In addition to his normal toys Alex also has two robots. These robots are called Alex I and Alex II and can only be played with together with his dad.
The first robot is a balancing robot (which I found on Kickstarter). It drives around on two wheels trying hard to not fall down. Even a little poke from Alex does not bother the robot and it will keep its balance.
The robot can be programmed by using a simple programming language (blocks), and then sending the program to the robot using its USB cable, but this is something we’ll maybe try in the future.
Robot Alex II
The second robot is a bit simpler and just drives around. It does have an entire computer on it’s back, which can be controlled via wifi and my phone.
This robot as got some software set up to move about, and much more features can be added as phyton programs.
Alex has these robots because I think is it very benificial for him to get in touch as early as possible with something that will be everywhere in his future. Alex his current robots remind me of the computers I had when I was young. Slow, huge and with a black and white screen. After taking a long time to boot all you would get was a prompt, and that was it. Internet didn’t exist and was still a thing of the future.
Alex’ robots are far more advanced that my old computers and cost a fraction. They will advance extremly fast for sure and in a few decades Alex will look back at these things as I look back at my old PC’s.
You should not look a gift horse in the mount. The same goes for a free lemon, and moreover when it is a really happy lemon.
Last weekend we went on a dolphin spotting trip. With a nice boat we went out on the ocean in search of dolphins, and after a little more than an hour we finally encountered some dolphins. Alex had wanted to see more, but still he was satisfied. Ana was seasick right from the start, so for her the two-and-a-half hour trip was not so nice.
I think the answer lies in Alex experience with the three events. All events involved some great arrival. Sinterklaas arrived in Cadillac, with a drum band. Santa Claus arrived in a mini helicopter and the three kings arrived in three boats. Alex had his picture taken at all three events, and every saint was dressed up and looked impressive. Soon after each arrival Alex received a few gifts (at night) that were delivered in some magic way.
Another year has passed, and even if the years are all quite similar every year still comes with surprises. This year I returned to Spain for most of the time. Working three weeks from home and one in Holland works out much better.