wKHM: Lots to Report...

The weekend...

Haley and I went to Baltimore early Friday morning, checked into a hotel on the inner harbor with an amazing view (thanks to the Marriott neighbors who always share the Friends and Family discount with us...). The weekend was planned as a time of nothing but fun for a Mommy and her daughter who increasingly have conflicts of opinion over the role that each should play in the household. Mission Accomplished. Much fun, much chatting, good sleep; no household responsibilities. (Please note: I've put up just little thumbnail collages of most photos to keep the post size reasonable; I've also put them in a web album you can see at Picasa or by clicking on the album cover at bottom of this post.)

A few photos of the sights around the Harbor; its a beautiful setting. A click (or two) of the mouse should get you a larger image... there's plenty of Generica set into the remains of Baltimore's seaport architecture. I particularly enjoyed the footballs/basketballs/baseballs on skewers flanking the door to ESPNZone. Barnes and Noble occupies the core of the same building that used to be the City's powerplant---they have done a beautiful job of incorporating the smokestacks into the aesthetic design. I was actually impressed which is tough to do being the capitalism cynic I am...

Haley, enjoying herself in many different ways... The image of the water taxi against the side of the USS Constellation always makes me laugh... water taxis are probably what makes visiting the Harbor so much fun for me. For a single passage (8 bucks) you can ride around in the little boats all day long, stopping off at any of the 17 stops, including Fell's Point (home of my favorite ever record shop, The Sound Garden), Little Italy, Fort McHenry... too bad they only ran on Friday during our stay but at least we enjoyed that...

Our visit to the American Museum of Visionary Arts was probably my favorite excursion of the weekend. I thought Haley would enjoy it more than she did, being the artsy little girl that she is. Luckily the visit was relatively brief (for her) and I enjoyed it. It also has one of the best gift shops in the world; their goods are almost as exciting as the collection... not really. The collection and exhibits are amazing. I suppose that I'm struck most after this visit of how strong the urge to create is for some people. Many of these artists, it seems to me, are/were people who simply didn't have a lot of resources or access to traditional art supplies or materials and used whatever they could put their hands on. To wit, they institutionalized guy who made his own work surfaces for painting by making "glue" from mashed potatoes and saliva (his own, I would imagine...) to fuse flattened paper cups, plates, etc. There were also these really, really amazing pointillism paintings on paper plates done by a woman using acrylic paints. I wanted one for my own! Anyway, if you end up in Baltimore, DC, Philadelphia for some other reason, this museum is worth whatever fraction of a day you might have free. In my opinion, its the very best diversion at the Inner Harbor. Fort McHenry is probably a close second with its amazing design for protecting the harbor from intruders in any direction.

Oh---and speaking of using whatever means available to create---I forgot my camera at home so these photos were all taken using my phone.

There was also the obligatory trip to the National Aquarium. Haley really loved it. Between us, we were sufficiently creeped out by many of the exhibits so that kept us moving at a fairly brisk pace. Like the Visionary Art museum, I find that I am as impressed by facility design as what is being is showcased. Both places are exisiquitely layed out to meet the primary objectives. While AVAM is beautiful to look at, the aquarium gives a feeling of walking through the watery habitats. And the simulated rainforest is amazing. I remember my first trip in the mid-80's when it was brand new, my third visit with Beth Ann, Kelley and Mary (ages 5 and 7!) the excitement over the dolphin show and the amazing frog collection that delighted Beth to no end...

These visits, the shopping, made up most of the weekend. Haley also enjoyed the indoor heated pool, glassed in by harborview windows floor to ceiling, open till 11:00 pm. We ended both evenings there. Room Service was a big hit but I actually think her favorite moments of the weekend were being allowed to ride home in the front seat (scofflaw that her mother is...) as it began to snow. I could have saved myself about a thousand bucks had I known that in advance!

Also a big developmental moment: I taught the kid to play double solitaire and she also navigated the hotel on her own to purchase a decaf, skim latte using her own money for her Mommy, upstairs in her jammies...

Oh! Didn't mention heartwarming moment of the weekend! I took along a dvd of video clips of her from about the time she was 2-1/2 years old... very much fun to watch!

In other news...

Its been so long since I posted... the weekend of January 15, Pilar came to visit bearing gifts of sweaters and pants---outfits that made the girls look like mini-Pilars. Adorable and they had a great time with her.

Haley and Anna are taking tennis lessons these days and circumstances were manipulated a bit to get Haley into the same group as one of her BFF's, A. A. is an adorable little girl and we love having her here. They ended up in the same class again this year (that makes K, 2 and 3 for them...) and her mother loves to knit. How perfect is this?

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours with our next door neighbors, showing Haley's other BFF, also A., how to knit. It was very much fun.

Seperate knitting post coming also today.