We spent a long weekend up in DC a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. I admit I was happy to be able to see so many of the museums with the kids and that I would be coming home with lots of material to write about here on the blog. Well, unfortunately my very nice camera will still allow you to take pictures with no memory card and so my hundreds of pictures are gone. I know, I know what many of you are thinking…user error.

Fortunately, my eight year-old had her camera along and took many photos in the Natural History Museum. It was really interesting for me to see what she photographed and what was important to her. When she found something she liked, she also photographed the placard with the item’s description.

The majority of her pictures were in the Gems and Minerals. She definitely gets her interest in this from her dad, who has a pretty nice collection.

She also took many pictures of the giant sloth fossil. She remembered years ago her brother bolted from that room in the museum because he thought it was the Wampa who captured Luke in the Empire Strikes Back. I wouldn’t be surprised if George Lucas based the Wampa on this Ice Age fossil.  She had a lot of fun teasing the now middle schooler about it.

I don’t know that I would normally take the time to look through each of her pictures and be able to see through her eyes what is important to her in a huge museum where there are so many subjects. I love that we were able to pass down our old digital camera to her and that she is capturing her favorites.

*Shortly after writing this, my son read it and informed me that I had incorrectly called the sloth a dinosaur, that he was just a fossil.  After looking up dinosaur on Wiki, I am still not sure.  Does anyone know?

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I went to visit the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA.  No, it is not where torpedos are being made, but they used to be.  Now it is an art center that showcases the work of regional, national and international artists on three floors in a great old building down on the waterfront.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center really offers something for everyone’s taste and price range.  There are galleries showcasing huge oil painting of landscapes and a fiber gallery with felted hats and woven scarves.  We left with two beautiful clay ornaments for next year’s Christmas tree.  There are dozens of galleries in the art center, so there is a lot to do. And, if you really do want to see a torpedo and learn a bit about their history, look for a display of a torpedo on the first floor.

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As promised, Elizabeth and I wanted to try to highlight all of the artists we loved from this year’s Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. Here are three more artists we loved-

Lucy Dierks - Lucy’s ability to capture birds in her ceramic work is captivating. The detail she shows in her tiny subjects, right down to the way their claws grip the branches, is amazing. Lucy also captures natural textures, including lichen, stones and tree bark, beautifully in ceramic. I was thrilled when I realized Lucy is a fellow Virginian and I look forward to going to the Quirk Gallery in Richmond and seeing more of her work.

Mike Libby – Mike’s unusual work was one of the reasons I loved the Philadelphia Show so much. Mike borrows from science fiction and fact, his Insect Lab customizes real insect specimens with antique watch parts and other tech components. The adorned creatures are a “unique celebration of the contradictions and confluences between nature and technology”. We also loved hearing from Mike the process by which he was chosen to be part of Neiman Marcus’s Christmas Catalog.

Chris Roberts-Antieau – Chris’ work brought out the kid in me. I loved her piece “If I Had A Monkey”. I laughed and laughed, because I used to really want to actually have a monkey. Chris works with “fabric pictures” or “textile appliqué”. She uses swatches of fabric and hand stitched embroidery to create her whimsical works. They are then presented under glass in hand painted frames which are designed for each piece. Thank you so much Chris for your wonderful sense of humor.

I cannot wait to go back next year!

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If you have a chance to visit Roanoke, Virginia on a trek through the Blue Ridge Mountains, make sure you add the Taubman Museum of Art to your itinerary. The museum is in the historic market area and near the wonderful Center in the Square.

I was in Roanoke with my family recently and we headed to the Taubman Museum of Art to find out what their current exhibits might be. With the kids happily in tow, we entered our fist exhibit and saw floor to ceiling woodcut prints by Mike Houston and Martin Mazorra.  In addition to the dozens of black and white prints, there is also an installation on the gallery floor of 17 camping tents displayed as a “tent city” that have images printed on them of homeless men, women and children. In the adjacent gallery, the famous beggars in Rembrandt van Rijn’s etching from the mid-1600’s were on display. This exhibit might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this private collection of Rembrandt’s work that is on tour.  The juxtaposition of the modern images of Houston and Mazorra’s “beggars” and Rembrandt’s images was incredible.

As we moved through the museum, I realized that the kids were most impressed with the contemporary art. They walked with us through the galleries showing American and European art, but they were truly engaged when the art was by modern artists. Russell Richards, and his creative “Inaccurate Maps” and Devorah Sperber, with her amazing sculpture of spools of thread that are transformed into Andy Warhol’s can of Tomato soup when viewed through a glass sphere, captivated our eight and ten year old kids. It was great to learn that our children really do enjoy visiting museums, especially when the art is contemporary.

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This weekend my family traveled up DC to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, a fabulous exhibit on display now through March 31, 2010 at the National Geographic Museum.  As we talked about it, my husband realized he had a high school friend, Sadie Quarrrier, who worked there for the magazine.  When he contacted her she told us she would be happy to show us around the magazine.  I have read National Geographic from cover to cover virtually every month since we started getting a subscription when I was a kid.  I was thrilled.  Sadie is a photo editor and walked us through amazing photos from a story that ran in the November issue on the Stone Forest of Madagascar.  All of the photos were beautiful and I can only imagine how hard it is to decide on which photos can make it into the magazine.  Sadie also showed us how a story is brought to life from conception to publication, showing us upcoming issues that were currently being laid out and explaining some of the difficult decisions that come with each issue.  My kids carefully listened and now have a great appreciation for what it takes to bring National Geographic’s stories to life.  I know my youngest has been bitten by the photography bug, she used all of the batteries in her camera over the weekend.

On the way home I realized what a wonderful opportunity Sadie had given us and started to think about who else we might know.  I know my kids would love to tour a factory, visit a Navy ship, have a pilot or flight attendant show them the inside of a cockpit, see the inside of an operating room or even visit a bank vault.

Thank you so much Sadie!  Maybe one of my kids will grow up to be a writer, photographer or conservationist.

You can get a year of National Geographic for $15!

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This weekend we went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors at the National Geographic Museum in DC. The exhibit is on display there through March 31 and is the final venue of the exhibition’s four-city U.S. tour. Like everything that National Geographic does, the exhibit is amazing and beautifully done. The exhibition includes 15 terra cotta figures from the tomb of China’s First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, who ruled from 221 B.C. to 210 B.C.

“The First Emperor’s magnificent terra cotta army is one of the great wonders of the ancient world,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president for Mission Programs. “Visitors to the National Geographic Museum will have the rare opportunity to experience one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century as they stand face-to-face with the terra cotta warriors.”

I was sorry that I didn’t realize until later that there are free screenings of the film “The Real Dragon Emperor,” featuring the latest archaeological research and imaging techniques that take viewers inside the massive tomb of Qin Shihuangdi. They are shown in National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium at 12 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through the run of the exhibition. The hour-long film also will be screened on the following Saturdays: Jan. 30, Feb. 27 and March 27, at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. I think it would have given us, especially my kids, a better understanding of the enormity of the vault and the magnitude of the discovery that we couldn’t get when read about it. I did download the teacher’s guide and the exhibition e-guide which helped tremendously. Teacher’s guides are great resources that most museums provide that I try to use when we are taking our kids.

Tickets to see the exhibit are $12 for adults and $6 for children, weekends are currently sold out through January 23. I think this exhibit is a once in a lifetime opportunity for those who can’t travel to China.

*these pictures are courtesy of Elizabeth from when her family visited the exhibit, I took tons of photos with no memory card in my camera!

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I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show recently with Cathy, my partner in crime at A Day’s Outing.  The show was so amazing that I don’t think the term “Craft” is sufficient. It should be something like the, “Philadelphia Museum of Art Show of Extraordinary Artists that make you Want Everything they Make”.  Cathy and I were so excited about the art we saw that we are going to highlight the work of a handful of artists over the coming months.  Here are two to get us started….

Laura Breitman - The first time I saw Laura’s work, I thought I was looking at a black and white photograph of a tree.   As I walked closer, I realized the “photograph” was really a collage of finely cut pieces of material.  I found myself backing up to see it appear as a photo and then coming closer to see all the fabric pieces. It’s hard to express just how breathtaking Laura’s work is and how much it really fools your eyes into thinking you are seeing a photograph.   You really have to see her work in person to understand just how amazing it is!

Carolyn Morris Bach - It was a treat to see Carolyn’s jewelry for the first time at the craft show.  In her jewelry there are hand carved faces of owls, birds and bears that have been wrapped in gold and adorned with stones.  In Carolyn’s work there is a spiritual aspect that draws you in.  No two pieces of jewelry are the same and the individual personalities of each piece truly shows through.

If you can get the chance to attend, the show is annually the second weekend in November.  The work displayed there by all the artists is awe-inspiring.

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Here’s a guest blog post from a A Day’s Outing Fan, Pam Connolly -

We traveled from Richmond to Roanoke to stay with great friends this Thanksgiving.  Of course Thanksgiving with friends, family and food is special, but another event begins the day after Thanksgiving.  At Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke, the fabulous jolly old elf awaits.  As we headed from the country to the city, snow flakes swirled around, just as Santa was arriving…. that certainly set the tone for our visit.

Visiting Santa at the History Museum of Western Virginia was magical.  At the first showing Santa greets us with handshakes and hugs, gushing over how big everyone is getting and how good it is to see us.  We all gathered around Santa’s story telling room, it was like a cozy living room with a fireplace, with The Christmas Chair.  Santa picks up his guitar and starts to sing.

Oh, yes, Santa is a very talented musician!  We sing some favorites and talk about how remembering  holiday traditions is so important.  Santa reads a story and sings a song about Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer including Holly (Rudolph’s sister and Buck who has been trying to be on Santa’s team for a while).  Another fun part was Santa’s Good and Bad list. Santa lets the children and adults check for their name in the books.  We all had a great time with this. Wrapping up our time, were pictures and hugs with Santa, sending us off with happiness into the Museum and the wonderful downtown market.

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Great Roanoke Restaurant Reviews!

The annual Leonids meteor shower is only a few days away. The meteor shower will peak in the early morning hours of Tuesday, November 17 and again on Wednesday, November 18th. The Moon will be just past new, so we should have a really dark sky for seeing dozens of shooting stars.

And just what are meteor showers? As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet’s orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation. The upcoming Leonids meteor shower is named for the constellation Leo because the shooting stars seem to appear from there.

If you can’t get away from city lights to see the meteor shower, you can always take an outing to an observatory to view the stars.  Or maybe you have a planetarium nearby and can go inside for a show of the night sky. Here are a few observatories and planetariums that I found:

Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum   Chicago, IL

Boyd Observatory   Aiken, SC

Keeble Observatory   Ashland, VA

Planetarium at New Jersey State Museum   Trenton, NJ

Skywalk Observatory & Exhibit   Boston, MA

Leander McCormick Observatory at the University of Virginia   Charlottesville, VA

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The weather is nice enough that most people can still plant bulbs.  Up until the ground freezes, you can get bulbs in your flowerbeds and vegetable garden, including garlic and daffodils.

I was recently at a harvest festival and I purchased two types of garlic. If you haven’t planted garlic before it’s fast and easy. You simply break the bulb apart into separate cloves and plant each clove 3 inches down and 5 inches apart.  Each clove grows into a bulb and it’s well worth the little amount of space that they take up.  I love buying specific types of garlic at festivals and farmers’ markets, but I have also simply planted garlic I bought at the grocery store.  I know I am taking my chances with this method, since grocery store garlic wasn’t grown in Virginia and may not make it through our winters, but I haven’t had any problems in the past.

As for daffodils, I have hundreds growing around the yard.  With so many amazing varieties available, I can’t help but plant a dozen or so new ones each year.  I tuck daffodils behind and between my perennials.  This way when the foliage of the daffodils is dying they are hidden by the new growth of the other plants. Look for new and different types of daffodils at fall farmers’ markets and through specialty growers, like our local grower Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.

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