Maker Faire 2009!

Yesterday I took the boys to Maker Faire in San Mateo. This was our first time at Maker Faire and definitely won't be our last. Having two young boys with me, I didn't get to spend a lot of time on my agenda, it was all I could do to navigate between the two boys' agendas, but we all had a great time. We saw unbelievable creative vehicles, visited a huge lego display and the kids also got to play with legos. Made all kinds of hands-on crafts like decorated journal books made from end-run paper, scrap art made from scrap materials like plastic, paper, linoleum, and foam, wire art made from coiled copper wire and hex nuts, leather scrap charms, and needle felting shapes. And of course there were lots of hands-on educational booths like make your own cell, robotics of all kinds, and lots of experiments in chemistry and physics involving everyday objects like water and ping pong balls. The highlight of the event is the Diet Coke and Mentos fountain show, a la Bellagio (Vegas). We couldn't get closer than 50 yards to the stage on that one. All in all an extremely enjoyable day. Next year I want to go for both days: the first day just with Eric to see things the kids wouldn't be interested in and to scope it out, and the second day with the kids in tow. Eric wasn't able to go with us this year because he was scheduled to take a tour of Lawrence Livermore Labs (actually we were both scheduled but our childcare fell through), but Jennie and Jonathan went with us and Jennie spent part of the day helping me keep an eye on the kids.