Visiting the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Elena and I ventured down to the Indianapolis Museum of Art  last weekend.  She was working on a biography of Monet for school, and I thought it would be nice if she could see a real Monet.  I couldn't remember the last time I had been the museum, but I'm pretty sure it was before I was married.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they don't charge for admission to the regular exhibits.  This was especially nice after Elena decided that she was done looking at art after she saw the museum's two Monet paintings. 

The museum is surrounded by acres of gardens, and we took advantage of the mild weather to stroll around them and admire the first flowers of spring.  There must be thousands of daffodils, hyacinth and blue windflowers in bloom right now. 

I took advantage of the situation and took a few pictures of my girl.  I have the hardest time getting good, natural pictures of Elena at this stage.  She's either falling into a pool of silliness and kooky faces, or she's trying too hard to smile and ends up looking tense and forced.  I had her sit on this ledge with a sea of daffodils in the background and just started chatting with her.  The result was this picture, which is my sweet girl and her natural smile (and dimple!).

The grounds are also home to a Robert Indiana's 12 foot steel LOVE sculpture.  Elena posed for a few pictures before I noticed the discreet sign informing us not to climb on the sculpture.  Oops. 

Once again, her true personality comes out.  Without any prodding from me, she broke into her best air guitar.  I'm pretty sure she's rockin' out to "One" by Metallica from Guitar Hero III.  How would I know?  When we were walking back to our car in the parking garage she tested out the echo by shouting, "Metallica!!"  We are a cultured family, indeed.