Cultured.

Today we fed our brains and went to a museum. The Oakland Museum of California is one of my favorite Bay Area museums as well as one of my favorites in general.

I went here once with my pops when I was little which I obviously don't remember well. I have also gone several times in the past five years as a teacher taking her class on a field trip. 
Though from a student perspective I loved field trips, they bring me endless amounts of stress as a teacher. I wish I could think otherwise but a combination of the following prevents me from being able to do so : 

• Being in charge of a large group {"large" being more than one} of minors that are not my blood relations.
• Planning and organizing the transportation of said charges.
• Hoping and praying fervently that nothing goes wrong, no one gets sick or lost and that as many students that left also return. 
• Making detailed plans for the substitutes in the classes I left behind.

Needless to say, it was lovely to be able to enjoy such a cool place as an aware adult who's not completely preoccupied with the well-being of many young people. Mikey and our pal Eddie and I had a great time walking around the California history section of the museum. There are several other areas but this one is so chock full that it's enough for one whole visit.

The history section starts with Native information and goes to present-day California. 

This wasn't "modern-day" but I enjoyed it.

The whole exhibit also incorporates many interactive elements {which is awesome, as far as museums go if you ask me} one of which was this cool map.

There were little red dot stickers and patrons are invited to place one on the world map according to where they or their relatives hail from. There was also a guest book where folks can explain a bit more. It will all be incorporated into a formal exhibit some time in the future. I put one in Colombia since that's where my mama came from.
We had a great time and then the mister and I fed our tummies by buying a take and bake pizza from Costco so all-in-all it's been a fabulous Saturday and I hope that yours has been too! 
 xoxo, natty ♥