The V&A and Half Term wrap up

Yesterday we went to the V&A with some friends to check out the special exhibits that were going on. Max participated in an exercise to figure out a local problem and solve it (he wanted to fix slippery boring pavement by making it colourful and with texture so people like Daddy wouldn’t slip and break their collarbone anymore).

Then we checked out a robot dance demonstration under the cool robot-built pavilion in the courtyard (it’s based on a beetle). Max even got to learn some new dance moves out of it.

Then back inside where they did another activity based on the pavilion structure but using textiles.

Then we checked out a few bits of the museum (mostly the Japanese collection), had a bit of a sit down and went home.

He can’t wait to go back.

Also during the half term break: two days of multi-sport camp at the Westway, lots of cricket with Dad, and a session of Warhammer at the Games Workshop. A full week!

Jabs

Max had to get a tetanus booster jab (shot) today as he’d missed one due to the US and UK being on different schedules and he’s got an overnight school trip coming up. It’s been a long time since he had a jab so he was asking the nurse lots of questions about would it hurt, where was she going to stick the needle, etc. Then he looks at her very seriously and asks, “So, does this ever go wrong?”

Notes

I was cleaning out my office today and found this old note I had written Max. Whenever I write him, he always writes something back. Apparently he loves me and London.

First Cricket Match

Max played in his first cricket match today and his school won!

He had a chance to do everything–bowler, batter and fielder. He did really well at the batting. Well done little man!

Word problems

Today I found some maths word problems Max had made up in his school bag…

Chuck Norris FTW!

The Lorax

Today was Max’s last assembly performance of Form 3. They did the Lorax.

And colorful was the name of the game! The kids all made their own truffula trees.

They did an awesome job!

Space Marines!

The Max had an epic time at the Warhammer Tottenham Court Road shop today for the 30th anniversary of the Space Marines.

He was especially excited to win a mini painting competition with his golden space marine. He painted four miniatures in total today and chatted with kids of all ages about Warhammer and painting and dice rolls and what not. He had a great time.

I love how much he was concentrating on his painting and how much fun he had making new friends.

Surprise!

Finally downloaded the photos from Ripley’s…here’s our favourite! Watch out for the natives…they are restless…

Bletchley Park

We learned a lot today. We visited Bletchley Park, the U.K. Home of code breaking during WWII.

Max solved many codes and ciphers, making good use of their app, which we had downloaded ahead of time.

It’s a beautiful place and the history feels very alive there.

Max particularly liked the Bombe machines and the Enigma machines or, really, all the interactive bits.

The movie bits about The Imitation Game were also very cool, including the costumes.

Max makes quite a fetching officer.

Maybe “fetching” isn’t the word I am looking for.

I found it really interesting and inspiring. It’s pretty amazing what the code breakers did and what they went through to do it. Alan Turing’s story is particularly affecting, though his isn’t the only one.

We definitely recommend a visit. It gets the Max seal of approval.

Ripley’s Believe it or Not

Max had never been to a Ripley’s (and it has probably been twenty years since I was last in one) and LivingSocial had a deal on tickets, so I picked some up.

We went today and Max was pumped up from the start.

There were giant chairs, two-headed everything and giant balls of twine swallowed by cows.

We both really liked the weird and random art, like this one of the King of Pop in candy.

Max was a bit concerned about the shrunken heads. Me too.

His favourite parts were the swirly twisty tunnel, the Maze of Mirrors, and the laser race (he ran it alone as he thought that would give him a better score than if I joined him. I’m sure he was right, as I wasn’t about to crawl on the floor). He did well.

The verdict: “Awesome! A good place to go if you want to have fun!”

He even tried his first ever pinball game.