Free as a bird.

With a week's worth of free days ahead of us, and too much free time leading to nothing but trouble, the kids and I headed downtown for some activities where the price was right--FREE! That's right, folks, we had a great morning and (besides the cost of gas) didn't spend a dime.

Our first stop was the Cleveland Museum of Art. There has been a lot of renovation going on, so not all of the exhibits are open yet. But there was just enough for us to see everything before a couple of the kids started asking, "OK, are we done yet?" There were also two special exhibits open that were kind of fun, if you don't count the entire wall of nude photographs in one. Good thing I noticed before we had to walk by so that I could shield a young boy's eyes and caution the girls to look the other way. "Why'd you do that, Mom?" "Never mind. Keep walking."

Striking a pose in front of The Thinker

After a quick snack in the car, we headed a couple of blocks away to Lakeview Cemetery, the final resting spot for such notables as James A. Garfield, 20th president of the United States, John D. Rockefeller, and Eliot Ness. The memorial to Garfield was cool yet creepy. The kids couldn't understand the whole idea, and quite frankly, I didn't entirely get it myself. Why does he get this big thing but other people don't? Why do we have to be so quiet? What is in those vases? Why do they burn bodies? Why are their caskets out just sitting there? Yeah, down in the "crypt" the caskets of James and his wife are just hanging out, almost 130 years later, along with the remains of their daughter and her husband. Nice. Kids, let's just look and move on, OK?

Exploring the Garfield Monument

We spend the rest of our time there walking among the old gravestones and memorials. I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed it, even in spite of the constant drizzle.

John D. Rockefeller monument

Andrew (that morbid little guy) wanted to find a grave from 2009, but the most recent we found was 2006. He was satisfied with that, thank goodness, or we would have been there all day. That place is enormous! In fact, I got turned around trying to find my way out...but this is a good thing. Because I exited onto Mayfield Road, which happens to be the main drag of Little Italy. I would have totally stopped at one of the bakeries for some cannoli, but there were no parking spots and this was a FREE day, right? But now that I know it's not too far away...well, that can be an adventure for another time. Because the freedom of summer vacation is just around the corner....