museum tour-first stop

I find the show Jon and Kate Plus 8 has the uncanny ability of making me feel both much better and much worse about my life. They have eight small children and have been known to yell at their kids and each other, have colossal messes overpower their house and show quite a few neurosis to the greater TLC watching world. But they also bring all eight of those potential tantrum throwing children to museums and painting workshops and skiing and to see Oprah and all sorts of things that I still cringe at (well not the Oprah part; I have yet to be invited to appear on Oprah) for the very effort it all takes to manage. And I have two children.

We also don't have cable though, so I don't often have these bouts of inferiority when compared to the Goslins. I just pretend that their productivity does not exist in the same world as mine. Maybe it's something about Pennsylvania. I've never lived there.

But fresh off a weekend at my in-laws' house (which does have cable) I was feeling quite bad about the lacking number of museums and cultural destinations my boys have been to of late. So yesterday, on the rainiest, coldest day April has ever seen, we set off for Portland's Museum of Contemporary Craft, which sounded promising because a) it was free, b) it had something to do with my own interests and c) it was located three short blocks from Anthropologie, which I had been wanting to peruse since being back in Portland. So we went and we got drenched and we had to walk very carefully through the museum which is not, I might warn, for children. The oldest found the little statues of children with prominently displayed genitalia very interesting, which was fine (that's not the part I meant about not child-friendly) but he also wanted to sit on the artisan crafted rocking chairs and swing from the breathtaking yarn, felt and sequin vines hanging on one whole side of the gallery. I don't blame him; it was like a magical, much cooler version of Rain forest cafe inspired by Swan Lake. I would like to go back by myself with an ipod and listen to something very epic while I wandered in and around the feathery, viney beauty of it all.

So we didn't stay long because it was lunch time after all and I had a semi-flat tire on the stroller and I could keep the curiosity of the two-year old contained for only so long. Then we went to Whole Foods for a little snack and had the most delicious French Canadian Greek style yogurt that has ever passed any of our three lips. I had moments scooping bites from the container where I seriously thought about eating the whole dang thing myself and feeding the boys graham crackers from my purse instead. But I shared and we went home soggy but full of culture and phenomenal yogurt.

Next stop-- the Kidd toy museum and I'll remember to bring the camera...