The Getty, the beach, and the temple

On Sunday we did our best to get everyone ready and fed so that we could go to church. We didn’t realize it was daylight savings so to our befuddlement, it was 9am before these things happened. (The fact that Clarissa slowed everything down by pooping in the bath didn’t really help.)

So we drove straight to the Getty, my favorite museum on the planet. I couldn’t believe it had been over a decade since I last visited. (I used to spend a lot of time here when I lived in California with my dad.) My favorite thing about the Getty is the museum itself. To me, every part of the Getty feels like a deep breath of pure air. The travertine, the sunshine, the water, the gardens, the art…it’s one of my favorite places on earth. I don’t ever want to go a decade without visiting again. (Honestly, I’m trying to figure out how to relocate so I can be docent there or just move straight in, if they’ll let me!)

We attempted to do a tour with all four kids, but midway the earpieces for the entire group broke down, and with the stroller we couldn’t get close enough to hear our guide. So Abe took the kids outside to play while I browsed the gift shop for puzzles, prints for our dinner conversations, and some books. Then I took the kids to the play room (which is awesome) while Abe explored the museum. These were my happiest hours on this trip (and it was mostly a very happy trip!).

Abe loved this Manet painting because he enjoyed Manet’s foray into impressionism.
I screamed when we turned onto the Getty drive and saw posters showing this Pontormo painting. It is one of my all time FAVORITE paintings, and the last time I saw it was in Florence. It has never left Florence–until now, to visit the Getty!!! I felt so blessed that we got to see it as a family.

Mary loved all of the art and kept pointing to paintings that she thought were especially interesting. She wants to be an artist when she grows up, so she took the job of studying the art very seriously.

The following are pictures of paintings Mary asked me to photograph:

And back to experience photos:

Now these are photos Abe took of art he loved:

Bust of Winter

Our favorite TV art historian, Waldemar Januszek, loves Mary Magdalene so much that Abe and I have an ongoing joke about it. So of course Abe had to take a picture of this picture of Mary Magdalene by Titian.

Clarissa piled me high with these tubes, and Abe was amused when he found us in the playroom like this.
In the playroom the kids could look through holes in these boxes to see various works of art from the Getty.

All of the kids made masks in the play room. Clarissa seems to be confused by Lydia’s.]
Ammon, as usual, making friends everywhere.

After the Getty, we went to the Santa Monica beach and spent a couple hours playing in the sand…and the waves. I had no intention of letting anyone get wet, but by the end, everyone except Clarissa and I was completely wet and sandy–including, of course, Abe.

It’s hard to smile into the sun!

After the beach we had frozen yogurt for dinner. The person working at the shop was the NICEST person ever. His name was Rudy and he was so sweet, asking us questions about Utah, our kids, and our church.

My mouth was full of yummy stuff, but Abe took the picture anyway.

After this, we went to the L.A. temple and visited the visitor’s center there. Ammon pooped in the potty there!!!! We were soooo proud of him.

And then we drove to the Homewood Suites next to the Long Beach airport and went to bed ASAP because we had an early morning flight to catch. It was a wonderful, glorious day.