chalk festival at the cleveland museum of art

i heard about this chalk festival at the cleveland museum of art on thursday or friday, but it was forecast to rain all day on saturday (remember our soccer day?) and matt had a golf tournament on sunday after church for work.  i was really tempted to go on sunday because i thought that the kids would really like it.

matt wasn't too sure about me driving so far for something that might have all washed away in the rain yesterday, but on the ride home from church we decided that i would go for it.

and it was a wonderful time!  i only wish we had had longer to see the museum (we only had three hours before the museum closed).  the down side was that this event was not stroller friendly at all.  i thought an outside festival would be safe for strollers, but with the sidewalks covered with chalk art and/or people laying all over drawing, it was impossible to cross to the open grassy sections.  let's just say that it is a good thing that i am strong and self-controlled because no one was going to make any effort to make room for me to move the stroller or not separate me from the other three on foot that i was trying to keep from getting too far from me.  it would have been really stressful if it was much more crowded.

there was everything from truly talented artists to children drawing in 'purchased' squares of cement in varying sizes.  

mason was really taken with this work in progress of fire.

before heading back into the museum, we stopped for a brief snack and to dance to the fun, live swing music.

manning was overjoyed to be free of the stroller for a little bit.

the event was really impressive in size and the grounds were so beautiful.  i thought it was worth the drive and while there were some that had clearly washed away from the rain the day before, there were some folks there touching them up. i don't think we were even able to see all of the works.  madelyn wants to participate next year and i think that we will.  it would make for a really fun day to draw and then take in the museum exhibits.

our first stop in the museum was a play gallery.  there were lots of hands on activities for the kids - blocks, mobiles, felt shapes, puppets, books, a stage, touch screens and more.

i could not use a flash in the museum so i didn't take a ton of pictures but trying to get a clear one of mason and manning playing i realized that manning kept saying "cheese" for me!  here is one quick video of his version of "cheese".

mason liked counting on this abacus. 

so i think that this is something that just opened this year - it is two huge touch screens that show their entire collection!  it is interactive and you can just click on any item and it will expand with more information about the piece.  all of the small stands in front of the screens are ipad docks to download the info from the screens to reference as you work around the museum.  we will bring the ipad next time for sure.

this art museum was quite large and extremely child friendly!  they had photo scavenger hunts that the kids (or adults) could use to hunt for pieces (madelyn is holding a floral themed one in the pictures below). the staff throughout the museum could not have been nicer either (not that we didn't have a few follow us through some of the exhibits - but i did have three smallish kids in tow that were very excited to be there).  it was so refreshing and helped the kids to really enjoy their time there.

the main atrium (shown in the pictures below) was so beautiful.  we all enjoyed this open space filled with natural light.  i think that these bronze busts were of the chinese zodiac (i never did find a sign).

all three kids were very into the museum but it was madelyn and maddux who were the most interested in reading all of the signs.

maddux said that this tile work was his favorite piece and asked for a picture. 

i overheard someone mention "armor" in the play gallery so we went to the information desk to find out where to find it because mason was pretty excited to hear that there were knights.  the room was amazing and filled with armor and weapons.  he was just overwhelmed with awe.

over the summer we did an "around the world" bible study and when we covered russia we looked at faberge eggs (because i just love them) and we were pretty excited to see on in person - even it if wasn't as ornate as some others i have seen.

we did have one 'crazy mom with four kids' moment when manning started loosing it (he was just so tired) and wanted his "wa-wa" (aka "water").  since there is not food or drink in the exhibits, we had to try and race out so that he could have a drink and calm down.  so i was pushing an empty stroller, carrying a screaming 'baby' under my arm (he did not want to be held) and trying to hurry the three others along with us through a crowd that was leisurely exploring the exhibits.  once manning was calm and we were headed back into the exhibit, one of the security personnel (or are they curators - i am not sure) stopped me to ask how our visit was going since he had seen us pass a few times.  we had seriously passed him about six times by this point and had asked him for help when we were trying to find our way to the chalk festival.  he seemed very sincere about how our visit was going.

it was such a great experience overall and each of the kids brought up how they want to come back with daddy some time.  and we will.  love.