Our 1st Ever Family Cultural Awareness Day

Friday night my husband began getting the kiddos pumped up for a big adventure we were to have on Saturday. He's notorious for always having something up his sleeve, remember God's Water Park? The kids went to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. Ok, not really, but they were excited; each of them with their own ideas of what the next days adventure would be.

After tucking everyone in their beds I sat down beside hubs at the table and asked, "So, what is your plan for tomorrow?"

"Cultural Awareness Day," was his reply.

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow will be our first ever Family Cultural Awareness Day. We are going to the art museum."

Well, alrighty then. The art museum it is.

We got up Saturday morning, did a few chores around the house, packed a lunch, and headed off the the NC Museum of Art. Our oldest daughter was very excited; art is her thing. Our son...not so much. His reply after finding out where we were going was, "I hate art."

Hubby's goal in this "cultural awareness day" was to expose the kids to life outside of dirt, bugs, lizards, and Saturday morning cartoons. And, to get them to think outside the box and look at things, at life, at people from a different perspective.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the museum, we were all given specific instructions.

"Now listen. This is what we're going to do. When we get back in the car this afternoon, you have to tell us what your favorite piece of art was and why," hubs said.

"Ok," we replied and off we went.

I wasn't able to take too many pictures inside the museum, but I did get a few I'll share with you. We spent about an hour and a half walking around, looking and talking about the pieces of art from various time periods in history- European art, Egyptian art, American art, and a little Judaic art lined the walls of the museum. Some of the pieces were easily recognizable, others made you stop and say, "hummm."

When we got back in the car, everyone reported on their favorite pieces of art. The princess momma enjoyed the portrait of Emily and the various painting of Jesus. I was not surprised to hear Mighty Warrior's favorite piece was the headless sculpture. The littlest princess enjoyed the glass elevator. And, hubby's favorite was... well, I'll just quote him:

"The art piece of the doctors was of particular interest to me for several reasons. It displayed the harsh realities of war which was represented by the blood running down the piece. The older American doctor and the 2 Asian doctors made me think of WWII and the blood shed between the USA and Japan and the loses that we both suffered. The fruit and birds to me represented the hope of recovery both physically from the wounds of War, and also the wounds we suffered mentally and spiritually. It could also be a representation of the collaborative work that must take place on both sides to begin the healing process. In the piece both sets of doctors were working to heal the patient. What was the patient? Could be society, economy, stigmatisms, stereotypes who knows."

That, my friends, is my goofy, brillant, out-of-the-box husband. I love him so!!!

After the museum, we found a park where we were able to have a little picnic and just enjoy being together.

Once again, hubs pulled it off- a great adventure that cost us less than $10. Good job, babe!!!

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Oh, and my favorite piece? Come back tomorrow and I'll share with you the two pieces that spoke volumes to me.