AHA! Archives Week

This weekend marked the end of the observed AHA! Archives Week. We celebrated by enjoying the beautiful, picture perfect, weather at Rice University with a picnic and the not-quite-annual croquet tournament.

Joining us were Joel Draut (HMRC), Sarah Jackson (Harris County Archives), Bryan, Amanda Focke (Rice Univ. - with her 1 month old baby girl) and Lee Pecht (Rice Univ.) I had never played croquet before, but quickly got the hang of it - and of the cut-throat strategy of my colleagues.

Bryan accused me of not telling him it was a "tournament" with a trophy involved at the end. He made an amazing, incredible comeback about halfway through the final game to settle for second place. I blew my own lead after getting knocked away a few times.

Lee emerged as our winner - taking both games easily. Sarah presents him with the official AHA croquet trophy.

One great Sunday

Sunday after church, we took the girls to the Musuem of Fine Arts, Houston to see the exhibit "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800-1920". As I remember it, the Metropolitan Museum is undergoing some renovation and so they sent 135 pieces to go on display in Houston. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these paintings outside of New York. I've been asked WHY did we take the girls; I suppose most people would go themselves alone or with their spouse, but we wanted them to see these paintings. For the most part they were very good and surprisingly, each had their "favorite".

Brenna loved Degas' dancers, including this one "The Dancing Class" from 1871.

Cameron decided her favorite was the "Young Woman Drawing" by Marie-Denise Villers, 1802.

Bryan had a hard time deciding on one particular favorite; there were so many "-isms" of art on display, but I know he enjoyed this one by Maximilien Luce, titled "Morning, Interior" from 1890.

As for me? I love Monet, and was astounded by the color and light in Edourd Manet's Boating. But when I stood before Van Gogh's 1889 "Cypresses" - I knew I had found my favorite. This photo from the Metmuseum.org website doesn't truly represent the art. There are so many minute details and colors that cannot be picked up in a photograph.

After a few hours in the museum, everyone was ready for a picnic lunch at Hermann Park a few blocks away. We love Hermann Park, though we haven't been there as often since Bryan left his job at HMNS.

We created our own piece of photographic "art" - a collage of our faces.

And we had such a great time letting the girls run up and down the hill in front of Miller Outdoor Theater - I can bring it to you via YouTube.