Edmonton Motor Show

Last Thursday and Friday the Edmonton Public Schools Board held their annual teacher's conference. While Delle was off partying with the other teachers (what else do teachers do when they get together with no kids?) Cayde, Addie and I headed off to the Edmonton Motor Show.



Yellow punchbuggy!



The Oilersmobile was there in all its glory...



Yes, that's a wide screen LCD TV in the back hooked up to the DVD player in the cab. There are speakers on the roof bars as well.



When a car manufacturer wants a distinctive style for a new vehicle, they often head to a design studio in Italy such as Pininfarina or Bertone .

When Ford wanted a distinctive style for their new Bronco, they went to Bob the Builder.





Cayde and Addie hijack an F350



Yes, F series trucks are very big.



Ooh - shiny!



A yummy Ford GT - It only costs $200K



Blue Nissan Versa! (For all the "Heroes" fans out there :-)



Hmm - something seems to be missing from 350 Chev motors - ah yes! the car.



"So I was driving between these two trucks, and they just kept getting closer and closer..."



Addie making off in the Uni of Alberta's Formula SAE beasty.



The cops were soon on her tail in their modified Tiburon.



There's a Grand Prix in Edmonton later in the year, and apparently this car will be racing.
OK, so it's a Champ Car, not Formula One, but hey.



So while I was at the show, I checked out some potential replacements for Bessie.
A Mercedes...



Some Ferraris...









And a Lamborghini...



Over to the Hummer display.
A Hummer is not just a car, it is a lifestyle.
From the ridiculously huge chrome wheels...



To the huge array of bling you can pimp your Hummer out with.



Radio controlled car race track.



Stretch SUV Limo service. (The stretch Hummer was off at another engagement that day...)





"Ooh daddy, can I have this green one?"





Sporty Suzuki thingy.



Now this is my kind of car. What more could you ask for than a slot car track wound in, out and around your car to keep you amused while stuck in traffic?



Scary how well the boy fits in this funky little Smart.



Hybrid time - Toyota's Prius.



She broke it - she has to fix it.



Camry hybrid - a family sized petrol/electric mobile.
(Shame that the batteries take up so much of the boot space though.)



Look! A new Bessie!
(OK, they might both be Malibus, but the modern ones are a bit more compact - more Camry than Kingswood)



Yay! The Subaru guys had a Liberty wagon :-)



Only they are called a Legacy over here.



Enough looking a parked cars. Time to take something for a spin. Something like a Toyota truck (or two).
So we piled into the monstrous blue Tundra and took it for a lap around the 4WD track.



I managed to scrape it going over these bumps - oops :-)
At least the FJ Cruiser we took for a spin after that handled the rough stuff a bit better.





Time to head home. We had to check out the giant miner dude waving his pick at the carpark.

Skiing Snow Valley

When you live in Sydney and you want to go skiing, you're looking at a bit of an epic affair. Six hours of travel, accommodation, and then transport to the actual ski fields (assuming you're not one of the lucky few to be staying in a lodge on the slopes).

Anyway, when you live in Edmonton, there are a couple of ski fields in the river valley that runs through the middle of the city.

We went to one called Snow Valley which was about 10 minutes from our house.



Of course, we signed up for lessons since Delle and I haven't skied since we were teenagers and the kids hadn't skied at all.

Here is Tim, our instructor, about to push Addie face first into the snow. She was misbehaving and needed to be punished.



The view down the bunny hill to the lodge.



The view up the bunny hill (with some Fowlers).





So after a while we started to get the hang of things a bit.
Here's Cayde showing us some slick moves...



Delle (for some unknown reason) didn't like me pointing the camera at her. It made her nervous or something.



"Look" she said, dobbing me in to Tim. :-P

After mucking around on the bunny hill for a while, Tim took Cayde, Addie and I for a run down the big hill. (Yeah, it's not a BIG hill - this is just in a river valley after all. For BIG hills you go to Canmore, Banff or Jasper.)

Sorry, no photos of the big hill - too busy skiing :-)

Cayde and I spent the rest of the day hooning down the big hill having lots of fun, until the sun got low in the sky at which point the big hill was entirely in shade and it got a bit cold.

On the way back to the car, Cayde and Addie found some snow that hadn't been angelled yet...




Mark

Telus World of Science

Last weekend we went to see the Telus World of Science in preparation for Cayde's birthday party.

When we first arrived, one of the staff was giving a talk and demonstration about solids, liquids and gasses. It involved balloon animals and liquid nitrogen and culminated in the creation of double choc chip ice cream. (That liquid nitrogen is handy stuff :-)

Off we went to explore. Our first stop was in the environment and energy section.



Here's Cayde donating some of his excess energy to the little train set. (Pedalling the bike makes the train go round the track).



Cayde and Addie utilise their green-screen meteorological skills as they read the weather report.



There was a big Lego exhibition at the museum while we were there.
The Legislature building (a prominent Edmonton landmark).



The Sphinx guarding the entrance to the exhibition.



I'm just amazed at how detailed some of the Lego pieces can be these days. Here is a Lego artist's representation of Cayde. Notice the complete lack of lines, steps or bumps on his face. Just incredible.



Not only are the pieces detailed, but the artists are quick.
It took them no time at all to put together a model of Addie.
It's a shame they couldn't get the Lego to look a bit happier - oh well.



Here's one of the artists from the Northern Alberta Lego Users Group (NALUG) busily building a pyramid.



King Tut's Mask



Ancient Egyptian ski boat.



Ancient Egyptian gymnasium.



Enough Lego, time for some gross bodily functions.



Optical illusions being tested by Cayde.



If you see a bunny
And its nose is runny
Do not think it's funny
'Cos it's not
(Say it fast - it makes sense with the pictures below).





We had a couple of minutes for a quick dose of personal electric transportation before it was time to go.