AJ at the Art Institute

This whole month (Feb), admission to the Art Institute is free, so even though my parents are members, we took advantage of it and went on Valentine's Day with AJ. We met Omi and Pa there and they got us in to see the Edvard Munch exhibit too.  

On the way to the Munch exhibit from the Michigan Ave entrance, one would usually pass through the hall with all of the armor, and we thought AJ would like to see the "knights".  But since the renovations (which are almost done!), that hall is now filled with Indian and Hindu archeological artifacts. Originally, I was bummed, but it turned out that he loved what was there!  He liked looking for all the animals in the carvings and for people too. He learned how to say "buddha" and made great "roar!" sounds at the lion statues. Also new in the section since the construction is a great bank of windows that overlook the train tracks beneath the museum and let in tons of natural light. My mom was holding AJ and looking out at the trains when I took this shot. (also note that in these pictures, AJ is holding a little green toy.  This is Alfie, one of Thomas' friends. Thomas is AJ's latest obsession, and we almost never leave the house without one of these toys. Thank goodness we haven't lost one...yet!!)

Andy and I walked through the Munch exhibit with AJ at record pace. I usually like to read all the captions and really LOOK at the paintings, but with AJ, that was not really possible. He liked some of it, like this banned shot I took of him looking at Paris Street, Rainy Day by Caillebotte. (I forgot to turn off my flash so my illegal shot was definitely not as inconspicuous as I had hoped, and I was reprimanded by a guard. Oh well, at least I still got the picture!)  We asked AJ questions about the art and he was OK with it for a while, but then some of the rooms were darker and really crowded and he started whining to go. Since the crowds were also so silent, we didn't want to ruin anyone else's experience either, so we left and headed down to the Kraft Kids area. Down there, AJ colored a great accordion book and I think was excited to get to use markers and colored pencils since at home he usually just gets crayons and paint.


A couple of days later, I went out to the suburbs to my mom's house and Kim came over with Kyra and Grayson. Here is the cute and fun picture of Kyra and AJ snuggling together in the recliner. They have been getting along better and better as they both practice how to share Omi's toys.

After Kim left, my mom and I took AJ down to the All Aboard Diner in Downer's Grove and my dad was able to meet us there for lunch. AJ LOVED it! They had train stuff all over...our food arrived by a little train that ran along the big horseshoe counter, and they had a little train set with parts that moved when you pushed buttons. On 2 tv's they were playing Thomas episodes without sound and there was a track around the ceiling with another train making the rounds. He was in heaven. So was I since I got a chocolate malt. ;)