Getty Museum

We took advantage of the last few days of summer vacation to visit the Getty Museum. It was a perfect day to go. Most kids are back in school after Labor Day and it was an unusually cloudy, drizzly day. We watched a movie about the Getty to get an overview of what was there. We decided to stick with the decorative arts rather than the paintings. We thought the girls would be more interested and we know we are. I was amazed by the number of ways they had for kids to interact with the exhibits. Next to several pieces there were computer touch screens that they could use to get a close up of the art. On one small cabinet there were four very small painted panels. When we could see the detail on the computer screen we realized they represented the four classic elements - water, air, fire and earth, just like in the girls' current favorite show, Avatar: the Last Airbender. We studied the pictures for a few minutes and tried to guess which each represented. When we had decided, the girls pushed another button that "labeled" each picture so we could see if we were correct. The same information could have been written on one of the classic wall plaques next to the art, but this made it more interesting for the girls to be able to manipulate a screen.
After lunch we headed outside to the sculpture garden. We could have spent the whole day in this part alone. There we so many things to see between the flower garden (felt like we were back in Europe), the sculpture garden and the zig zag walk along the creek. Claire also had fun running up and down the steps. They were long with a short rise so she felt like they were built for her.

Emily is now aspiring to be a still life photographer. I think she has an eye for it.
Another cool thing they had for kids was the Family Room. Again the kids could interact with the art. In this case they hopped into a replica of an 18th century French bed. We later found the real one. Turns out that Emily's bed isn't that much newer than this one in the museum. Plus we think hers is prettier.

We also poked through the gift shops and found a letter box. I had to go to work that night so we had to leave before we were feeling done. The girls really wanted to stay longer. I think next time we may try to go to the Getty in Malibu to see the Roman and Egyptian pieces.