W5...

...is the best hands-on science museum in the UK. I'm convinced. I've been to similar places in London, Birmingham, Leicester and Manchester so admittedly I haven't sampled *that* many but I'm betting there wouldn't be many that would come up to this standard.

It's big, spacious and there's an emphasis on children experimenting and working stuff out for themselves.

H made a stop-animation movie (several actually) and now wants to make one with me using my camera. Noah spent ages in the wet-play area, floating balls, pushing them up and down waterfalls and firing them through tubes with compressed air.

This was his favourite exhibit though. It's so simple. You make slopes with magnetic pieces and roll ping-pong balls down them. A sort of build-your-own marble run. To make it even more interesting if you push a ping-pong ball into one of the little holes it..wait for it...comes out through one of the other little holes...WOW...Noah thought that was the best and most exciting thing ever ever ever and stood on tiptoe, pushing ping-pong balls into all the holes as fast as his chubby little fingers would allow.

And Henry and I got approached by a press photographer with the words, 'We're looking for attractive parents engaging with their children...can we photograph you and your son?' Oh how I wanted to kiss that photographer!!! What a smoothie...but he made my day. And they sent me the image :-)