A busy weekend so far for the Robinson Family. Friday we were up to Oakland for the Christmas Carol train tour and an afternoon at the zoo. Saturday Kay took Arran to Moffett Federal Airfield for his first flight in a small plane.
The Young Eagles is an organization that promotes flying to youth. Harrison Ford is its chairman, although he was not around at this event.
Periodically, the local chapter of Young Eagles has a flying day where kids between the ages of 8 and 17 can learn about the mechanics of flight, how an airplane works and take a flight in an aircraft. There were several planes and a helicopter out on Jun 27th. Arran opted to fly in a plane rather than a helicopter. His pilot was John and he and another boy took a 20 minute flight with John that day.
Here is Arran (the head peeping out of the back seat) in the airplane as he started his taxi to the runway.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get close to the airplane for any good photographs.
After the flight, Arran said it was "Double Fun!!!"
After the flight, we headed downtown for lunch and then caught a version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream" which had Mayan Ushmal's instead of fairies and was set in a jungle near a Mayan ruin. Arran enjoyed it. I did too, with a little "but"... The acting was good, but I did find it a bit weird with the Mexican theme - sometimes Shakespeare's words seemed out of place in the Mexican / Mayan setting.
By this time it was 5pm and the temperature outside was still over 100 degrees. Can you say "HOT!" Time to go home and have a nap!
This day, Iona stayed at home with daddy as we figured (quite rightly) that there would be nothing for her to do at the airfield, the play would be too long for her and she would be better off staying cool at home with her dad.Th
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monkeying around at Oakland Zoo - Friday 26th June 2009
After the Disney Train tour, we decided to spend a few hours in Oakland Zoo. After all we had driven up that way, we might as well explore a new place!
Oakland Zoo is small but nice. They have enclosures with plenty of space for the animals to roam, the keepers give the animals things to keep them interested, like toys to play with and feeding techniques that help mimc natural behaviours. Thats why you might see paper all over the baboon's cage as their food is wrapped and hidding in paper. There was plenty for the kids to see and learn from.
Oakland Zoo is small but nice. They have enclosures with plenty of space for the animals to roam, the keepers give the animals things to keep them interested, like toys to play with and feeding techniques that help mimc natural behaviours. Thats why you might see paper all over the baboon's cage as their food is wrapped and hidding in paper. There was plenty for the kids to see and learn from.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
A Christmas Carol in June
Friday, 26th June 2009 we made a trip up to Oakland (other side of the bay from San Francisco) to meet up with a train tour for one of Disney's new movies "A Christmas Carol". Written by Charles Dickens and produced by Robert Zemekis, this production looks to be fantastic.
The movie has lots of stars in it. Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes, Fionnula Flanagan
The train is skinned on the outside with "A Christmas Carol" You collect a ticket and then board the train (which does not move, in case you wondered!) In the train there are scenes from the movie (both finished and rough), artifacts from the Dickens Museum in London, Concept art, models, costumes and more. One area you can morph your face into characters from the movie. We did this for both Iona and Arran but unfortunately the morphed photos have not arrived in my inbox. As soon as I get them (may take up to 7 days) I will post them - they are soooo funny!
After the train tour, we got to wander over, past some Dickensian carolers, a stilt walker/juggler, through the fake snow into a portable movie theater for a sneak peak of the movie in 3D. I will say it is a cool movie and the graphics are phenomenal. One that I plan to see when it come out on November 6th.
The movie has lots of stars in it. Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes, Fionnula Flanagan
The train is skinned on the outside with "A Christmas Carol" You collect a ticket and then board the train (which does not move, in case you wondered!) In the train there are scenes from the movie (both finished and rough), artifacts from the Dickens Museum in London, Concept art, models, costumes and more. One area you can morph your face into characters from the movie. We did this for both Iona and Arran but unfortunately the morphed photos have not arrived in my inbox. As soon as I get them (may take up to 7 days) I will post them - they are soooo funny!
After the train tour, we got to wander over, past some Dickensian carolers, a stilt walker/juggler, through the fake snow into a portable movie theater for a sneak peak of the movie in 3D. I will say it is a cool movie and the graphics are phenomenal. One that I plan to see when it come out on November 6th.
Little Miss Gymnastics
For the last few years, Iona has been going to The Little Gym in San Jose. It is gymnastics, but in a fun way - no pressure to win medals. She has turned out to be a natural gymnast and really enjoys it. At the end of every semester they have what they call "Show Week" where friends and family can go into the gym and cheer the children on. This happened on June 9th 2009.
Iona's dramatic entrance and best handstand ever!
We were so amazed at Iona's handstand here - we had been practicing a few days before, but those ones were no where as good. Way to go Iona!
She had a great class. Afterwards we gave her a congratulatory rose. She was so pleased.
It was also great for her that her daddy managed to attend (its during work time so he normally doesn't get to watch her) and Dana (also known as MeMa).
Iona's dramatic entrance and best handstand ever!
We were so amazed at Iona's handstand here - we had been practicing a few days before, but those ones were no where as good. Way to go Iona!
She had a great class. Afterwards we gave her a congratulatory rose. She was so pleased.
It was also great for her that her daddy managed to attend (its during work time so he normally doesn't get to watch her) and Dana (also known as MeMa).
Maker Faire, Mentos and Mad Scientists
Catching up on a few of our recent comings and goings. Maybe someday I will post things quicker - right, when is that going to happen! But a girl can dream can't she!!!
So my last blog post was about Arran's Mad Science birthday party where we concluded the event with a diet coke and mentos explosion. Our Mad Scientists had a great time, but we couldn't better Eepybird. They are the original Mad Scientists who made the diet coke and mentos explosion famous on YouTube. We were lucky enough to be able to see Eepybird in action, live at Maker Faire 2009 in San Mateo. We even managed to get one of the diet coke bottles that they used and have it signed by both Fritz and Stephen.
Here they are (this is video that we took at Maker Faire)
Maker Faire is a weird and wacky place. Lots of things to make, do and see. There are strange vehicles from Lego Jeeps to Cupcake Cars. A giant game of mouse trap, hula hoops, a tesla coil, science projects galore, a giant 'musical' playground. A veritable feast for the eyes and mind.
Here are some of our photos from the day:
So my last blog post was about Arran's Mad Science birthday party where we concluded the event with a diet coke and mentos explosion. Our Mad Scientists had a great time, but we couldn't better Eepybird. They are the original Mad Scientists who made the diet coke and mentos explosion famous on YouTube. We were lucky enough to be able to see Eepybird in action, live at Maker Faire 2009 in San Mateo. We even managed to get one of the diet coke bottles that they used and have it signed by both Fritz and Stephen.
Here they are (this is video that we took at Maker Faire)
Maker Faire is a weird and wacky place. Lots of things to make, do and see. There are strange vehicles from Lego Jeeps to Cupcake Cars. A giant game of mouse trap, hula hoops, a tesla coil, science projects galore, a giant 'musical' playground. A veritable feast for the eyes and mind.
Here are some of our photos from the day:
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