After visiting the Meramac Caverns, the sun was finally out after days of clouds and nothing but clouds. Sonya and Clara took a nap in the car while we drove back to St Louis. We were going to visit the Botanic Gardens but the weather was just too hot and I left the sunscreen at the hotel. Moreover, we had to pay entrance fee. We were just not for the idea of paying to get the kids sunburnt and sick.
But, there was a problem. I had promised the kids that we would bring them to a playground (I had thought that the Botanic Garden was free and the weather would be nice and there was a very nice playground inside in the Garden) and luckily I thought of the Turtle Playground at the Forest Park. Giant turtles for the kids to climb and play.
At the park, we came across a Japanese man demonstrating his top spinning skills! He got a top spinning on top of a pen and let us pass it around.
The Turtle Playground was nice but couldn't occupy the kids for very long and we needed to get out of the heat. Off we headed for the St Louis Art Museum also located within the Forest Park.
I had read that the museum has one of Monet's Water Lillies painting, I just have to go see it. It was time to give the kids some art enrichment at the museum :)
I am not sure how much enrichment they actually got in the end but Sonya was pretty enthusiastic about taking photos with the artworks. Clara was just trying to escape our grasp and run away as usual.
We saw works by Courbet, Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Matisse, Mondrian, Picasso, Braque, Moore, Chagall, Paul Klee, etc.
There were also more contemporary works like the one in the photo below.
It was really nice to be stepping into an art museum again. I think the last time I did was about 4 years ago at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston.
After searching room to room, we finally found Monet's Water Lillies.
And to Sonya's delight, we also found the Little Dancer of Fourteen Years by Degas that she has been learning at ballet.
After being inside the museum for about an hour or so, it was time for the kids to run around in the open field in the front of the museum at the Grand Basin. The weather was also not so hot anymore.
Clara has newly developed an interest to flower picking.
We had parked our car at the top of the hill near the museum. Justin offered to go get the car and meet us at the Grand Basin while I brought the kids down the open field and to the Grand Basin.
While we waited for Justin to arrive (we later found out that he lost his way and drove out of the park!), I let Sonya use my camera to snap some photos of Clara and myself.
Justin finally found his way to the Grand Basin and he took this photo for us.
As expected, since Sonya got to use the camera, Clara had to "try" too and she took photos of Sonya and myself :)
It was Sonya's turn again and Justin got to be in the photo too.
Sonya took one last photo of the planter below before we headed off to dinner.
The next day, we did more art enrichment at the Laumeier Sculpture Park. We didn't have much time to stroll since we got the car to return and the plane to catch at 6pm. But we did get to see most of the sculptures and the kids got some running around.
Some dogs were barking nearby and Clara covered her ears because she thought it was too loud. Loud sounds really bother her.
For some of the sculptures, they actually displayed the mock-up models as well so it was pretty cool to see the mini version and then the actual version.
I am sure you can tell which is which in the photo above, right?
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