Taking a trip to the Portland Museum of Art is more than a little different from our usual outdoor adventure. It took a few minutes for the kids to adjust.

There's no yelling, running, touching or chatting it up with people you meet along the way.

Once the kids got the hang of it, they enjoyed themselves. Especially the search to find paintings on their Kid Cards (we were given them from a friendly docent at the front desk). The Charles DuBack card was a particular favorite and the questions on the Card were thought-provoking and fun for the kids to answer. Another Card asked questions about Confidences by Renoir and the kids discussed how it "glowed." Of course I was aware of the many diligent security guards (I spotted 6) keeping an eye on us during our 1.5 hour visit.

It's official, L.'s back on the ice to skate again. She had some seriously good karma the other day to find a pair of almost new Glacier skates (a good brand we were told by our ice skating friends) for $3.99 at Goodwill. That's not even the shipping cost on eBay.

But today I am nursing 4 bleeding blisters from tying skate laces. I have some kind of brain cramp about boot laces. Someday I hope to remember to wear gloves BEFORE the painful lesson reminds me again.

Lucky Lucy the Chicken is doing well with her physical therapy this week. Instead of the usual Cheerios to coax her to walk across the yard, L.'s apple core did the trick instead. Another lesson for me on chicken eating preferences.