Life with Dylan

Category: Imagination

  • #Lego Minifigures Come to Life

    Wondering what to do with all those Lego Minifigures your child has collected? You know, the ones that come in those shiny little bags … the ones you have to feel and desperately try to guess which one is inside?

    Well, Dylan spent almost all day creating his very own scenes for some of his favorite Lego Minifigures. He still amazes me at what he can create with these little plastic bricks.

    Surfer Girl riding a wave. This one is my favorite and I have been told that I can take it to work and put it on my desk.

    Werewolf howling at the moon in a graveyard.

    Frankenstein coming out of a grave.

    Hockey Player scoring the wining goal on the ice.

    Sailor and Fishing Lawn Nome lost at sea.

    Looks like he caught a shark and was using chum as his bait. (That would be the red stuff in the water)

    High above the water looking out for sharks.

    Hazmat Guy rescuing the Tennis Girl from a contamination at the tennis courts.

    Sumo Wrestler vs. Karate Man in a Japanese hut burning into flames.

    It is Dylan’s dream to work at @Legoand_CA and build his creations.

    All descriptions of these Lego sculptures were given by Dylan.

  • LEGO Star Wars: The Padowan Menace

    Tonight was the premiere of LEGO Star Wars: The Padowan Menace on Cartoon Network and of course, we had to watch it. In fact, we had to arrange our entire schedule today around this special LEGO event. Dylan has had this day marked on his calender for over a week and was actually counting down the minutes until 7 pm tonight.

    The Star Wars blanket was ready on the floor and the smell of popcorn filled the house. The first glimpse of the show starting resulted in what I would call a ‘girl scream’ and a leap off the couch.

    Yes, I would say Dylan was excited to see LEGO Star Wars: The Padowan Menace.

    ** Spoiler Alert **

    Although this was Dylan’s choice of movies, I must admit I loved it!

    The LEGO Padowan children going on a field trip and encountering various destinations as  C-3PO and R2-D2 attempt to fly the school bus/ship was a great parallel to the new Star Tours ride at Disneyland. The crash landing on Hoth was my favorite.

    Another really funny and creative aspect to this movie was seeing George Lucas as a LEGO. He appears every so often, as the director, to inform Darth Vader that he is not in the scene. At one point he even reminds Darth Vader that anyone can wear that mask. Hilarious!

    Seeing all of the LEGO characters that Dylan has built come to life on the screen was a wonderful way for him and I to connect. After watching this with him, I have a little bit better understanding of why he loves his LEGO’s so much.

    So the next time you see a child playing with LEGO’s try to use your imagination … you know, that thing that use to come so naturally to us when we were younger? Imagine those little pieces of plastic coming to life like they did in LEGO Star Wars: The Padowan Menace.

    You can watch a trailer of the movie over at the LEGO site and play some cool online games too!

    Did you watch LEGO Star Wars: The Padowan Menace?  
    What did you think?

  • The Coveted Boba Fett Slave I

    Yes, another Lego posting. But this one is different … the biggest one yet that Dylan built entirely on his own. He has been eyeing this particular Lego (Boba Fett’s Slave I) for some time now and he finally had enough money saved up to buy it. Well, ok … almost enough money. I pitched in $25 as an early birthday present and he had the other $40. The remaining $15 was paid with Lego VIP points and an additional 10% discount for showing our Legoland pass when we made the purchase at the Lego Store.

    After opening the box and sorting out all the bags he prepared himself by taking a deep breath and letting me know that he would need to be left alone so that he could concentrate.

    With bag 1 opened and sorted onto paper plates he began what would be a 5 hour Lego project.

    I thought it would be fun to capture a picture every 30 minutes to watch his progress.

    30 minutes 

    1 hour 

    1:30 hours 

    2 hours

    It’s now 9:30 pm. Time for bed, but he will start again as soon as he wakes up in the morning.

    Bag #2 opened and ready to go

    3 hours

    Bag #3 ready to go – 3:30 hours

    4 hours

    4:30 hours – almost done!

    5 hours and it’s finally done

    Dylan was so proud of himself after building this Boba Fett Slave I. He kept reminding me that it had 573 pieces and was for ages 9-14


    Life is so much better with LEGO’s

  • LEGO Addiction?

    Is it possible to be addicted to LEGO’s? These small pieces of plastic seem to have taken over my son’s bedroom. The shelves that were once filled with hundred of books are now home to hundreds of dollars worth of tiny Lego’s. Every penny Dylan gets is now saved up to buy the latest Lego collection so he can build something else.

    Granted I love that he is using his brain and building these wonderful creations, perfecting his hand-eye coordination, and buying something other than video games … but SERIOUSLY, they have taken over  his room!

    We still have all the books, they were just moved to other places. And the Lego’s that didn’t fit on the shelves in his room … well, they have been  placed on a shelf in his closet!

  • Preserving Memories

    Children grow up so fast and as far as I can tell there is no way to bottle up those little humans we call our children. Our life. Our reason for living. The small hands that once wrapped around our finger. The small toes we once counted to make sure all ten were there. The small bottoms that once fit in our hand.

    Sure, we can take pictures and create scrapbooks … but what about all those cherished pieces of artwork that our children bring home from school? So proud of what their small hands have created. Who has the room to store all of these masterpieces? And if the artwork is packed away in a box, how are we, as mothers, to look at it over and over again?

    The solution is what I have spent the past 4 years and most of today creating. Each time Dylan brought home a wonderful work of art, I took a picture of his creation and filed it away on my computer. Adding descriptions, the date he made it, and what he called the piece of art. Today, I have begun creating a photo book with Kodak Gallery. Starting at only $12 for a 5×7 up to $70 for a 12×14 hard cover book. Can you really put a price on preserving the creative memories of your child’s artwork? I say no. For a mere $35, I have created a personalized 9×10.5 hard cover photo book.

    Don’t lose your child’s masterpieces in a box someplace in the attic. Start creating your personalized photo book today.

    Click here to see what I’ve done so far. Saving a few pages for artwork that will come home the end of June and then I will have the photo book printed. 

  • Who Knew LEGO’s Could Be So Much Fun?

    After learning some fascinating facts about LEGO’s and seeing how LEGO’s are made, Dylan’s mind went into overload!

    All it takes is a visit to the LEGO Factory at Legoland and the imagination of a child takes off. Hours of play using nothing but his hands and his imagination. Three hours of building with these little pieces of plastic resulted in a campfire scene complete with a rainbow tent and animals of all sorts. No instruction booklet needed, he just used his creative abilities.

    Yes, that is a bat on top of the rainbow tent. The odd looking thing in the front? Why a beaver building his dam of course! What else would it be?

    A monkey and an owl in a tree.
    A snake, turtle and skunk family.

    People around the campfire cooking a fish.

    So proud of himself!  I don’t think I could have done this if I tried.