Lego Ballista and Castle

There has been much lego building of late, and I am always amazed at the things our children think of to build. Here is the latest creation of our son G (the true lego fanatic of the family). It is a weapon similar to a large crossbow called a ballista, based on a design by Leonardo da Vinci. It really fires!

Then he decided to build a more traditional cannon as well and see which one would fire the farthest.

Here he is just after firing both of them (the ordnance was too fast for my camera!). Any guesses on which projectile traveled farthest?

Yes, the cannon traveled farther. But the cannon was much bigger. Next he plans to build them the same size and try this experiment again. Who says you can't do school with legos??

Meanwhile, his older sister was starting on this amazing castle.

Here is the front entrance up close. Their castles are always very well guarded!

Inside the castle there are many different areas, such as the stable area for the horses.

Here the blue knight and purple knight are having sword fighting practice.

Here is the "keep", the safest place in the castle and also the place that holds all the treasure. It has its own drawbridge.

And here is the hangman's noose for bad guys (hanging from blue beam) with the executioner dressed in black underneath. Fortunately for the bad guys, most of them seem to escape so I was assured the noose doesn't get used much.