Brothers

Eben and Luca were with us for the day (this is a backblip, uploading on Friday). 
We decided to go to the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. Richard and I haven't been there since it was reorganised and renamed a long time ago.  Formerly it was the National Film, TV and Photography Museum, a favourite place for me, and where I first saw documentary work by feminist photographer Jo Spence among others.
The boys had a great time, not least in the top floor gallery where you can play around with vintage arcade and console games.  Luca actually beat Eben at one of these, quite the result for him as he is so often outrun by his older brother. Nice moment for them both, really. 
We did manage to wean them off the games for some of the time too, and explored various galleries where you can experiment with different light and sound effects and illusions. 
I'd go back again with them, as we barely scratched the surface really. The basement now houses the more adult-oriented photography collection, and I'd like to look at that properly too another time.
The only downside was the cafe. As Luca can't eat dairy products, every new cafe or restaurant visit entails a careful discussion with the staff. Usually people respond well and produce a well-thumbed folder with info about each product's ingredients. Not here though. There were very few dairy-free savoury options, and among the cakes and biscuits, none at all. No folder, just a rather terse "we can't guarantee a dairy-free option". Grrr.  Our usual rule is that since Luca can't eat dairy, we all go for dairy-free options if we can, not wanting him to feel left out. We had to break that rule this time, allowing Eben a pizza.   Luca had a ham sandwich with no margarine and a vegan sausage roll, the only option he could have, apart from a baked potato. 
Luca's very patient with all this, and we all try to avoid it becoming a source of anxiety. However the stakes are quite high, as eating dairy products can cause neurological damage for him, if it happens at all regularly (a one-off mistake isn't usually a problem, as it's a metabolic disorder rather than an allergy). 
I'm hoping that a letter to the museum management might nudge them into broadening their menu in future.