February Fun

The first few weeks of February have been jam-packed with fun!  The first week was Catholic Schools Week at school, which meant lots of special events and dress-up days.  The week ended with a family movie night at a local church, where we watched Gnomeo & Juliet with 100 of our closest friends.

Katie had 'Wacky Clothes' day at school, and Megan had pink day at school

All three girls had pajama day at school on the same day!!

Chris was in Turin, Italy the first week of the month, so when he returned we had lots of surprises for him.

We got him Texas Pete-flavored chips!  His favorite hot sauce!

Katie & Megan decorated this half of the driveway for him.

Jessica colored in Welcome Home Dad!

 He didn't have bad jet lag this time around.  I think it really helped that it was so sunny and warm when he got home, and we went on a long walks on both Saturday and Sunday.  We all enjoyed the sunlight and fresh air!  On Superbowl Sunday, we went to a fun little gathering at a friend's house.  We love friends with finished basements...we just throw the kids downstairs and close the door!  :)

A few days ago, Katie got her brand new glasses!  She is twins with Jessica now!  They have identical frames, but Katie's is adult-sized.  Katie is mildly far-sighted, and has bifocals to help her with reading.  She adjusted well to them right away.

Today we went to the DIA to see the Rembrandt "Faces of Jesus" exhibit.  It was spectacular (but very crowded).  I think the girls really got a lot out of it, since they are familiar with many of the bible scenes that we saw.  The exhibit showed how Rembrandt changed his painting style over time, from traditional European views of Jesus (blond hair, chiseled body, grand gestures) to more realistic views of Jesus (dark hair, Jewish features, gentle and contemplative gestures).  The exhibit was full of studies of two of his paintings/etchings of the same scene, side by side, one from early in his career and one from late in his career, and the differences were explained.  We all learned a lot!

We wandered around most of the museum, and the girls loved the eye-spy clues in each room.  Our favorites were the knights of armor, the Rivera mural room, the impressionist paintings, and the modern art rooms, but we enjoyed everything.

We posed outside the museum after enjoying lunch in the DIA Cafe - my favorite place for lunch!

 After the DIA, we walked across Woodward to the Detroit Historical Museum.  I got a family membership from Groupon - a real steal!  We enjoyed the miniature train exhibit and the streets of Detroit exhibit the most.

Girls driving a Model T.  They each got to crank the engine to start it up!

The dress-up clothes in the toy exhibit room were also a big hit!

Jessi the butterfly peace cheerleader!

Katie the jester!

We had a busy day, but two museums weren't all we did today.  We came home to have an afternoon of sledding in our backyard with our neighbors!  And we had movie night at home tonight, too.  The Smurfs movie was much better than I had expected!  (though I had low expectations)