NORMAN ROCKWELL IN NASHVILLE

This was so exciting for us.  Norman Rockwell at The Frist in Nashville!  We used to live only minutes away from the Norman Rockwell Museum in the Berkshires.  And at one time we even lived in an apartment down the street from one of Rockwell's former studios.  I have been a fan of his since I was a teen.  My kids have grown to love his work as well.  It was like having an old, dear friend come to visit.  A couple of our friends joined us for our visit which made it even more fun!

 I wasn't able to take pictures in the gallery, of course, and I completely understand.  Take my word for it that it was incredible!  After touring the gallery we went to the children's hands on area.

 At first it was crowded as there were 2 school groups.  But soon they left for lunch and we only shared with a handful of other homeschoolers.  Perfect!

 The older girls sat down together to sketch.  They are both budding artists.

 They worked for quite awhile.  

 I believe this was Princess's favorite activity.

 This was Bugsy's and Elvis's favorite hands on activity.  You take pictures in still frames and then all of them are combined to make a short movie.  Such fun!

 Elvis making his movie.

 Still sketching!  =)

 Hee, hee, hee.

 Finished!  Didn't they do a wonderful job?

 It was pouring when we arrived but the rain had stopped by the time we were ready to leave.  I was very glad because I had really wanted a photo of the kids in front of the banner.  

 This sculpture was outside and made very odd noises.  The kids all had fun making up stories about what was really going on inside that thing. Hee, hee!

 When we arrived home they got to work on their booklets from the museum.  (Free)

 These are all our books.  I bought most of them at library sales when we lived in the Berkshires.  The kids had looked at them before our trip and recognized many of the paintings when we were in the gallery.

 Cheese!

This is the booklet.  It was neat to see it came from the museum in Stockbridge.

One of the things that is neat about The Frist is that they are very family friendly.  For our entire family to go see this exhibit only cost us $10 in admission and $4 to park.  For 7 people that is outstanding!

The Birth of Impressionism

We were off to Nashville! The girls & I went into the city yesterday to see the Impressionism exhibit. It was amazing! I was a bit nervous about finding it & finding parking as I am by no means a city driver. Thank God for the GPS!

Walking up the hill from the parking lot.

Here it is!

We weren't allowed to take photos inside so we took a few before going in.

After walking through the exhibit for almost 2 hours we were full of new knowledge & appreciation.

Upon discovering that there was an upstairs we decided to investigate. There was an exhibit of photographs & an area for hands on fun & discovery.

The girls set to work making print art.

First they drew a design on plain paper. After that was done they took a tool & traced their designs onto a piece of foam.

Rolling paint over the foam print.

Crank it through the press!

Her turn!

I forgot to take a picture of their final prints. I will add that later.

Boo wanted to try out the digital film making. You were able to set up 20 scenes. After you set up each one you took a picture. The button for it is right there on the box. You could then choose whether to keep the photo or delete it.

Setting up another scene.

After you had all 20 photos taken you pressed another button & it all came together in a mini movie. We got a huge kick out of Boo's movie!

We took a quick tour through the photography exhibit & then headed out. Parking was adding up fast!

Once outside I saw this beautiful building. I had to take a moment to get a snapshot.

I'm not sure if it was a church but it reminded me of one. One day I'd love to take a trip & photograph churches all around the country.

On a warm day this would be a perfect spot to dine.

The girls indulged me with this photo. LOL!

The view of the building from the parking lot.

Payment for parking had to be made to a machine. It was acting up but we finally managed to get it to take our money. It gave us our change in dollar coins. We were all kind of fascinated with them.

The fire was lit! Boo spent the rest of the afternoon pouring over art books. I picked these up back in MA at a library book sale. I miss those!

P.S. After seeing some of the same paintings in our books we realized the photos don't even come close to seeing them in person. I had guessed but it was amazing to see what a huge difference it was!

Titans Football!

At the end of October Dave & I had the thrill of attending a NFL Titans game! I won tickets back in August & gave them to Dave as an anniversary present. He chose me to go with him. It was an experience of a lifetime!

We drove into Nashville & parked off of Broadway. Then we had to walk to the bridge & cross it to the stadium. It's the only way over there for spectators. We met some nice fans who showed us the way over.

We finally made it to the LP Field. W-O-W!

Our seats were AMAZING! We were the 3rd row back & could see everything perfectly. I only brought my point & shoot camera and was soon wishing I had brought my Nikon.

Getting ready to start!

The mascot kept me laughing. He did a fantastic job & was hilarious!

The game was okay the first 3 quarters. But then the 4th came & it was very exciting! We were yelling & cheering like crazy.

Titans score!

And yes! Again!

They completely turned the game around!

One last shot from the top before going home.

While waiting in line to climb the stairs to the bridge I had to take a shot of the bridge. It reminded me of when the electricity went out in New York and all those people walked home. What a crowd! Everyone was in a celebration mood! Well, except for the Eagles fans. Lol.

A shot of the Batman Building as we crossed back over the bridge.

A day for the memory book to be certain!