The Broad Experience

*tap*
*tap*
Is this thing still on?

Going in to this summer I didn't come up with a bucket list for the kids and me. This is likely the first time since Marcus was born that I've just kind of decided to do summer with a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants kind of approach.

To be fully honest, I love it.

That damn bucket list always left me feeling like we had to be out doing a million things, and if something didn't get crossed off by summer's end I'd somehow failed our... fun? Failed our summer? I don't know, but the list was always looming and left me feeling so much (self-induced) pressure.

This summer we're still doing so many things, but at a pace that's conducive with a 5-year old and almost 2-year old. We've kept busy with a capital B. Most of the stuff we've been up to is stuff we do often (Disney, tide pools, parks, science centers). Stuff I've blogged a hundred times over. *yawn*

But. (You knew that was coming, right?) This week we did something that's been on my personal Los Angeles Must-Do List for some time now.

Back in April I snagged tickets to The Broad Museum in Downtown L.A. The exterior of the building alone begs to be photographed. Which, naturally happened.  And, somehow, I convinced Liz (who lives much farther from the museum than me) and Mason to brave horrendous week-day commuter traffic, and join us for some fun.

Ticket entry was at 11:30. I'd done some research on the museum, and an exhibit I was dying to check out was the Infinity Mirrored Room. We got in line immediately to put our names on that list. Only a 137 minute wait. Woah.

We used that time to check out the museum...

Liz and I have both agreed we need to do the museum just once without kids. So, you know, we can take our time looking at each piece, reading up on the artists, the works. The stuff you can't quite do with kids in tow. Because, while everything was amazing to view, I couldn't tell you a single thing about any thing. 

For some reason, the artwork pictured below really drew Marcus in. He went to this room a couple of different times. At one point he walked up to this frame and just stood there looking at me. I finally asked, "Do you want me to take a picture of you with this?" And he got this shy little grin on his face and nodded his head. He didn't have to ask me twice!

I think it's safe to say our favorite piece while walking around the museum was this massive figure of a balloon dog.

Marcus' expression perfectly sums up how we were all feeling about the no-touch policy. Everything was hands off. Which was next to impossible to explain to Julia. So, strapped in the stroller she stayed (and not without a valiant fight on her end).

After a proper look-through of all the great items within The Broad we headed out for a quick lunch and a little time for the kids to stretch their legs and run around.

Then it was our time to head to the Infinity Mirror Room.
The room itself is only 12x12, but the platform to stand on allows only two to three people. With it being such a high demand exhibit we were only allowed 45 seconds. How does one know when their time is up? Someone stands at the door, with a stopwatch, and times your time!
That said, the 137 minute wait was beyond worth that quick 45 seconds.

It was cool, quiet, and absolutely magical. Both kids were on their best behavior. All of us in awe. The hundreds of lights, the  mirrors, the water on the floor to reflect everything. It was completely surreal to experience that with the kids. Next to saying, "Isn't this SO cool?!" The only other thing I could think to do in there was sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to my babes.

I have to say, we've made a lot memories, but this one may be my favorite so far.

After our time at the museum I had a spot in mind that I knew would be a hit with kids and moms alike.

Enter Little Damage.

Nestled in the heart of Los Angeles (and I mean smack dab downtown), this ultra hip ice cream shop was what all of my sweet tooth dreams are made of.

The ingredients are all pulled from local sources, and all organic. Not to mention, the ice cream flavors had names like Unicorn Tears (pictured in the boys black cones), Salted Covfefe (the one Julia's going to town on), Dark Cinns (I want to try that), and Avocado Dreams.

It was the cherry on top of our already fantastically epic outing (minus the traffic, but we'll over look that minor detail).