ArtPrize

We have been so blessed by this "little thing" called ArtPrize. Downtown Grand Rapids has looked more like Chicago for the past 3 weeks due to the crowds that have come in mass to see all the Art Prize exhibits. Let me tell you....they are AWESOME! To top it off, we have had an exceptionally beautiful start to fall. Lots of sun and warm temps have kept this family outdoors and enjoying all the wonderful aspects of the arts. If you aren't familiar with ArtPrize, check it out here. My parents and I took the kids down one afternoon after picking Ella up from school. It was a Wednesday afternoon and you would have thought it was a Friday afternoon in a big city. It was crazy! People were everywhere, enjoying the art, street vendors, music, and the energy. Wow! It sure was something to be part of. We saw all of these pieces and many more before they voted for the Top 10! Then our family tuned in to see if any of our favorites made it and....they did. During this trip, we only hit the VanAndel Museum. We missed a lot not going to the Grand Rapids Art Museum and into the Ford Museum. But considering our time constraints and the company..we did great. I was pleasantly surprised how "in-to-it" the kids were. Elle and Carter have been talking art like they work for the MET lately. It is great. I absolutely LOVE it. Many a nights, we spend discussing how some thing that we saw downtown, some piece of art, and how it crossed our minds during the day. Elle is my little artist and she is eating this up. She collected cards from each piece we visited and she looks through them, studying them, critiquing them, planning a project of her very own. Thank you DeVos family for putting this together. It sure has been something to experience. We loved it so much and couldn't stop talking about it that we took Scott on a tour of our favorites this past Sunday (more picts to follow). I am considerably behind in blog-land. We have been busy enjoying the fall and all the wonders it has in store....seriously, this time of year, I feel like God is just showing off with all the grandeur and color {more posts on that to come as well}. Can I get a rainy day here so I could get caught up on my indoor things??? It will come, I know. But for now, the computer will wait. The winter will be long and cold and I can catch up then.

Art Prize 2010

Of course, we had to start with some "questionable" art. As we are looking at these carved figurines(that are surrounded by mobs of people) Carter looks- wide eyed and wide mouthed looking around to see if anyone else might notice the inappropriatness then pipes up in his-not-one-bit-quiet voice, "hey mom!!! Look you can see his penis????" Shockingly, many people cover their mouths and turn to hide their giggles from his 4-year-old observation. {I tell you Carter is my spice in life...never a dull moment.ANYwhere!}

The giant penny, made from pennies



The water fountain-fun to throw all mom's pennies in.

Christian liked these pretty butterflies.

There was art of all kinds...samples of "green housing"

The kids loved the balloons that were strung up! Brilliant.

Look at this HUGE basket of flowers...I'll take the whole thing for our backyard.

The kids loved this mosiac frog and his big bowl o'worms.

This was amazing...a life sized mermaid made from toothpicks. The hair was impecable.

The kids can't imagine how this one didn't win. It sure got "Moorlag Family Favorite"

The carasouel at the Museum. We had to take a spin.

Father Earth...with all the animals carved into his beard.

Another Moorlag favorite...the story of Creation made with broken crayons. Highly impressive!

Sitting and resting in the JW lounge.
We put in a lot of miles.

The great big pig....that they loved!

Lots of cool stuff by the BOB.

We couldn't stop watching the ice sculptors carve a tiger our of this block. Carter was in awe.

More pictures to come! I just can't keep up the blog since we've been busy out 'doing'. Happy Fall!