We spent the day in Newtown, Johannesburg, today… at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre.  It’s like a science museum only cooler… way cooler.  It’s 3 floors of stuff… packed with coolness and loads to keep the kids occupied.

It was easily the most fun we’ve ever had for R30!! Seriously, that’s all it cost to get in, because Connor was “free” ‘cos he’s under 6.   We got there at 11:30am… and I managed to drag them out of there at 3:30pm!! And they were complaining that they didn’t want to go home yet.

I was in two minds about going to Sci-Bono.  The only people I knew that have been there, have got little kids.  I was worried that Bradley would get bored.  Well, I’m not actually sure who was more engaged by the centre actually.  They definitely got different things out of the day.   Connor was just interested in getting things to work.  Bradley would intently read instructions to get them to work right… but he’s not yet interested in why it works like it does… and I’m sure older kids/teens would be… so it caters for all ages.  And it’s under cover!! Perfect for a rainy day! And for those worried about going to “scary” Joburg the parking lot is right outside with a guard.

And now for the photos… ‘cos that’s what you came to my blog for anyway

This Lego soccer stadium was at the entrance… isn’t it amazing?

Love the concentration

They had to use the paddle to create music and find the pipe that had the highest note.

”

The highlight of the place was definitely the Murray and Roberts construction site.  The boys kept coming back here.  There was a “site office” where they had to get kitted out with hard hats and bibs.  There was piles of foam bricks and cement to build walls between steel structures…

… there was a crane that worked on a lever and pulley system…

I managed to tear them away to get them to a science show at 12:30pm.  And on the way we got sidetracked by this machine that showed pressure in a chamber when you used a lever to spin a soccer ball

The science show was fabulous.  They used chemicals to produce fires and all sorts of cool things for the kids to see… in this experiment she blew cake flour out of a funnel and lit it… I did not know that flour could burn like that!

Then she made bubbles with liquid nitrogen and I can’t remember what else

Bradley’s reaction after seeing the balloons filled with hydrogen explode…

Then it was time to see the dinosaurs.  They were awesome, and roared and moved when you pressed a button.  Really cool for the kids! And Bradley was amazing… he just looked at them and named them without reading the signs… he still remembers all those dino encyclopedias he used to read.

Both boys loved the Eskom section where they played with circuits and currents… this one used batteries to get a train to move around a track.

This was them running to get back to the construction area after being through all 3 floors of magnetic, electric and musical fun….

The toughest thing about today was deciding which blog to blog about it on! The Jenty blog which is about me and parenting… or this one… but in the end I decided that this is mostly about photos and my life in photos.  I’m having a bit of a dilemma with this blog at the moment… should I keep it only for clients?  But my story about photography is so important to me.

So this story has to be told here… partly because all the images were taken without flash… and I only used my 50mm again.  I’m in love with the 50mm at the moment for my personal photos and it just makes my camera so much lighter and smaller to carry… FTW!

And as far as the Sci-Bono centre goes… we’ll definitely be back.  Connor wants to go there again tomorrow… LOL! And I’vedefinitely decided that this is a definite party venue for one of them this year!

When I got to my parent’s house this evening, Connor was hanging over the kitchen wall, and I had to run to get my camera… loved the look!!

And then it got funny, because Bradley arrived and they were talking about veggies…

… and then Connor decided he wanted to see how tall he was against Bradley…

I haven’t taken part in a meme in months… it’s about time I started becoming creative again so tonight’s the night I start again. And this post is perfect for Photostory Friday

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli
 

I got my first (and probably only) tattoo this afternoon. If you’ve been following my personal blog you would know that I’m doing a Bucket List Project for the next year where I’m going to be doing one thing on my bucket list every month until I turn 40!  I ticked off the first item today

I’ve wanted a tattoo for ages, but haven’t known where to put it or what on earth the design should be.  Then after decided that this was an item on my bucket list, I had a reason to find a design.  I turned to Pinterest for my inspiration.  I started an Ink pinboard and started looking for designs.  And then 2 weeks ago I found one that just spoke to me, it was a design with an infinity sign and the word love.

Then I went looking for a tattoo place.  I turned to my network on Twitter and Facebook for that, and eventually it was a toss up between 2 places.  I googled both, and really wasn’t happy with the photos on the Facebook page of the one recommended place, they looked too rough, and their website wasn’t working.  Then I found a blog post on Mojodojo about SA Hardcore Tattoos (the other place highly recommended), and some photos of tattoos on Facebook that were posted by a friend of a colleague… and decided that was the place to go to.  It was on my way home from work, and they did awesome fine and delicate work.

So anyhoo, I went this afternoon (after seeing them last week and showing them my idea).  I told Luke last week that I wanted an infinity sign similar to the photo on Pinterest with my kids initials and maybe the love too.  When I got there today, Luke, the designer, said that the word love was long with the initials and he felt a little tacky.  So he came up with this… and I loved it!! When Daron, the tattoo artist looked at it, he said that it needed a little red heart in the middle too… PERFECT!! I am so happy with the design. It’s fine and delicate and so me!

Oh and the funny thing… this world is so small!! Guess who was having a tattoo while I was waiting… Gord from the Mojodojo blog!

So anyhoo, Daron thought I was a little odd taking photos with my iPhone during the process .  Hell, I thought I was a little odd not using my DSLR, which I did have in my bag but decided to go light instead And I love editing using iPhone apps anyway!  So, here in photos, is the story of my tattoo, as taken by iPhone…

And viola…

And if you’re wondering whether there was pain… it wasn’t really sore, more like irritating.  The fact that my elbow was uncomfortable on the armrest was more disturbing than the actual tattoo!! The only thing that I found odd was the tic in my finger that started happening when he did the C. Weird.

iPhone apps used for processing:  Camera+ and Instagram

It’s not a walk when we take our huskies to the park… it’s a chase and a run and bit of a whine from Connor.  It’s exhausting!!

I’m very frustrated tonight, partly knowing that they’re THIS bad at the moment, because I haven’t had time to walk them every evening.  They were just insane again at the park tonight.  But this time, I thought I’d take photos of them again (because a client the other day said she hadn’t seen photos of my dogs recently)… so yes… a camera around my neck with 2 very boisterous 7 month old huskies and 2 kids… was a little mad

First, Connor… cos I just love how he’s mid air in this shot of him running up the hill.

Proof that he wasn’t lunatic for the whole “walk”, Kitara on the other hand was looney and was far too fast for any photos.

Ha… he got away… I was standing with treats in my hand hoping to train him to come to me.

Ja right… see that look in his eyes as he sprinted past me… he couldn’t give a damn about my bribes!

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

Just a little fun with Connor… this weekend is going to be a photography biggie with 3 clients so I took it easy today

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.