Thursday, January 7, 2010

That's one small step for homeschoolers

.
"Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!"

Or words to that effect. Hello friends!! Despite the lack of Ben, we cannot be dissuaded from having a little fun with our good friends, the S. family and the B. family. We decided to pay a visit to the Tech Museum in San Jose. We hadn't been there since the kids were very small; Thomas didn't remember much of it and Nic didn't remember it at all.

Mrs. H. and Mrs. S. lead the pack. The B. family arrived earlier and were waiting inside for us.

Visiting a museum sounds like fun, but going with friends makes it even better.

Three families can pretty much fill up an escalator. What do you call the half that goes down? Descendalator? Netherlator? Subjacentor?

This curious projector had the ability to sense obstacles. It held our attention for a long time and had a soothing effect on the tribe.

Morgan and Lindsey enjoy a lovely afternoon on Mars.

Your mission Nic, should you decide to accept it, is to hit the circle of green lights with your red beam. You only have the two joysticks to operate the thrusters on your jet pack.

Mission accomplished!! This message will not self destruct.

Some juxtapositions cannot be ignored, even if you don't believe them.

Beeeep! Mrs. H. goes on an extravehicular maneuver. Beeeep!

Anthony decided to join his mom.

Jonathan decided to join Anthony and his mom.

Becky decided to join Jonathan, Anthony and her mom.

Sara decided to join Becky, Jonathan, Anthony and her mom.

Nic, the astro-nut, decided to join Sara, Becky, Jonathan, Anthony and his mom.

Laura decided to join Nic, Sara, Becky, Jonathan, Anthony and her mom.

Matthew decided to join Laura, Nic, Sara, Becky, Jonathan, Anthony and his mom. If I have to put up with the twelve days of Christmas song, you have to put up with me.

Sara got involved in a virtual wheel chair race at the moon base. She won, of course.


The million dollar machine performed flawlessly. The homeschooler running it needed a little help with his spelling.

As a general rule, don't shoot up at people looking down at you; it usually isn't flattering to your subjects. I seem to have gotten away with it this time. Perhaps it's because my subjects are so charming.

This device, a hold over from the original Tech Museum, was our favorite part of the trip. It sent billiard balls on a Rube Goldberg journey, up and down, back and forth, over and under. Boing, Klang, Whoosh!!

As you can see...

it held our attention...

for quite some time!

Before you jump to any conclusions about what a marvelous time we had, I think it only fair to inform you that the moms and dads unanimously agreed that San Jose's Tech Museum was a disappointment to us. I recommend that those of you looking for this sort of experience would be better served by going to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. That being said, a dull museum with good friends is a better day than a great museum by yourself. The H.'s and the S.'s would like to warmly thank the B,'s for taking us back to their home for a wonderful dinner after our excursion. It was the perfect cap to a pleasant day.

be safe,
Hec @ 19

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The last paragraph was very well put Mr. H! I think we would all agree that the evening spent with good friends, good food and Tom Cruise was the best part of the day!

Linds

Thomas and Lindsey said...

A fun day all around in the booming Silicon Valley. I am ashamed to share a name with the guy that didn't make an ounce of sense, but managed to hold our attention for a good 10 minutes.

TJH

JB said...

It was a grand day with the people, even if the Tech was a disappointment. Dinner was fantastic, too.

We will all have to try the Exploratorium next, or perhaps the SJ Children's Museum. Which one everybody?

Nice photos DH, as usual.
LY, JB

Dana said...

I'm relieved to know now that the Tech was less than expected. We were going to head over there soon. Exploritorium it is! Thanks for the review ... but I admit I come here to keep up on the people. :)

Matthew Hector said...

I simply agree with Lindsey, Thomas, and Mom. The Tech Museum was a disappointment, although the IMAX presentation was quite impressive.

Linds - Dinner was awesome. Tom Cruise, not so much.

~ M

Simply Tiffany said...

Very true...very boring places are fun when you're with the right people! And there are lots of people in that group who are loads of fun! I mean, I remember spending a few hours in this three story knife mall...did you catch that, it was a KNIFE mall. But I was with some of the best people on the planet, and we had tons of fun together! I wouldn't trade that time and those memories for anything.

*laughs* I love the astronaut pictures. I was waiting to see if
you and Thomas were going to join the rest of the family!

Fun pictures. Nice green trees. Did you hear that ours are white?

Mumsie,

Are you going to wait for me? ;) Love ya!

Hec @ 19 said...

Linds,
Either you're in or your out!
JB,
I'm going to have a hard time going back to San Jose after that.
Dana,
You are welcome,enjoy your trip!!
Matthew,
The movie was good; I never knew that Jim Carey good be serious.
Tiff,
You looked real sharp at the knife mall. Regarding Thomas as astronaut:
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Me? Someone had to stay at Mission Control.