To Finnish the short getaway off with a little bit of something different, we went to Heureka, which is an interactive science museum for kids and at the moment they have displays for some ice age beats, as well as space exploration, and of course some AI, on top of their normal interactive displays that look at different scientific lessons. And super weirdly and with no prior knowledge, after about 30 minutes there we ran into Smallsteps' best friend and her family, so it made for an even more exciting adventure day.
But before that, on the boat the night prior and after the "Grand Buffet" dinner which is by no means fancy and the average Finn tries to eat their money back with each plateful piled high, and the cheap wine overflowing glasses, we saw Dotter perform on the stage to the few hundred people who turned out. If you don't know who I am talking about, don't feel sad, no one knows. Well, there was some guy in his late 40s standing and filming for the entire set right in front of her, who knew every lyric - but only the Swedes really know her. She seems like she might be pretty popular there and even provided Sweden's Eurovision scores a few years back.
Note: If you don't know Eurovision (you are missing out), this Will Ferrell movie is about all you really need to know for a crash course in it.
And then it was back in Finland.
Yes. Sea ice.
We could have hit an iceberg.
Heureka
Fun for all ages it seems, as there were people there who didn't seem to be with kids, though it is definitely geared towards kids. But, there are a couple things that the parents really get into, especially the dads and one of them, is building race cars out of balsa wood and racing them down a gravity track, with timing.
Smallsteps and I made five versions. The first was a practice in the low 3s. The second went much faster at 2.66, Third and Fourth were experimental design failures with both falling off the track, and Fifth was back to the second design with tweaked wheels, and it ran a 2.62. We didn't see anyone else run even close to our speeds, much to the dismay of the other father's getting all engineer-y with their sons.
And how could we miss the rat feeding show?
I am not a rat person, but they are pretty cute in this kind of setting. Wouldn't be a fan of them rummaging through my garbage bin.
Smallsteps likes building things, even though she isn't the most skilled at it. There was an activity set with paper cones, straws, feathers, fabric and a large fan in the table blowing upward, with the goal of designing something that could fly. One of hers did a really good job and well outperformed mine.
And then there was the AI attractions, which were aimed at kids but pretty cool. Like drawing a cat and having AI create it in a more photorealistic way, or a portrait doing the same. Another was drawing anything and as progressing, the AI would guess what it was and it would do a pretty good job of it.
And a bird that would move on puppet strings. Which was boring, but looked like it was fun.
And this
It was a very simple race between human and AI. There were two buttons, left and right, and each time you pressed, the AI would try to predict what you will press prior. If it guesses correctly, the robot will move and if it gets it wrong, the human will move. As you can see from the counter in the image, that is the AI on the left and the human on the right. The AI is winning 70% of the time, which means it is predicting a 50/50 choice with very good accuracy.
I got a win over it. Just.
The space attraction would have been pretty good, had Smallsteps been half a foot taller. All the cool things were for those who are 140cm or more, and she is about 124, so she couldn't do the "moon gravity" simulator, or fixing a space station. Because she couldn't, I didn't do them either.
However there were other attraction and things to do there for the shorter kids, and she was really getting into them and reading a lot about what was actually going on, rather than just banging stuff around like a game. Though, that would have been okay too - not everything has to be a lesson and as it says on the door at entry,
“Play is the highest form of research.”
– Albert Einstein
And to finish up, there were some other kind of funny AI displays where one was showing "deep fake" images morphing faces into that of celebrities, like that of my wife becoming Scarlett Johannson. And the other was an "age estimation" based on different expressions. When my wife pouted, she looked 18, so I am guessing every photo of her from now on is going to have duckface.
And here we are - back at home after a good trip.
Though...
This is the feedback I got from my Oura Ring this morning and the data shows that there has been too much indulgence, and too little sleep. It is actually pretty interesting to see some of the correlations, but I need to wear it for a couple more weeks to get them all going and have a bit of history, so I won't get into it now. That, and I am broken. The drive back for two hours in the blackhole that is Finland in the winter without snow, after a few late nights and early mornings, is the worst. But we made it and, it is definitely time for some well-earned, post-getaway rest this evening.
For two of the three of us at least.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I used to love taking my kids to places like that. They all three enjoyed them. And so did I. Glad you had a getaway together.
I wish there were more like it here. Finland is a bit different to the states, as there is a lot of basic stuff here, but nothing very fancy. This one is great though, and it was very busy today too. Even though they stagger the school holiday weeks by region, the place was full, even though the local schools weren't on vacation and I think they don't book field trips during these weeks.
Once school starts here in the US, the children's museums are empty on school days, and over-packed on non school days. Before our eldest started public school, we had those places to ourselves. Once one is in school, the whole shebang of living centers on school schedule.
PRetty much. Here in Finland it is a little different though, as most students don't have "set" hours and instead it runs a bit more like a university with free periods and half days etc. It makes it harder in some ways :D
Really a moon gravity simulator? that should be very cool! I think the best science museums are the ones that make kids to live and breath science, like the big guys do when discovering new things. And that's why also the name of the place is amazing, the word used when you discover something (more in the ancient world). I thought that people used the word "eureka" without the H hehe but probably it depends of the language since the original word is in Greek with a different alphabet.
Yeah, it looked good. It was a big arm that the person would sit on and run around a track, and it would counter balance the weight to make it feel like the moon's gravity.
I think it is the same here, but I am guessing (just guessing) that it is just because that is what they say in Finnish.
I didn't look for, but I got the same feeling. I have never been to Finland or any Scandinavian countries. Many interesting thing to do out there!
You should visit - not a bad region :)
That place looks like so much fun! I love the picture of Smallsteps in the space suit and of your wife morphing into Scarlet..how fun! Glad you didn't hit an iceberg so you didn't have to reenact the Titanic, would've been.....not so fun!
It is fun. I reckon adults would have a great time there, after a few drinks! :D
Drinks or not, I would like it. But hey, after a few drinks it would be a real hoot LOL
That looks like a really cool science center. I have been to a couple of those in the last few years. Toronto used to have a really big one and there is a chain down where my inlaws live called COSI that has locations all over the US I think. They always have great interactive stations. We have a small one in the town where I live, but it is nothing compared to these places. I bet the guy in the front row just liked looking at her belly!
They should have more of these kinds of learning centers, rather than just playgrounds.
I am sure. I didn't realise that she is "old" at 37 years of age and married with a kid :D
Even if they had some of the science stuff outdoors. That would still allow them to have green spaces but also have an education component.
It's a Viking ship! In icy waters... Can it get any cooler?
Ah, yeah, space. They say it's even cooler there. But it's absolute zero, if you ask me.
Ah! You are honing your dad joke skills well!
While waiting for better dad jokes weather. I need my garden time.
Rat is not liked and wanted to be around by us since they could be harmful and dangerious for our living place. I think there is one around my house and must be terminated before it takes too serious :/
Yeah, I wouldn't want them creeping around in the wild - these ones were a bit different though. Pets.
Sounds like you and your family had lots of fun! What a great getaway!
It really was a nice time - Smallsteps slept 12 hours straight, my wife 10. I got 6.5 :)
Hahaha from now on you will always see someone with a sullen face at home :) Women get into a complex as they get older. This is bad for you, my friend. You can't live with a sullen woman :)
She has the worse end of the stick, as she lives with me!
She is so lucky to live with you.
You all had a wonderful time and I'm very certain your daughter won't forget this experience.
She is getting to the age she will remember a bit more now :)
Growing up, most of the places I visited with my parent helped me in school. I tend to remember most of what I see, touch and experience. As a parent I intend to do same for my children, let them explore the world it has a way of enhancing their memories.