaction to Rebekah being so silly. Rebekah kept wanting the older two girls to swing her in their arms as they walked together.


The girls walking away from me, and Alyssa skipping.


Marching, marching...


Something on their left has caught A and E's attention.


A second later, Rebekah noticed it too.


I think this was my favorite picture of them walking in the hallway. I loved how their reflection is on the floor too. It made me wish I knew a little better how to take really good pictures. An experienced photographer would have known just how to catch the light and the shadows, and make it look nice on the white backdrop!


All smiles as she follows her sisters.