Dating the Alphabet, A

So Jessica mentions off hand to me several months ago how much she likes this idea, this "Dating the Alphabet," something she comes across on the internet (on Pinterest, no doubt.)   "Uh, yeah [feining interest]  . . . sounds cool," I mutter.  At this point, I apparently still haven't learned the dangerous implications of non-committal responses to seemingly off-hand comments from my wife.   Dummy.
What I am really thinking is that I have a creeping, unshakeable bias that people spend way to much time glorifying their lives on electronic mediums, social sites, making their ideas, families, personalities seem far more interesting than they really are.    Snarkily, I'm wondering if the model couple that caught Jess's interest actually completed all their dates, or are even still together.   All this time spent on the internet creating our social media personaes happens as a cost to our actual character development, right?
I came across this idea on, gasp, pinterest.  I thought it might be a way to put a little more excitement into our lives.  Usually our dates consist of going out to dinner, movie and maybe a drink after.  BORING.  I wanted a little more thought put into what we do with our time together.  So this is how it works...Starting with A, plan a date that starts with or has something to do with the letter A.  We have decided that we can include Rosie in approximately half of the dates because we love to experiance the excitement she has for new things.  We also decided that we would take turns planning the dates.  Bryan was first and he chose Art. 
This was a no brainer.   It is a travesty that I don't go to the Sheldon more often.  So yes,  despite all my philisophical objections and general discomfort with sharing my private life on the internet, we're not only Dating the Alphabet but also blogging about it.   Yeah, you totally saw that coming, right?  


 So the original plan was the Sheldon here in town.   But we had a weekend where we were just flat-out stir crazy and needed to get out of town.  We got a room in Omaha for the night and left early Saturday morning.   We wanted to make it to the Joslyn before noon, when general admission is free.   We really admire that, and apparently it is well appreciated by others in the community as well.  It was packed, with all kinds of people of all backgrounds and ages.   It was pretty neat to see, and it was a beautifully sunny day.   They had a new exhibition, "To Live Forever, Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum."  I really enjoyed seeing it, although it too was very congested and I just kind of floated through it as the crowd allowed.   More than the exhibit pieces, I liked how the exhibit highlighted Egyptian theology and the what the "average Egypitan's" notions of the Afterlife at the time.    Osiris was Jesus before Jesus, although many would argue the distintions.   We had a pretty good expectation that Rosie was not going to be too fascinated by extended contemplation of any particular piece.    So it was quite a bit different experience to breeze through the museum in 90 minutes than it would have been with just the two of us.   But there was a lot of joy in seeing the art through Rosie's eyes.   For instance, we had some fun picking out our favorite pieces in each new room.

 It really was a lovely day and I truely enjoyed the time we spent together as a family.

Here are a few pictures from "A" date...

Bryan and Rosie on their way up the steps.

Rosie was pretty excited to make a wish.

Standing by one of Jess's favorite Chihuly pieces

Some other highlights of the weekend included playing shadow tag, eatting a piece of cake the size of Rosie's head, spending the night at a nice hotel, and of course, the zoo with friends.  All in all our alphabet scheradventure is off to a good start!