Castle Air Museum - Mostly Jack Touching Things

I was going to show more plane pictures and then this post, but I realized endless plane pictures only appeal to a very small audience, and I'm pretty sure that's a different niche than what usually reads here.  So you get Jack... 

touching

tapping

petting

caressing

fondling

admiring

feeling

patting

palpating

and generally enjoying the aircraft in a tactile manner.

And encouraging others to do so.  

One that Hannah could reach.

Oh yeah, I was there, too.  Jack asked me if I wanted a picture, and I picked the plane with invasion stripes, since Normandy is still fresh in my mind.  I was pretty melted by this point, but I appreciated being included.  

Castle Air Museum - part 1

When I had the girls make a list of places they'd like to see for our Epic Fantasy Road Trip, Hannah included Castle Air Museum in Atwater.  I read that and was like, "Wait, there's another air museum within day trip distance??"  I knew Jack needed to see it.  So we went.  

Former Air Force One

These first two planes were on one side of the parking lot, so we had to look at those before we even went inside.  

There's a little gift shop you go through where you pay to get out to the full petting zoo of aircraft.

And from here, it's going to be a photo dump.  Because although Jack told me, I have no idea what any of these are.  

Pretty sure this one is British.  There's also a Canadian one somewhere.  

Wait, I know this one.  It's a Chinook.  

Invasion stripes.  Particularly poignant to me, after having been in Normandy last summer.  

We spent 4 hours at the museum, most of it out in the sun, watching Jack look at airplanes.  Katie melted a bit, in her black t-shirt, but Hannah did better than I would have expected.  We did start sheltering under large wings to get some shade as the day heated up.  

This was my absolute favorite.  See that plane?  

Look closely at the wheel brace.  

I cracked up.  Someone has a beautiful sense of humor.  

I know what this is!  It's a Grumman!

No, not a cat, a Grumman Albatross.

More to come, I just felt it was way too many photos for one post.  

Van Gogh Experience

I'm not sure when Fall Break became a thing, but since we had a few days off, I decided we needed to do something fun.  (And slightly educational, but don't tell them that.)  

We went to the Van Gogh experience in Sacramento.  Aside from Katie thinking the valet was stealing Matilda (the minivan), it was pretty neat.  

The whole shebang is set up inside a warehouse, and you walk through it at your own pace, like a museum.  

There are facts about the artist

And reproductions of his paintings

And videos about his life

I was glad that I'd seen one of his real works (at the art museum in Hawaii) because a flat reproduction can't possibly convey the great globs of paint he sloshed onto the canvas.  

One of the interesting things we learned is that the pigment he used to make reds has broken down with time, so we don't see the same colors now as when they were first painted.  

Speaking of color, it's suggested that Van Gogh himself didn't see the whole spectrum of colors that humans typically see.  

Some of the artwork was rendered in 3D, like this view of the sanitorium where many of his works were created.  

And this one, which is actually many pieces hung separately, 

But appears as a unified picture from the front.  

Hannah and Katie standing in a 3D reproduction of the bedroom painting.

There's a room you go into that's all mirrored, and there's soft music and moving sunflowers everywhere.  

And then there's a much bigger room, with a "show" of sorts, featuring music, projections, quotes, etc.

It's hard to explain, but the effect was soothing and entertaining.

It lasts half an hour, and there are chairs and benches to get comfy while you watch.  

You know how when you see a word in print, you don't always know how to pronounce it correctly?  Well, this was the part where Someone learned that "irises" is not prounouced "ear-ises."  

Starry Night, such an iconic masterpiece.  Being surrounded by it was really cool.  

All in all, even though it was expensive ($100 bucks to get the girls and I in the door, plus $15 for parking, and a Gift $hop at the end), I had fun.  I would absolutely go see the Monet or Klimt versions if they came to town.