Lots of Dots

Dan took an early flight Saturday morning, departing for a week-long work adventure.  While I have been trying to travel with him as much as possible, I stayed home to hang out with the children this time.  (More to be back-posted later on some past adventures that we reported in our Christmas letter but haven't expanded on yet.)  

But what to do alone with the children for a whole week?  

The Kids and their Practically Adult Activities

Saturday started out with the idea of figuring out the Project Of Will Getting University Logistics Going (POWGULF).  While initially an overwhelming concept, after some research and thought, we determined that we are smart people and can figure this out together.  So many parts of Saturday were spent creating a plan on a marker board and researching deadlines.  We determined that with his current grades and SAT, Will has a 5.38% chance of getting into Cal Tech, a 50.94% chance of getting into Georgia Tech,  and a 95.16% chance of getting into Virginia Tech.  So really, there is a good chance he can find a school to attend that works well for him.  We identified our three greatest concerns: Essay writing and editing, finding merit-based scholarships to apply to, and determining the calendar of application deadlines.  

What about Alex?  We broke out his passport and SSN card and took him over to his new job to complete his onboarding paperwork.  On the way, we listened to NPR (learning that Weird Al made a move about himself starring the actor who played Harry Potter) and stopped off at one of the rare automatic car washes in our area to try and get the encrusted pollen removed from the car.  The work paperwork part was successful, but we felt a bit silly after the car wash when a torrential downpour commenced.

Continuing the Tradition of Forced Art Appreciation

Sunday after church, we hopped on the metro to go downtown.  You see, I still have lots of metro dollars left over from before the pandemic when I rode the metro daily to work.  We went to the Hirshorn Gallery, which has a Kusama exhibit.  We saw one of her giant pumpkins but weren't able to take photographs in that section.  However, we did get to take pictures in two different infinity rooms.  The infinity rooms are both rectangular rooms that you can physically enter.  This is a picture of the outside of the first infinity room.  

Outside the Infinity Room

The guy standing outside is responsible for crowd control.  He lets you in for 45 seconds, then kicks you out.  I shall call him, The Infinity Room Bouncer.  So the Infinity Room Bouncer tells you the time rules, the photography rules, checks to see if you are in a group together, and then lets you in.  

To this crazy place:

Which Way to Look for Photograph?

Yes, That Way.  But What About Will?

There We Are, In a Row

Alex Wondering What Those Things Are

Alex and Will are Wondering about Their Infinite Doppelgangers

So it turns out that the red-dot-covered things are soft, phallic sculptures, and the room itself is called "Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field."  Apparently, the artist experienced some trauma as a child.  Her mother would ask her to go spy on her philandering father.  This influenced her art.  The other aspect of Kusama's experience and expression of her art is that she experiences hallucinations which she then translates into art.  She has been experiencing these since about age 10 and finds it therapeutic to create art of infinite dots to cope.  She has lived in a mental institution since the 1970s and walks to her studio each day to create art.

Another of her infinity rooms is called "My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe."  Like a never-ending nightclub, the dots are glowing here.

A little difficult to photograph; we had to get really close to one of the lights to be illuminated.

This Time We Didn't Lose Will

Food Truck?

After our dot adventure, we departed from the Hirshorn and contemplated shwarma.  We walked up to the first food truck that had shwarma on the menu, but Alex was unsure that they would be able to produce a plate of rice, fries, and meat without other ingredients like tomatoes and onions.  We walked by two more shwarma food trucks.  The offerings were more of a gyro sort of sandwich containing other ingredients.  He suggested that we try a restaurant.  Of course, there are few restaurants on the mall, so we found the nearest "shwarma" on google maps and started off on an adventure to find the restaurant called Zaytinya by José Andrés.  Of course, we didn't think it completely through.  Obviously, if a restaurant name has "by Fancy-Chef-Name" after it, it's going to be different than "Shwarma Guys."  Alex was wanting Shwarma Guys or Lebanese Taverna.  We arrived to the fancy Mediterranean restaurant, and indeed there was no plate of rice, fries, and meat.  In fact, they had zero fries at all.  

The pita was lovely.

And look, the water glass even had lots of dots, just like our museum visit.  Throughout the whole experience, Alex kept saying, "This was not what I expected."  But hey, we had a new experience at a new place.  And we all ate delicious, unexpected food.

Once Upon a Time... At the Paris Police Station

There are many stories in our lives. This is just one of them.

November 2, 2017 Friend of ours visited us when we lived in Toulouse, France during August of 2017. The couple and their son spent some time with us in Toulouse, then continued on to Paris where the husband unfortunately lost his wallet. It was possibly stolen on the metro. They filed a police report, but nothing was resolved before they returned to the United States. Weeks later, the police contacted him and said it had been recovered. We fabricated a letter in English and French to authorize us to retrieve it.

Then, during the kids' school break in October/November, we initiated a trip to Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Munich-Paris (as you do). Dan joined us in Budapest. The Budapest-Vienna-Prague part of the trip included my parents. The Munich-Paris leg was just me and the boys. I know there is a Dracula story in there that should be told as well, but that is for another time.

When we finally made it to Paris, we stayed at an AirBnB that was a bit off the beaten path, but located near the police station where we needed to retrieve the wallet. We went to an amazing restaurant for breakfast while waiting for the police station to open. As it was off the beaten path, there weren't tourists, so the proprietors of the restaurant were actually nice to us:) And the food! It was the best French breakfast we have ever had. It was necessary to get this picture out into the world to show you the amazing breakfast. I apologize for inducing drooling.

After breakfast, we went to the police station, put our bags through the metal detector and found that Alex was carrying like 8 bottles of water. I have no idea why. For those of you who know Alex now, this will not surprise you. The police officer who was on metal detector duty just kept pulling water bottles out of the backpack. I shrugged, made incredulous hand geustures, admonished Alex, and tried to say, "He is a crazy child." in French. It probably came out, "He is fire."

Once we got inside and were actually able to wait in line, it was so slow that the guy in front of us a few places actually fainted! Emergency services had to be called. Turns out we were in the wrong line on the wrong floor, which we found out after we left the crazy line to investigate elsewhere. We got the wallet back, minus the cash, obviously, and saw the ambulance leaving when we departed. But at least we had been fortified by the earlier amazing breakfast!

If you can be a well-behaved tourist, I highly recommend the restaurant Café Arthur et Juliette in Paris. It looks like it is still there. And, according to recent pictures, they have other meals beyond breakfast!

Take the Train to Philadelphia

One of the perks of my former job was the ability to take the Amtrak train anywhere.  While I only ended up taking a single long trip during my tenure there (from Chicago to Minneapolis), we did take advantage of the ability to travel the Northeast Corridor as a family.  We took multiple trips to Philadephia and New York.

In November 2021, Dan and I took a final free train trip to celebrate our 19th anniversary.  For those who do not follow the traditional anniversary gift guidelines, the 19th anniversary is the "Bronze" anniversary.

Obviously, this meant that we needed to go visit the Rodin museum.  No, not the one with the really cool secret wall door... 

You might not have noticed the door if it weren't for the green light and signs.

...the Rodin museum that we can travel to by train from Washington, DC to Philadelphia.  

We saw this Thinker...

Thinking in Philadelphia

not this one...

Impressive Statue?  Non!  The children were unimpressed.

I have to say, after dragging the kids to the Musée Rodin, it was a relief to have willing travel companions for this particular adventure.

Unwilling Participants - January 2018

We accomplished this by convincing/telling our friends Hillary and Kevin to accompany us on our train adventure.  

Happy Travelers - November 2021

We set off on our adventure on Saturday morning, taking the train to Philadelphia.  Besides a grumpy single passenger who wouldn't let the four of us sit together, the train ride was great.  We quickly sipped coffee by removing our masks, then, as per instruction, put them back up in between sips.  We learned that this was the proper protocol when we took the kids to Philly back in the summer.  After arriving at the station, we walked over to our hotel and dropped off our bags.  

Philadelphia Train Station

Having worked up a bit of an appetite for lunch, we wandered over to Gran Caffe L'Aquila, of course.  They had pleasant, covered outdoor seating.  This was helpful because it started to drizzle partway through our meal.  The wine was good, and the food was organized by Italian region.  Unfortunately, we did not get to try the gelato after dinner as we were completely satiated.

Next was the Rodin Museum.  I originally visited this museum with my dad back when I was 17.  Dad had taken me on a trip to visit some colleges.   We went to DC, Philadelphia, and Rochester.  

Proof of First DC Trip

Dad Thinking at the Rodin Museum
when he was My Current Age

Now, I was visiting the Rodin museum with Dan, Hillary, and Kevin.  It was pretty much the same and still impressive.

Smooth Lines out of Rock

That evening, we watched the sun set from the top of our hotel.  We had views of the nearby Basilica, and we got to stay warm-ish around a rooftop fire pit.

The fire will keep us warm!

Tasty Pink Drink

After drinks, we found our dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Amuse that served French food but was in the lobby of a hotel.  The steak frites were good.  The poor waiter was also the bartender and was utterly alone.  It was still a good experience.

The following morning, after a filling breakfast at a busy cafe, we headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  This is the museum with the "Rocky Stairs," so you see many people posing at the top in triumph after running up the stairs.  This is also a museum that my dad and I visited back during our college visit trip.  However, we got to the museum right before it closed and somehow convinced them to let us go in.  Unfortunately, we were only able to see the armor exhibit.  It was still there.

Dan looking at Armor

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Philadelphia was the special exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum.  I've been a fan of Jasper Johns for a while, and since Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors, I have the book he wrote on Johns.   

Jasper Johns' approach to the use of stencils in his work reminds me of the way Will approaches a lot of things.  Crichton asked Johns how he selected the particular number and letter stencils that he used in his art, and he replied that the stencils that he used were the ones that were available.  

Seeing so many of Johns' works in one place was fascinating.  Of course, there are always a few works in DC at the National Gallery, but this collection was quite extensive.

We saw tons of other art in the museum as well.  On the top floor, they had even rebuilt whole buildings inside the museum and had a french courtyard with a fountain.  There were even some French people speaking French (But I think they were museum visitors like us).

Hanging out in the French Courtyard

Fountain!

And here is some non-building-based art.

Van Gogh, Miro, Monet, Mondrian, Magritte

After the museum, we returned to grab our bags from our hotel and then continued to the train station to go home.  We arrived to a still-standing house; the kids had survived without us overnight.  

Overall, we saw tons of art and had great food with willing friends.  Philadelphia is a great city and I will miss traveling there for free by train.  

August Vacation - Nashville Wedding

August

While we were waiting for items to arrive at our empty house, we did some traveling.  First, we went to Dan's brother's wedding in Nashville.  This is the best picture we got of our family dressed up all fancy-like.

Yes, Will-the-reliable-one rolled his eyes while Alex perfectly behaved.

While in Nashville, we explored a Grecian site...  by visiting the Nashville Pantheon.  We actually found out about this place while watching the film edition of a Percy Jackson book.  Will and Alex had started reading the series after we visited the Uffizi in Florence last February.  It had a giant statue of Athena in the center and some plaster casts of the real Elgin Marbles that we had seen at the British Museum in July 2017.

The boys spent a lot of time hanging out with their cousins from Virginia.  One new thing that they have become interested in is what "National Day" it is.  We blame Uncle Mike for this.  In fact, our 2019 wall calendar is now the official "National Day" calendar.

Yes, all the boys fit here

No, I don't know what they are doing

The Calmest Cousins

The wedding was successful, although not witnessed by Alex.  He had too much fun running around in his fancy suit and fell asleep during the ceremony.  His power nap energized him enough to do some dancing at the reception.

 

Parenting ProTip:   Don't let your child dance on an escalator.  Sure it might be ok this time, but do you really want them to go viral for their dangerous dance moves?

Despite all of the dangerous dancing, as I mentioned before, these guys successfully got married!

The Giant French Omelette of Easter

A long time ago, before I was born, an Easter Monday tradition began in Bessières, France. They prepare a giant omelette and share it with the town and visitors.

As the children were off school, we made the trek to Bessières to experience this excellent tradition.  (See how I didn't use the obvious egg-pun there... the children have enacted a restriction on egg-puns.)  Like many outings to the surrounding towns and villages of France, our trek involved me driving with the kids and Dan cycling.  

We arrived around 9:30, with omelette starting time at 11:00.  So we found parking near a bakery and consumed some pastries to keep us happy until omelette-time.  We walked toward the center of town, through a market and festival area and found THE GIANT FRYING PAN.

GIANT FRYING PAN and a fire

I know it looks like the pan is actually on the fire, but the fire is behind the pan.  It's a perspective thing.  The frying pan weighed about a ton.  And, no, it's not lifted by using the giant log handle, that's really for appearances.  It is moved with a forklift.  The legs on the frying pan are attached.  So when the forklift moves the pan, it doesn't put it directly on the fire, but the legs cause it to be a non-buring distance above the fire.  This is French Cooking, not me-burning-eggs-in-my-home-kitchen-cooking.  

On one side of the park were the omelette ingredients.  There are 15,000 eggs, a bunch of chives, some chili pepper, and other spices.  The pots on the ground were for holding the eggs after they get cracked.  Then the chefs beat the eggs with a whisk attached to a large drill.  

It's going to be necessary to break a few eggs!

Obviously, if you have a giant omelette, it must be accompanied by giant bread.

Alex near the bread, waiting for the cooking to get started

The fire was already being prepared when we arrived.  The guy on the left was the official fire tender.  I'm not sure what the guy on the right with the hat's title was, but his role was important.  One of his tasks was to drive the fort lift.  

Fire Preparation

After hanging out, just watching the fire for a while, the time finally came for the event to start!  It started with some guys dressed as chickens who handed out chocolate eggs, a parade of officials and, of course, a bunch of drummers.  Because French Chefs need inspirational music.

After a long procession, everyone was assembled.  This included the guys dressed as strawberries in red and green.  They handed out flyers promoting La Tarte Geante aux Fraises coming in June.

Strawberry Guys next to Country Western Guys (Country = USA)

Finally, it was time to cook.  
The official chefs of the day, ordained by the knightly order of the giant omelette, started with 25 liters of duck fat.  Because it's the local, probably artisanal, grease.  And it's delicious.  

Giant Pan of Duck Fat

During this whole time, people had been preparing all of the ingredients.  This includes cracking all of the eggs, slicing the giant bread, and cutting all of the scallions.  It took a long time.  I think from the time we started watching the fire preparation to the time when the eggs actually went into the pan, it was about 2-3 hours.  That's practically longer than a visit to the Louvre.  Or most museums in our travels.  The kids were prepared to wait with books and stuff to do but they were getting kind of antsy.  And hungry.  The eggs went in...

How Many Chefs does it Take?

... we heard the officials announce that cooking would take half an hour.  So, we left our excellent omelette cooking viewing vantage point and let the kids explore the rest of the festival a little.  We found snacks.  Will got fries which he declared, "The best fries ever!"  (They were probably cooked in duck fat.)  Alex had a Nutella crêpe.  After about a half hour, we noticed people walking around with plates of omelette.  

Empty Plates, Waiting to be Filled with Omelette

We sent the kids to get some omelette, but they couldn't find where and how to acquire it.  Plus, they didn't really want any, so they weren't particularly motivated.  I ran into some friends who already had plates of omelette and they told me to hurry and get some of my own.  So, I went to the crowd where the plates were being distributed.  It was kind of a process.  People in the front got omelette, they left the crowd, everyone moved up a bit, until you were in the front and could get your own omelette. I was involved in this process when I saw the kids walking back to where we had been standing (without any plates of omelette).  They are pretty independent, so I let them go.  Besides, I had omelette priorities!  I got my omelette and went back to the general area where I had last been with the kids.  

Successful Omelette Acquisition!

While I was busy taking this selfie of my successful omelette acquisition, the kids found me.  They were mildly annoyed, which is their general state of being when we force-them-to-experience-things.  But, since we were done, we headed back to the car to return home.  As an important last stop, and to bring things full circle, we once again went to the bakery, grabbed some bread and croissants so that the kids could consume non-omelette based sandwiches on the way home, and found a route out of  Bessières that didn't go directly through the festival.  

Will we go to the Giant Strawbery Tarte?  Perhaps.  Wait and see...

The Extraordinary Garden - Weekend Adventure

In our efforts to expose them to new things, we took the boys to a place recommended by Dan's French teacher.  She said that it is only open for 4 days each year and this weekend was during that time.  It is called, Le Jardin Extraordinaire.  

The objectives of the garden are listed on the left side of the sign.  I think they say:
* Make art accessible to all
* Nature Sensitivity
* Bond with others

So it was kind of like a hippy festival of nature art.  There was also music.  And some artisanal crafts including this 450 euro steampunk badger.

My eye is a watch and my intestines are gears!

Rather than branding this adventure as a hike, we told the kids that it was more like a hunt for koroks.  We pulled out an old camera and told them to take pictures every time they find a place that a korok should be hiding.  While they still complained a bit about the hiking part and the uncomfortable weather, we got these excellent pictures...

Hiding under a bridge

In a Circle of Flowers

Enjoying the Tournesol

Inside the Vine House

Playing on the Bug Decorating the Stream

Nom Nom

We were warned not to tickle the koroks.

Sometimes Koroks Like to be Left Alone

Alex even took some time to pose for pictures.

And take a selfie...

Great Pumpkin Selfie!

It was an extraordinary garden.  If you get the chance to visit, it is open in 2018 the weekend that spans August and September.  Maybe you can find some koroks too!