Sunflower Seeds!

Ben and Isabel outside the Tate Modern

Tonight was one of the most fun nights of my life.  We went to the Tate Modern, a museum.  There we saw what an artist -- Ai Wei Wei -- had created to fit a certain space.  Guess what it was?  Piles and piles across the floor of porcelain sunflower seeds!  They were all unique and different.  My Mom thinks the message was that all people are unique and different.  I guessed there were 100 million sunflower seeds piled 4 inches thick.  And there were 100 million.  For a snack there were nuts (almonds?) shaped like sunflower seeds.  I ate a whole bunch.  I met the artist.  Afterwards we went to see the Gauguin show.  I drew several sketches.  I like his style!

Isabel on a bed of porcelain sunflower seeds

Soane Museum

One night we went to the Soane Museum.We had to wait in a long line but it was worth it since this was the one night a month that the entire museum is lit only by candlelight.  Soane was an architect and he married a rich woman, so therefore he built a big house and held his collection of art in it. All the rooms were beautiful.They were filled with beautiful furniture, some sculpture from ancient Greece and Rome and Egypt.  All sorts of stuff.

Interior of John Soane's Museum

Hampstead Heath

Louise and Ben in front of their new country home

Today (Sunday) we took a rainy walk to Hampstead Heath and met up with my dad's friend Sarah, her husband Boaz, and their three kids, Abigail, Isaac, and Ottilie (they have one more child, Eleanor, but she was sick).  We went to a museum (Kenwood House) and saw some paintings.  I drew two sketches from paintings of cows.  Then we had lunch at a cafe.  I got bangers and mash (bangers and mash are sausages with mashed potatoes).  Then we went to their house and had some biscuits and tea.  I got to see Isaac's new pet lizard and we fed it crickets.  I also played a bit with Ottilie's hamster Caramel.

On the Heath  -- Front: Isaac, Ottilie, Isabel; Back Row:  Abigail, Sarah, and Boaz