Prado and the Playground

So far on this trip, we've mainly left the kids home with the nanny for naptime and bedtime so that we could get out and get some grownup time. Today we thought we'd try taking the Nanny with us to the Prado museum to help out with the kids. We figured we'd play things by ear a little, giving her some break time to explore the museum on her own, doing the same ourselves at some point, and spending some time all together. Knowing that the Retiro park is right nearby, we also packed a picnic lunch to bring with us.

What we didn't plan for, was the huge, fun looking playground between the metro station and the Prado museum… Every parent knows when they can push their kids a little further and when they cannot. It didn't take a mind reader to know that dragging the kids past a playground and into a museum wouldn't go well… for anyone. So we sent the nanny ahead to enjoy the museum solo & we hung out with the kids for a while. They had a blast playing in the sand, trying to figure out how to interact with the local kids, and just generally being toddlers. E even made friends with a little girl who happened to be from Seattle.

Once they seemed worn out, we got E in his stroller with a snack & D in the sling (I use an Ergo baby carrier) and headed towards the museum. We rushed through the Goya rooms, not wanting the kids to dwell on those dark paintings for two long, and found ourselves in a hall filled with huge Italian Renaissance artworks. Both kids were thrilled, with D looking every direction in awe and then finally drifting off to sleep. E eventually got bored & hungry, so we called the nanny on her cell phone to pick him up and take him to lunch (thankfully we had that picnic planned) while we visited the rest of the museum (and revisited the Goyas).

Everyone was exhausted, so we skipped the park, helped the nanny get back to the hotel with the kids, and headed out for some grown up time. The kids are clearly starting to get burnt out on the museum scene, so I'm glad that we had the extra help today, it kept us from feeling like we needed to drag our children through more than they were comfortable with.

0 comments | Posted on November 14, 2007 | Save to del.icio.us

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