in a parallel world..

So in the next episode of the ongoing epic - When Physicists have babies - my beautiful, giggling and energetic wee niece Natalie, her Mum and me headed to the new National Museum of Scotland which is the best place on the planet to play eye spy. (Numbats, the world's largest scrimshaw and orbicular granodiorite anyone?)

So why in such a treasure trove have I posted a fairly obtuse picture of Natalie at an anonymous glass barrier? It was the only 3 milliseconds throughout the entire trip I had a hand free and a stationary child. The Millennium clock was sounding so while the wooden figurines whirred (Not sure she got the references to Stalin and Hitler) there was a seizure in the space time continuum of stunned absorption.

Not that I minded being almost four for a day. I had more fun than Nat running around. The Museum is stunning and unlikely to get boring even after 50 visits. Loved the way she pounded each flat surface expecting it to be a touch screen. It often was.

Best moment was when we bumped into our lovely cousin Clare. Not only did she describe an epic club night she'd been to inside the museum but she also bought us a lovely bouncy ball to play with. (Until that point we had just been test-driving it. Honest) First throw saw it bounce out of the shop, ping across the room, skip down a walkway and roll over the balcony. Despite bolting after it, all I could do was shout a warning to those two floors below. Luckily a staff member caught it at first bounce before it got impaled in a stuffed hippo. Full on Grecian tragedy fit was narrowly averted when it was returned. 30 mins of bouncy ball chasing later and we were all rosy cheeked and breathless from laughing. Clare kindly bought a spare for the future. Bouncy ball heaven must be pretty crowded.

Just realised this is pretty similar blip to the last one I did of Nat. One day I really will try to get a better one, it may involve lacing capri-sun with calpol or filling her pockets with stones.

Most of my neices and nephews could put CERN to the test. Rumours of their influence on the notorious "faster than the speed of light" experiment are well founded. I remember being just the same.