The Flying Bus

Illustration by Sanjay Patel from his version of the Ramayana. Image from here: http://kmunson-mac.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html

“Daddy, you know what? I bet you didn’t know, but my school bus can fly.” “Really? I didn’t know that.” “Yeah, there’s a button up at the front with a picture of a flying bus, and if you press the button, the bus flies.” “That’s amazing.” “Yeah, and guess what? The other day, the bus… Continue reading The Flying Bus

Physics with the Kids at 120 Frames a Second

SteelyKid dropping a slinky.

I got a new camera for Christmas, not because there’s anything wrong with my DSLR, but because I wanted something that could do high-speed video. So I now have a Casio point-and-shoot camera that will record up to 1000 frames per second, woo-hoo! To break it in, I got the kids to help out by… Continue reading Physics with the Kids at 120 Frames a Second

Warm Holiday Wishes

Warm holiday wishes from Chateau Steelypips.

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, happy Wednesday if you don’t. That’s about all there is to say, isn’t it?

Nostalgia and the Next Generation

SteelyKid washing some of our old Star Wars figures from the 1970's and 1980's.

“Daddy, I wanna play with the robot dog!” “It’s not a dog, honey, it’s an Imperial walker. An AT-AT. A fearsome armored assault transport used to overwhelm the Rebel defenses in the battle of Hoth.” “…” “…” “…” “OK, fine, you can play with the robot dog.” We came down to my parents’ for Thanksgiving… Continue reading Nostalgia and the Next Generation

SteelyKid, Scientist

SteelyKid, chemist in training.

One of SteelyKid’s classmates came over for a couple hours today. After a bit, they got into the Magic School Bus science kit she got for her birthday, and decided to invent “new kinds of water.” The “featured image” above shows her reinventing stock images… And doing a better job of it than this clown.… Continue reading SteelyKid, Scientist

Official Portrait Blogging 2013-14

SteelyKid's official kindergarten photo.

Because I know there are still a few people who come here for the cute-kid pictures, I give you the official SteelyKid portrait for the 2013-14 academic year. This is actually a photo of a photo, because that’s the easiest way to convert the print they sent us to a digital format, and also because… Continue reading Official Portrait Blogging 2013-14