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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Everyone's a Critic
(OR... The Adventures of Seal-Girl...)
So, Sunday afternoon, we met up with R's family and headed off on our next adventure. This adventure took us north of Tyler, TX, to Holly Lake Ranch. All of the kids climbed into the van with R and I (because of our handy dandy dvd player), while Hubby and J kept each other awake in their car talking about whatever it is those two talk about. (I had a little cough, but I didn't think much of it... this will become an important part of the story... in a bit).
The eight of us stayed in this cute little cabin at the resort, and the plan was to just hang out and relax for the most part (with a trip to the Art Museum of Dallas on the way home). When we got there, we unloaded the vehicles (it really is amazing how much stuff eight people need for a couple of days). R and I started putting away the groceries, and noticed something... humorous. We both brought groceries along, and we both brought some wine along (the BIG bottle, even.) (OK, those of you who are wine snobs, y'all can just back off right now- we like it. Get over it. For those of you who have no idea, Riunite Lambrusco is a fruity, barely sweet, almost carbonated red wine.) When both bottles came out of the coolers, J commented, "well, I know what Beth and R will be doing while we're here." Well, duh...
So, while R and I got our Easter dinner ready (ham, black eyed peas, steamed cabbage, and banana cream pie), the guys started Round One of Condo Con. After a brief pause for nourishment, they continued playing and R & I talked. The girls finally crashed around 11pm- no idea when the guys finally finished up.
My cough got worse during the night, to the point where R was offering me some cough syrup at 6am. She got up and made breakfast for everyone, and I slept "in" (until 9am). After we all ate, Condo Con continued, and R, Miss T, and I headed off to WalMart (only 24 miles away- yes, we were in the middle of nowhere). Grabbed some more groceries, then headed back to the cabin. After lunch, I was wiped out. Hubby and J took the kids down to the lake to shoot off some fireworks (thanks, MamaMontezz!!!), R went for a walk, and I took a nap. A two hour nap. (R took a nap, too, once she got back from her walk.) We made dinner, and the guys started the final round of Condo Con. I was in bed, lights out, by 9:30pm (by this time, my cough had turned into that wonderful seal impersonation that I've become (in)famous for).
Yesterday, we packed up (which was much easier that packing to go there, for some reason) and headed for Dallas, destination Dallas Museum of Art (thanks, Howard, for the directions!) Tickets purchased, we decided to do lunch before going into the exhibit. (Question- if the woodwork in the Cheese Club was originally in Pete Townsend's castle, then what's in the castle now?) We took the trolley to and from lunch, which was cute.
Once we had full tummies (for the moment), we went back to the museum and our reason for the trip- an exhibit entitled "Splendors of China's Forbidden City." They had artifacts from the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It was a very interesting exhibit, full of details on the history and culture of the Qian dynasty. I'm pretty sure we all enjoyed that.
That's when it went... downhill. Or, at least, down an embankment. We decided to go through the rest of the art museum while we were there. Classic Mediterranean made sense to the kids, as did many of the European paintings (they made not have liked them, but they knew what they were). Their minds went into the gutter, however, when we got to the Pacific Islands art (which tended to be crude, nude, and well... rude. OK, maybe not rude... they just seemed to have an inflated sense of their own... giftedness... if you know what I mean.) And it just got worse when we got to the Contemporary Art area (where Hubby complained about seeing our tax dollars at work... he's got a point... a lot of it was pretty bad... a kindergartner could have done better). Then there was the Robert Smithson Retrospective. (No, I didn't get any of his work, either... and, as R pointed out, if art is supposed to evoke emotion, then it worked, if everyone's laughter was any indication. But... a pile of gravel? Art?)
I was kind of glad when we left. We're just not artsy people. I mean, we all like beautiful things, but that's not what art is. Art is obviously something I just don't get. And I'm ok with that.
We drove home, and 3/5 of the people in the van napped at some point (and, no, I was not one of them. Kind of hard to do when you're driving.)
All in all, it was a good mini-vacation. Not quite as restful as it could have been, with my seal-impersonation and all. But spending time with friends is always a good thing.
Real blogging will resume after I get the boys out the door to school (and I take a nap).
So, Sunday afternoon, we met up with R's family and headed off on our next adventure. This adventure took us north of Tyler, TX, to Holly Lake Ranch. All of the kids climbed into the van with R and I (because of our handy dandy dvd player), while Hubby and J kept each other awake in their car talking about whatever it is those two talk about. (I had a little cough, but I didn't think much of it... this will become an important part of the story... in a bit).
The eight of us stayed in this cute little cabin at the resort, and the plan was to just hang out and relax for the most part (with a trip to the Art Museum of Dallas on the way home). When we got there, we unloaded the vehicles (it really is amazing how much stuff eight people need for a couple of days). R and I started putting away the groceries, and noticed something... humorous. We both brought groceries along, and we both brought some wine along (the BIG bottle, even.) (OK, those of you who are wine snobs, y'all can just back off right now- we like it. Get over it. For those of you who have no idea, Riunite Lambrusco is a fruity, barely sweet, almost carbonated red wine.) When both bottles came out of the coolers, J commented, "well, I know what Beth and R will be doing while we're here." Well, duh...
So, while R and I got our Easter dinner ready (ham, black eyed peas, steamed cabbage, and banana cream pie), the guys started Round One of Condo Con. After a brief pause for nourishment, they continued playing and R & I talked. The girls finally crashed around 11pm- no idea when the guys finally finished up.
My cough got worse during the night, to the point where R was offering me some cough syrup at 6am. She got up and made breakfast for everyone, and I slept "in" (until 9am). After we all ate, Condo Con continued, and R, Miss T, and I headed off to WalMart (only 24 miles away- yes, we were in the middle of nowhere). Grabbed some more groceries, then headed back to the cabin. After lunch, I was wiped out. Hubby and J took the kids down to the lake to shoot off some fireworks (thanks, MamaMontezz!!!), R went for a walk, and I took a nap. A two hour nap. (R took a nap, too, once she got back from her walk.) We made dinner, and the guys started the final round of Condo Con. I was in bed, lights out, by 9:30pm (by this time, my cough had turned into that wonderful seal impersonation that I've become (in)famous for).
Yesterday, we packed up (which was much easier that packing to go there, for some reason) and headed for Dallas, destination Dallas Museum of Art (thanks, Howard, for the directions!) Tickets purchased, we decided to do lunch before going into the exhibit. (Question- if the woodwork in the Cheese Club was originally in Pete Townsend's castle, then what's in the castle now?) We took the trolley to and from lunch, which was cute.
Once we had full tummies (for the moment), we went back to the museum and our reason for the trip- an exhibit entitled "Splendors of China's Forbidden City." They had artifacts from the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It was a very interesting exhibit, full of details on the history and culture of the Qian dynasty. I'm pretty sure we all enjoyed that.
That's when it went... downhill. Or, at least, down an embankment. We decided to go through the rest of the art museum while we were there. Classic Mediterranean made sense to the kids, as did many of the European paintings (they made not have liked them, but they knew what they were). Their minds went into the gutter, however, when we got to the Pacific Islands art (which tended to be crude, nude, and well... rude. OK, maybe not rude... they just seemed to have an inflated sense of their own... giftedness... if you know what I mean.) And it just got worse when we got to the Contemporary Art area (where Hubby complained about seeing our tax dollars at work... he's got a point... a lot of it was pretty bad... a kindergartner could have done better). Then there was the Robert Smithson Retrospective. (No, I didn't get any of his work, either... and, as R pointed out, if art is supposed to evoke emotion, then it worked, if everyone's laughter was any indication. But... a pile of gravel? Art?)
I was kind of glad when we left. We're just not artsy people. I mean, we all like beautiful things, but that's not what art is. Art is obviously something I just don't get. And I'm ok with that.
We drove home, and 3/5 of the people in the van napped at some point (and, no, I was not one of them. Kind of hard to do when you're driving.)
All in all, it was a good mini-vacation. Not quite as restful as it could have been, with my seal-impersonation and all. But spending time with friends is always a good thing.
Real blogging will resume after I get the boys out the door to school (and I take a nap).
