Lego Brickworld

I got a chance to attend the Lego Brickworld Exposition in Chicago Land with my friend Jill, her boys, a bunch of the boys' friends, and my son. The event was part of a birthday celebration for one of Jill's boys.

What is Lego Brickworld? Imagine a large convention center with over 60,000 square feet dedicated to Lego creations - some small, many big, all very creative and amazing. Here are some of my favorite photos from our visit.

Numerous street scenes




Trains galore






Medieval Scenes:




Even an Amusement park with moving rides.

The ferris wheel not only went around and around, but it would occasionally pause with a car at the bottom, as if new passengers were coming aboard. Very clever!



The Smurfs were right at home.

I overheard the creator of this scene - the Smurf figurines were custom produced!

The Lego figurines lead such interesting lives!


Of course, the visit isn't complete without a group picture of the boys with Batman!


If you ever get the chance to attend one of these expositions, they are totally worth it - admission was a mere $10.

Here is the entire collection of photos, in a (flash) slide show:


Or, click on the link: Lego Brickworld Photos by Shirley LeMay

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Lego Christmas Village Update

I've posted before about our Lego Christmas Village - it all started three Christmases ago, when we bought Santa's Workshop. Last year we added The Bakery. My son was so excited about the prospect of creating a winter scape that he designed "Main Street" - the base for all the shoppes and holiday revelers to gather. Lego had a custom design site where you built your virtual, custom Lego creation - then you could buy all the pieces and create the actual thing at home. So the boy measured out how big our village was going to be, designed a road (complete with a bend in it) and ordered the pieces required to build it. The buildings are Lego Sets you can buy - my son only designed the road that runs through Main Street. And he sets up where everything goes (which takes a lot of planning on his part!).

Here's our busy Main Street - the horse carriages are popular this year.


Coming right at the horses - the modern snow plow - this came with our new Winter Cottage.


We're able to spread all the little elements out - the carolers have their own little city square this year:


The Toy Shoppe:


Is next to the Bakery:


The skiers are coming into town:


There's an ice rink in town:


Even a photographer to capture all the action:


I don't have a picture of the completed Winter Cottage because it just got set up yesterday and these pictures were taken the previous week - I hope to get it done this week along with addressing Christmas cards, making cookies and the list goes on and on!



Linked to Mosaic Monday.

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Last Week in Instagram

I didn't have the chance to take many photos with my big camera, but my iPhone filled the gap.

Enjoying a bit of the red wine I bought (I bought 15 bottles through a mail order deal)

Zoom zoom:

The Gingerbread house that never got assembled - the kids got distracted by their new toys. We ate it instead, which is something that never happens.

It's me taking a walk in the late afternoon. It was a little windy.

Sushi for lunch!

First snow of the season on Tuesday.... on the morning I had to go back to work .....

By the afternoon, all the snow had melted away....

Thursday morning commute - it was a beautiful day!

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Snowy Sidewalks

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

We added the Christmas Bakery to our fledgling Lego Christmas Village this year. I saved last year's Santa's Workshop from the big Lego pit (aka the black hole in my son's room - thousands of Lego pieces from many Lego sets) and stored it in our Christmas decorations box. Brian was quite excited when he opened the box with the pieces and promptly recreated Santa's Workshop and added the white street snow for all the villagers to walk on.



Then the bakery arrived last week:


I love all the details in these sets.


It's the closest to a snow-lined street scene we'll encounter this year, as I'm afraid we won't get to experience a white Christmas in real life.

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Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

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More Rube Goldberg Machines and Details

Friday's Rube Goldberg competition included a High school division with many amazing machines.

The Disney Theme. Name all the Disney movies you can see - I see at least five just from this view.


The North Pole. One of the students on this team was dressed up as Cindy Loo-Who, complete with an up-do that would make those with beehives jealous.



Do you know the proper term for these?

They are called Newton Balls. My son had to explain it to me.

Lots of toys were used:


And in the end, IronMan saves the day!

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Lego Winter Toy Shop

Just in time for the holidays - the Lego set Brian ordered last week arrived yesterday and the boys made quick work of putting it together. It's perfect for displaying on the piano with the other Christmas decor.

I placed several of the pieces on a tray table in the hallway to photograph in front of the Christmas tree lights. But I'm not just capturing the Lego set, I'm trying to capture that twinkle light bokeh in the background.



And while I managed to get a smattering of it on the left side, I'll try some different angles tomorrow.

The above image was also processed with CoffeeShop's Golden Vintage action.

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Two Windows

Here's the third and last Window based challenge, hosted by Puna at LifeSignatures.

This week, I'm featuring two window views:

Windows from my son's newly assembled Lego Blacksmith Shop, part of the Medieval Market set:

I love that the little windows open and close.

And the view from my car window, after a perfect Fall day. Taken when I was stopped at a light.

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SOOC Saturday - Remote Shutter Release

The remote shutter release I ordered last week finally arrived, and my son had fun taking pictures using it.



I didn't even get a chance to use it - he hogged that remote for 30 minutes to take pictures of the kitchen chair.

What is it with males and remote controls? [no need to answer - purely rhetorical]

Oh, for those interested, I bought the remote from ebay seller, DelightDigi, product is Wireless Remote R6F for Nikon D200 D300 D700 D3 D2x D1x. Far less expensive than Nikon's ML-3, and works great.

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283/365 - Pleasant Surprise

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday, sitting at her "guest chair" in her office, when I glanced over and was surprised to see Hello Kitty smiling at me. Immediately, I had to smile back.

I have fond memories of Hello Kitty from my childhood, years before she became popular in the US. I remember buying some Hello Kitty puffy stickers during our trip to Taiwan when I was in 3rd grade. I treasured those stickers for years because they were so different (and Hello Kitty is just SO cute).

Hello Kitty still makes me smile (Erica thinks I have a weird obsession with her). I hope she brings a smile to you today.



[And Hello Kitty isn't simply imprinted on the eraser - she is formed through the entire eraser - how cool is that!]

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280/365 - Trying New Things

A couple of "new things" Brian tried out today:

1. "Marshmallow Launcher Bow and Arrow Toy / Weapon":

Just the other day, Scott noticed this contraption in the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. We both had a good laugh, noting that Brian would "have fun" with such a toy.

Funny that our neighbor's boy would have one! Brian took right to it, getting the marshmallows to shoot out.

2. The neighbor's new play structure - tree house fort:

Notice that he still has that shortbow with him.

Lots of fun this beautiful fall afternoon with friends!

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236/365 - Garage Sale Rainbow

Weird title, I know. It's just that the rainbow appeared as we were setting up for tomorrow's neighborhood garage sale.


Hopefully, that means we'll have a good crowd tomorrow - a crowd to pick through all of this stuff:


Even the beloved kitchen set that the kids have outgrown (sniff):


I'm always so sentimental setting up for garage sales. But I'm always so happy at the end of it, when everything is gone.

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POTD - Legos [all boy]

Brian is always creating new things with his legos. He has at least a gazillion of them, so I am always glad to see what new thing he has created.



And since he has a gazillion legos, why does he always ask for more every time we go to the store?

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