We had a lazy morning and moseyed our way over to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. YSP is over 500 acres of beautiful land nestled in between farmland, and covered in sculptures. Nick said he wanted to go and as usual I was along for the ride, but I didn’t expect it to be a world class art institution. I’ve never been to Storm King in New York but I think this is better. Fighting words, I know.

Our visit started in the kids’ area, which was wooded and full of little tunnels to run through.

We emerged from that into the large farmland, dotted throughout with both sculptures and lots and lots of sheep. And sometimes both at the same time.

We walked alongside the lake and came upon one of Millie’s favorites of the day, Damien Hirst’s Virgin Mother. Is anyone surprised that she loved this?

It commemorated a big milestone from today: we had The Talk with her on the drive up. She has been talking a lot about pregnancy and birth recently. She finally asked how the baby gets in a mom’s belly. I explained it to her like a biology teacher and I think bored her enough to not ask any follow up questions. Phew!

Inside one of the galleries there was an exhibit by Felicity Aylieff showcasing beautiful large blue pots. The museum set up various activities for kids, including art sets. I’ve appreciated how much the museums in England cater to kids to help them stay engaged and learn. Millie sat / lay on the floor for a while drawing our family looking at the pots, and the pot imagining our family.

We walked to the top of the hill overlooking everything to see Sean Henry’s seated figure. The walk up took us through some beautiful woods and past some Andy Goldsworthy pieces that we didn’t know were there. It felt like we discovered them and had to ask ourselves, “wait, is this art?” Which I assume is exactly how they are meant to be consumed.

We walked and walked and walked. Around every turn and at the end of every meadow was something to be discovered. We laughed at this one which from afar we thought was a real person, and then realized was just like Nick.

The art was great, the scenery was better. We walked miles until they closed and still felt like we only saw 50% of it.

We spent another hour or so in the “quiet room” of the visitor’s center which had a wall of well- curated kids books and comfortable couches.

We finished our evening having dinner at the heavenly pub down the road. This was the first meal we’ve eaten out in a week, and it was so worth it. We finished our day just like yesterday: feeding the cows on the walk home.