A week later we had some birthday cake for him! Whoops!
After breakfast we packed up the van and headed into Canberra again for a tour of Parliament. While we waited for the tour we went up to the roof to see the view of the War Memorial, as well as the Australian flag.
As it turned out - Axel was making his own rules on his birthday and he wasn't keen to take the tour, so we sat and had coffee in the café while Mars and the other 4 kids took the tour. The Tour Guide did an amazing job - was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, I had the camera with me while Mars did the tour so no photos of the Chambers or anything interesting!
Some of the main points the kids relayed to me were; There are over 2500 clocks throughout the Parliament building. Each clock has a timer so that when big decisions are being made in the Chambers, they have 4 minutes to get there to participate in the decision making. If they are late, the doors are locked. When the timers were first set up, they had the oldest member of parliament walk from one end to the other and he did it in 3minutes 20seconds, so the time limit was set for 4 minutes.
When the building was designed, the architect suggested building it 'into the hill' to give the feeling that members of Parliament are on the same social level as the general public. The colours chosen for the House of Representatives and the Senate are Green and Red, with the seats shaded different colours to match the colour scheme of the native trees.
Australia's Coat of Arms has the Kangaroo and Emu on it. The reason these animals were chosen was because neither of them can move backwards so supposedly we're always moving forwards! We are also the only country that eats the animals on our Coat of Arms!!
Unfortunately the Members of Parliament weren't 'sitting' this week so we missed out on seeing them in action - much to Karlis disappointment! However, she was easily comforted with the promise of heading to Questacon instead - the equivalent of our Sci-tech.
Happiest when he has his own space!
So we headed to Questacon, had some lunch in the carpark, then headed in! Questacon has different levels so the first one we were on had a section that dealt with illusions and tricks. The staff member got the kids to tie themselves up and after they were unsuccessful at untying them selves, explained how they should do it. Even Mars and I were puzzled. The solution was quite simple!
Throughout the afternoon were different shows, so we headed to the show about balloons. It was an interactive show where the kids learnt about different gases that could be used to send a balloon to Mars. It was very interesting and very well done. The finale to the show was the host throwing Liquid Nitrogen on the floor to create the misty effect.
We then went and did a variety of different activities throughout Questacon, stopping for another show about Space then resuming the fun learning activities.
Heat generators show which part of your body produces the most heat.
Craft Station
Mars was so proud of his efforts!
We eventually left Questacon at closing time (should've allowed the WHOLE day), picked up pizza on the way out then drove to Bungendore to stay for the night. We let the kids run wild for a while then sorted showers and then into bed!
We were unaware of the fires which had recently been through the surrounding areas but became aware of it as BlazeAid was also staying at the Showgrounds where we were. BlazeAid is a volunteer organisation which co-ordinates funding and recruiting people to assist in rebuilding fences (to keep livestock in) and helping out the farmers. All labour is free, the accommodation and food is supplied to the volunteers. Such a fantastic organisation!
Looks like a fun family day - Questacon looks like a great place. Love the photo of Axel playing with nature.
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