We spent Sunday at the Tate Modern Gallery to participate in the Flux Olympiad. (The Fluxus Group were some goofy 60s artists who thought anyone and everything could be art.) The idea behind the olympiad was sport as art, but it also happened to be a bunch of fun silly games.

Ethan first participated in was the balloon race. Here are the gallery staff bringing the balloons out for the race.




Here is Ethan getting with the balloons tied to his back.



Here are the competitors . . . (We didn't know what they were going to be doing in the 'race'.)



And they are off....



Ethan is really running!



Ethan came in third place!! He reports that it was really hard, because the balloons were pulling him back while he was trying to run.




The next event was the 'cluster run'. No one would tell us what a 'cluster run' was, and then the staff started tying the team up with twine . . . Ethan and dad joined a team with some other north Londoners (I was the photographer). Here they are getting ready to start all tied up!


And they are off ...


Making progress ...


Here are the boys with their race medals!


The next event was blow soccer. In this event you use a skinny PVC pipe to blow air through to try to move the ping pong ball into the soccer goal. This is what the course looks like - with refs. and all!

Here they are trying to move the ball.

This game was really funny to watch and apparently difficult to play as all that blowing makes you light headed.

The next challenge was 'adapted ping pong' with funny tables (a giant hole in the middle of one, various bumpers pasted on top of another, etc., . . .) and paddles which had various items such as sponges, garden gloves, pans, and cans pasted to them.

On Saturday, we took Ethan to Legoland. William did not get to go with us last time, so we all went together. The weather was nice and mild. We had a great time and did all of the water rides and roller coasters. Here is a life size motorcycle made out of Lego.

Here is Ethan driving a Lego vehicle all by himself (on the left side of the road!).

Ethan and the biggest stick of cotton candy that I have every seen!

Here is a Lego model of Wembley stadium in London.

Getting ready to take the boat down the waterfall. This was a fun ride. I sat in the very back seat (think I would stay dry and got soaked).

On the viking ship!

A shot of Lego Miniland where they have models of all major European capitals in Lego with moving boats, bridges, and vehicles.

Me and Ethan....

We spent last Sunday at the Hampstead Heath. This is the huge park with lots of trails where I go for all of my runs. We had a picnic, went to the playground, and flew a kite last weekend. Here are some images of the weekend and some images of the trails I run on...

Ethan and dad fly a kite on Parliment Hill ...

Here is a view of the London Skyline from Parliment Hill -

We had a picnic in front of the Kenwood House and toured it after lunch. I run on the path by this house on every run and finally got to tour it!

Here is a view of the pond in front of the Kenwood House in the Hampstead Heath.

There is a beautiful flower garden just around the side of the Kenwood House.

Dad takes a spin on Ethan's scooter -

Baby ducks -

Here are some shots of Highgate village just around the corner from our flat.

For my running buddies, here are some shots of the trails that I run in Hampstead Heath.

At long last and not a moment too soon - summer has finally arrived in England. We were so happy about this that we headed straight for the coast last weekend. We went to an area of England known as Dorset. This area was recommended to us by one of the mothers at Ethan's school who described the area as "unspoilt." She was exactly right. It was amazing. We took the train to Poole where we rented a small car and drove straight to the Isle of Purbeck; not an actual island, it is a peninsula almost separated from the mainland by the River Frome.

We stayed in a town called Lulworth Cove - an amazing small town, quaint with thatch roofs. We actually stayed at an inn that was also a family friendly pub. We got keys to the front door of the pub, so we could come and go as we please after the pub was closed. Here is a picture of the boys playing a giant game of chess out front. Hmm.... where should I go next?

This area is particularly nice because it is linked by a long walking path called the "Costal Path." This area links several hundred miles of magnificent English coast line an beaches. We took a short walk on the path one evening. Here is a picture of the path ....









Here is Ethan walking on the path with is "hat" that he fashioned out of a very large leaf.





This area is also known as the Jurassic Coast and is a World Heritage Site. Many of the beaches are covered with fossiliferous 'Purbeck marble' and chalk. Many dinosaur bones and footprints have been discovered here. Here are dad and Ethan on Kimmeridge Beach playing a game where they try to hit a stack of rocks with another rock.

Here is one of the fossils on the beach.

We also visited another beach in the town of Worth Matravers, a tiny village with little more than a church, village green, pub, and pond. We walked from the town on the costal path to Winspit Bay, a beautiful rocky bay with clear blue water. Here are some pictures of Winspit.

In addition to all the beach activities, we also visited Corfe Castle, a truly amazing castle ruin. The 11th century castle, improved with a tall tower by Henry III in the 13th, was built on top of a Roman fort, which was built on top of an Iron Age hill fort, and which was probably inhabited for a thousand years before that as well. The castle was destroyed by Cromwell's army in the 17th century with huge stores of gunpowder packed under the foundation walls and ignited, resulting in bizarrely inclined and half-buried fragments. Here are some shots of the castle.

Ethan got a new scooter which we took on the trip. Here is Ethan with his scooter. The scooter is even big enough for dad to ride!

We stopped for lunch at a pub in Worth Matravers - the Square and Compass - a really nice place. Here is one of the roosters that was walking around checking out Ethan's scooter.