Birthday Adventures

Joe took off work yesterday so we could head on some birthday adventures.

We began the day at the Central Library in downtown Minneapolis where we checked out a pass to the Bell Natural History Museum (our next stop), checked out some knitting books and saw What's New? Phase 2: 32 x 4, a photography exhibit about the people who inhabit local neighborhoods. Four photographers with varying techniques and obsessions displayed images meant to encapsulate the twin cities. There were also historical photos on display that added a richness to the exhibit, reminding me that though a lot of these images were quite contemporary, someday they'd be historic.

In the library:




It was finally a warm day for my birthday. It hit at least 40. As a result, window washers were out in full force at the library:




I thought this font was very cool:



Then we ate lunch at Pagoda, which offers a variety of Asian dishes, in Dinkytown. We had the Kung Pao shrimp and it was pretty good. Not excellent, not bad and a very good portion for the price.




Next we headed to another photography exhibit at the Bell Museum of Natural History, which is located on the University of Minnesota campus in downtown Minneapolis. Life: A Journey Through Time displays photographer Frans Lanting's attempts to represent the entirety of the evolution of life in images captured from around the world. The original project is also compiled in a book with a similar title and the exhibit includes a lot of textual information to supplement the images. I would highly recommend checking it out. And, if you head to a metro library, even if you have an out-of-metro library card, you can "check out" 4 free adult admissions to the museum for free.

There's a "Touch and See" area of the museum where kids can get up close and personal with antlers, bones, bugs and even a bear:




Look, a family portrait:

(In college, when I was Editor in Chief of the school newspaper, I once coined the phrase "mad like a rhino." Then our web editor made a giant rhino for me out of cardboard and we hang it up near my desk at the paper. Since, it's become something of my power animal.)




A freaky white squirrel on exhibit, just for my sister-in-law Kellie, who is a affectionately afraid:





They had this giant tortoise shell displayed in the Life exhibit area. I didn't realize that turtle spines where fused to their shells, but we learned in the exhibit that turtles began as land mammals who traveled back to the sea. Their shells grew out of their expanded rib cages. Whereas frogs are water animals that evolved to grow on land, yet must return to water to breed, turtles are land animals that evolved to live in the water, yet must return to land to breed. Cool, huh?







We ended our day at Chez Daniel, a French restaurant located in the Embassy Suites "Just east of France" (Avenue, that is) along the 494 corridor. ProTip (as Joe would say) If you purchase an Entertainment book, you can use your card to receive buy one get one free discounts as many times as you like. We went there especially for the dessert—creme puffs, or profiteroles for the French, stuffed with ice cream instead of custard, with a fudge sauce.

Truman created a little savings account of food just below his chin:






At 24 I now realized how truly amazing your birthday is, only because I have now birthed a child myself. It feels very special to be celebrated on your birthday once you realize what it takes to be born. Thank you for all the "happy birthdays," this was a great one.

And, of course, the 5 cards my mom sent telling me how wonderful I am didn't hurt, either.