We're in Training

No, no, no, not for a marathon! We're training for museums!

When we found out that we were moving to Switzerland, one of the things that I was most excited about was being so close to so many great museums. I'm a museum kind of girl, my parents instilled a love of museums and learning into my brain a long time ago and it has stuck. Now I am so happy to show our children this world as well.

My kids have gone to lots and lots of "hand's on" living history type museums, but have been to only a few fine art establishments.

At the end of this week when I'd had my fill of playgrounds and parks, I decided to take the kids somewhere that I've been excited about. I mean look at this view!

We went to Foundation de l'Hermitage in Lausanne and saw the Marius Borgeaud exhibit. Before we left I did a few things to hopefully guarantee that the kids and I had the best possible time, and my planning was super helpful! The kids were engaged for about an hour (that's a long time when you're two and four..) and I was able to get a little culture/art fix that I've felt has been missing for me.

Here are a few things that we did to help make our day a success!

1. Arrive Early and Well Fed- We got to the beautiful museum grounds as soon as the doors opened, and I made sure that the kids ate a little snack before we left….low blood sugar life saver!

Here's a picture of our little art hounds sitting in our "car".  Annie looks pretty pumped!

2. Leave Time to Get the Wiggles Out- So many museums have beautiful grounds for public use. I made sure to let the kids run and play before we entered the museum. It was perfect, they were tired and happy to take in the museum from the stroller for a good portion of the time.

3. It's an Art Museum Let Them Be Artists- Before we left I gave each child their own notebook and crayon so that they could "draw" what they saw. This worked particularly well with Quinn, who was very excited to be an artist! Anna was thrilled just to have her own notebook.

4. Bring Food- Although most museums don't allow food inside, we brought a picnic lunch and ate al fresco after we finished. This museum does have a lovely little cafe, but this momma wasn't brave enough to try it alone with two kids!

5. Don't Stress- I knew coming into this, that our museum excursion could go bad at any moment, after all some of us are particularly prone to tantrums…  I was so happy that things went fairly smoothly, and I think the kids really enjoyed the experience. Annie found all the cats and dogs in the pictures, and Quinn is old enough to notice different textures, and talk about what is happening in the paintings. After we finished Quinn asked to take a few pictures and naturally Anna insisted on a turn as well. Not bad kids, not bad!

On our bus ride home, I asked Quinn if he liked the museum, and he gave an enthusiastic yes, and then followed up with "but I REALLY liked the playground!" I believe they also REALLY enjoyed the rocks!

Have a great weekend everybody!

PS- If anyone else has tips for taking kids to museums, or anywhere for that matter, let me know in the comments!