Visiting the Nelson!

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I visited my mother-in-law at work, which is at a large community college. There is artwork everywhere and Belle enjoyed all the colors, sculptures, pottery as we walked through campus. That gave me the idea to finally visit the Nelson-Atkins museum! I have lived in Kansas City for almost nine years now and I have never visited the museum... even though it's one of the city's most iconic attractions! So shameful.

Now that Jackson has started kindergarten, Belle and I have a few weeks to hang out-- just the two of us! What better opportunity to go and visit! 

Upon quickly learning that she couldn't touch and/or climb inside the museum, she turned pretty sour. Apparently, I'm a terrible mother for not letting her sit on top of the lion statue dated back to BC years. 

This was Belle's favorite piece-- because of the puppy of course! She did like the portraits of women in fancy dresses and a few garden scenes too. 

She never got out of her sassy mood and so we didn't stay long before we ventured outside. Her mood didn't improve after learning she couldn't climb on the shuttlecock either. 

See how much fun she had? 

Right after this picture, we ventured over the outdoor glass maze, which is really kind of neat. It's a giant optical illusion once you're inside because the glass panels blend so well and you can see all the paths. I made sure to go slow (because honestly, can I even get around all that fast these days?) and to keep Belle really close. Well, as we neared the end, she ventured out in front of me and ran smack dab into a giant glass panel. HARD. At that point, she was really over all that the Nelson had to offer so we headed home. 

In all honesty, Belle's adjusting to the new kindergarten routine the hardest (pick up time is in the middle of nap time). Plus, with the new baby coming-- I know it's got to be rough on her! Also, age 3 = terribleness. Her mood fluctuates so dynamically and quickly that there really isn't a good way to plan around it, soooooo... we just do the best we can. If we would have gone the day before, she would have had a blast! We'll try it again sometime. I know that I'm ready to go back and check out the parts I didn't get to see, and even the parts I did! I'll likely wait until after the baby is born because those stairs-- whew! So many stairs. 

And I snapped a pic because I didn't have a recent one when I did my pregnancy update post earlier this week. This is 36 weeks pregnant folks. I feel about as enthusiastic as Belle looks in the picture above. :)