Field Trip - Getty Villa

My three-year-old handling materials used to make mosaics.

I love the Getty Villa. The architecture is based on an ancient Roman villa, and it has an inner peristyle garden, an outer peristyle garden, an herb garden, and a gorgeous view of the Pacific. The villa is filled with 44,000 Greek and Roman antiquities.

Our first stop was the Reading Room to learn about Byzantine mosaic-making in an intimate, hands-on setting.

My tour of the special exhibit - the Art of Byzantium - was short. My daughter was on Day Four of museum-going, and she wanted to play in the Family Forum and take a walk outside. So, we did.

Dressed as a gladiator

Slaying a gorgon

She insisted on carrying a "parasol" in the villa's garden.

Making a crayon rubbing