A Day in the D.

 Snapshots…from an afternoon in Detroit. First stop, Detroit Institute of Arts. Because of poor planning, we arrived hungry. So, for the first half hour, Sydney was grumpy. Then, Savannah was grumpy about Sydney being grumpy. Not to be outdone, Somer started whining that Savannah is always mean while I began to question my parenting, why we ventured out hungry, and why I had kids. We made our way downstairs to the café and watched, as if in slow motion, the gate close right before our eyes. At this point, I was trying pretty hard not to get frustrated – with myself, with the museum, with life, and with Sydney as a scene began to unfold, revealing her age of 12 years and 362 days. After just paying the admission, I really didn’t want to jet for fast food after only a half hour of culture, so we walked a bit further, Sydney dragging up the rear, in search of vending machines. Classy. I crossed my fingers and prayed to all I hoped existed as I led my girls on a hunt for funyons and famous amos. We had hardly walked a few feet before hearing music – and then, there it was, just around the corner…a large, sunny courtyard that seemed to appear out of nowhere…with high brick walls all around us and a glass ceiling way up above. We tiptoed in and there in the back, behind the rows of people, was a tiny little café. With food. And, WINE. We stocked up, found a table, and waited for applause before opening our cellophane wrapped sandwiches and bags of chips. It seems these moments are always magical in our minds as we plan them, and then reality happens - whining. fighting. yelling. But, I sat there with my girls, our snacks, and my glass of wine, happy it had all just happened exactly as it had. Our rough start had made the moments that followed even sweeter. And, that may have very well been the best glass of wine I've ever had. For a moment, I felt like I was in a European country as I sat and sipped, taking it all in...the brick, warm sunlight, beautiful music, and my happy kids. The concert concluded and we browsed more galleries, mimicking sculptures and falling in love with a bright stairway along the way. When they closed at five, the friendly docents said good bye and insisted we return on a Friday night for activities and more live music.  From there, we headed to Greektown, via the people mover, for hummus and spinach pie. It was a really good day, much like this one.