Good morning and happy Wednesday. I am having a busy week on both work and life fronts but it’s the kind of busy that feels energizing and not draining. I got up early this morning to spend some time drinking coffee and writing before setting off to tackle the day. I have a room parent meeting this morning for Finn’s preschool…definitely not the kind of role that’s in my wheelhouse but his class needed volunteers and it will be good for me to do this. After that I have a meeting at Metro and I’ll stay after and workout. The rest of my day will be focused on prepping to lead teacher training at Vidya Yoga & Fitness this coming weekend. I need to send the schedule/syllabus out to the trainees, review material and reword manual handouts.
Just a little snapshot of what life looks like over here today! 🙂
The rest of this post will be all about some fun things I’ve been doing with Finn lately.
SCOOTERING AROUND
I got Finn a scooter for his third birthday, certain that we’d be zooming all over the neighborhood in no time. Well, he was mostly disinterested in it and it sat unused for the better part of a year. He started showing some interest in it around his fourth birthday but didn’t want to wear a helmet so opted not to use it when I told him he had to wear it.
For whatever reason, Finn has never been the biggest fan of anything on his face/head whether that’s a hat, helmet, goggles, Halloween mask, etc. He’s made some big strides in that area over the summer!
And just in the last few weeks, he has shown interest in his scooter AND his helmet and we spent a lot of time scootering around the block last weekend and going on rock hunts. It has been SO much fun! He laughs and sings his way along and says the funniest things.
DISCOVERY PLACE KIDS
I got Finn a membership to Discovery Place as part of his birthday gift from my grandmother. He’s been to Discovery Place Science in Uptown Charlotte a couple of times with his nanny but I decided to take him up to Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville last Friday for a fun afternoon outing. He had only been there once before when he was maybe 18 months or so. He had a blast this time and was fully into everything!
Discovery Place Kids is such a great science museum/center for little kids. They have tons of special exhibits for imaginative play like a vet office, a bank, a firetruck, a gym, a cafe, a grocery store and more! Also, lots of opportunities for climbing, water play and experimentation. We will definitely be back soon!
CHARLOTTE INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
On Monday afternoon, I took Finn on a surprise outing to the Charlotte International Arts Festival exhibits in Ballantyne’s Backyard. A friend of mine posted on Instagram about the Luminarium experience over the weekend and it looked like something Finn would go crazy over.
Here’s the description of what it is because I can’t adequately describe it!
From the Guggenheim in Spain to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the monumental and interactive walk-in sculptures of Architects of Air, designed by Alan Parkinson, have astounded audiences across the globe. Architects of Air have toured the luminaria since 1992 and visited 43 countries. The luminarium offers a dazzling maze of winding paths and soaring domes where Islamic architecture, Archimedean solids, and Gothic cathedrals meld into an inspiring monument to the beauty of light and color, and where visitors can happily lose themselves. The installation awakens all the senses, creating a sense of wonder and enchantment for all ages.
Visitors are transported and immersed into an amazing world of light and subtle and saturated hues, for a unique sensory experience, and brings visual art to places where you wouldn’t expect it. It is a paradox that such a stimulating environment can simultaneously be so calming and comforting. Many people find a luminarium a place for rest or meditation.
A mix of engineering and design, the luminarium invites you to wander, lie down, sit and enjoy the ambiance of light and space.
It was such a special experience of light and color. If you’re local to Charlotte, I highly recommend checking it out for both adults and children. The tickets are only $5 and its here through October 2. You can see a video on my Instagram.
After exiting the Illuminarium, we wandered around the other exhibits in Ballantyne’s Backyard. I told Finn to make a silly face in front of the silly face. 🙂
Where’s Finn? This is Man by Amanda Parer and it’s a “monumental inflatable statue.”” It’s based on Auguste Rodin’s Thinker, made in 1880 is famous for celebrating man for his/her perfect physicality and is often used as an image to represent man’s pursuit of intellectual thought and philosophy. Man is a contemporized version, in this giant seated figure we can see the results of our self-indulgence and self-importance. Man holds his head in search of answers, in search perhaps of what went wrong?
We spent a little while longer hanging out in the green space looking for rocks. Yes, that is dirt on Finn’s sweaty forehead. 😉 I’m so happy that we decided to do this, it was a special afternoon for us. I want to check out more of what the Charlotte International Arts Festival has to offer before it ends! They have over 200 attractions across Charlotte and many are free.
Time to get ready for the day! Have a good one friends!
QUESTIONS
Do your kiddos like things on wheels? What is their favorite?
How is your week going?
Do you have any special outings, events or activities planned for the fall?
