Cultured Kids

My kids are officially cultured.  Before Sunday evening we had been raising them as Neanderthals.  Little tiny barbarians that we let wander around disguised as regular kids.  However, they have now been to a museum of art.  They were so sophisticated while pondering artists' meanings behind their abstract work.  At one point, I even caught them discussing juxtaposition and the Baroque Period.  After visiting the Renaissance artists, we allowed our newly cultured kids to explore the gardens.

 

If you're buying the big load of malarkey I just fed you, then I'll let you in on a little secret.  As much as I would like to say my kids are cultured in the art realm, they are not.  At one point they each stuck their fingers inside a sculpture of a dog and announced they had found boogers.  It was a proud moment for me.

The real reason why we visited our local museum was to see the Festival of Trees.  Christmas Trees decorated in the most unique manners only to be auctioned off for a museum fundraiser. There were also Gingerbread houses that were really outstanding.  It was pretty cool to see all the different constructions and materials used.  A little inspiring until I came to the realization that I, myself, would eat the decorations and therefore leave nothing left to decorate. 

Before I show the pictures of the trees and houses, I would like for you to keep your eye out for pink flamingos.  It's important.  Just trust me.

Did you catch them?  I wish Steven had captured the full tree.  Quite gaudy and it sold for well over $700.  If you're wondering why my mother and I would take time to capture such an ugly tree, you must first travel back in time with me, say, about 15 years ago...

My mom and I were meandering through the garden section of a store looking for outdoor pots.  As we were passing a large section of bright pink flamingos, my mom picks one up and says very loudly, "Why on Earth would anyone buy one of these awful things?"

I can't say that I didn't agree with her.  They are pretty awful.  Maybe one of the more tacky yard ornaments you could purchase here in the midwest.  That wasn't the problem though.  The problem was what I saw and what she didn't.  As she was making her stand against the flamingos, I could clearly see the lady in front of me had her cart stacked full of them.  Right after my mom made her bold statement, the lady turned to her cart and began unloading them.  All of them.

I'm not sure if my mom's 'foot in mouth' scenario was appreciated by the lady, but hopefully she appreciated not becoming the laughing stock of her neighborhood.  It doesn't really matter though.  My mom and I are left with a pretty funny memory. Seeing the tree at Philbrook made us crack up immediately.  We couldn't resist a pic with it.  Who knows?  Maybe my mom bid the $700 for the tree.  She has been known to do crazy things. I just hope she didn't purchase it for me.