Lego KidsFest

Santa gave Luke tickets for our family to attend Lego KidsFest in Charlotte, NC, this past weekend, and we have been counting down the days until this wonderful event.  KidsFest is a traveling exhibition that includes all-things Lego, and we were amazed at how well-organized and massive it was.  Our tickets were for the Sunday morning session, and we were there from the moment that KidsFest opened until they finally asked us to leave at closing time!  There were dozens of life-sized Lego models and we learned that some of these took 2,000 hours to build and are made up of hundreds of thousands of Legos:

Spiderman:  Mommy's favorite.  He looks like he is floating in space!

We're a super hero kind of family right now!

Luke loved this Egyptian mummy model.

There were animal models, super heroes and characters, and even entire cities built from Legos:

Uh-oh, she's being eaten by a shark!

Not scared of this tiger!

Luke holds up his Mixel creation in front of a display made entirely of Legos.

 There were stations set up throughout KidsFest with different Lego themes where children could build their own creations.  At the Lego Nexo Knight station, the kids made their own shields to display on the wall:  

L&L created their own action figures in the Lego Star Wars area, and then I asked them to go pose with "that guy" for a picture.  Luke admonished me:  "It's Boba Fett, Mommy!!".  I guess I need to brush up on my Star Wars character recognition...

The kids also loved the Race Ramp station, where they constructed Lego vehicles and raced them against other children:

One of my favorite exhibits was called Creation Nation, and was a huge map/outline of the United States drawn on the floor.  Children built their own structures and were able to choose which state they wanted their creations to be placed.  I was only able to capture a fraction of it in this photo, but the map was huge, and contained thousands of unique creations by participants.  

 We loved the stations where we were challenged to be creative and use our Lego building skills.  In one area, we built a bridge and competed against other teams to see whose bridge held the most weight (ours won with 35 lb.!).  In the Challenge Zone, we had 3 minutes to construct the most interesting creation that we could using a bucket of Lego bricks.  Here's my team strategizing:

We signed up for a session in the Lego Lab and met a Lego Master Builder (there are only 8 in the world!).  Luke decided that this is going to be his new profession when he grows up... "And then there will be 9, Mommy!".  I have to say that it sounds like a pretty cool job, and PERFEECT for Luke!

We battled mini-figures in the Lego Ninjago zone, and played marble race games there.  It was very helpful that we are not "new" to Legos in our family and recognized/are familiar with many of the brands.  The kids knew exactly which themes and Legos that they wanted to play with, and we explored every area of Lego KidsFest except Lego Princess and Lego Friends- sniff, sniff.

One of the coolest parts of the day was the giant Lego brick pile in the center of KidsFest.  I can't begin to imagine how many dump trucks of Legos this pile contained.... and it didn't even hurt to walk on the Legos!  (Any parent who has ever stepped on a Lego on their floor at home understands what I mean!).  Leah LOVED this area, and the kids literally swam in/were buried by/were surrounded by Legos.  It was Lego Heaven for my two children!  

It was an awesome day.  Every session of Lego KidsFest was sold out for the weekend, and we were worried that it may feel too crowded and chaotic.  However, there were so many different areas to explore that it wasn't overwhelming and our kids were at great ages to maximize our time and fun at this event.  Thank you, Santa, for such a wonderful day for our Lego-loving family! 

Family Fun

A couple of months ago, Mark's company hosted a "Family Day" with live music, inflatables, outdoor carnival games, and food.  It was a fun-filled Saturday afternoon, and even included a treasure hunt and self-guided tour of the facility.  Out of all the activities that were options, our very favorite was seeing Mark's office.  We have never been inside the Gilbarco plant, and Luke, Leah, and I loved seeing this little glimpse of where Daddy spends his weekdays.  Leah plopped into Mark's desk chair and promptly exclaimed in a theatrical deep voice: "Hello, I am Daddy!" while Luke added some helpful written insights onto Daddy's white board:  

 Mark showed us what old fashioned gas dispensers looked like, and tried to explain the new chip technology of the modern versions to us.  We got lost somewhere around sentence # 2 and some of us still think that "Daddy pumps gas at work..."  Nonetheless, Family Day was a fun way to learn about Gilbarco and meet many of Mark's coworkers:

In more recent February family fun, we went to a WFU basketball game last weekend, and had a great Saturday in Winston.  We're in the midst of Luke's basketball season, too, and he is enjoying his season on "The Warriors".  As you can see, he is once again the tallest kid (and this team is 2nd/3rd graders, so he is actually one of the youngest players):

I have been having fun facilitating a bi-weekly enrichment reading group of second graders, and our Book Club is full of silly moments like this one.  Luke is still at an age where he is happy to have me teach and be present at his school, and I have found that sharing my love of reading with these sweet little souls is a wonderful calling for me this year:

You know we love holidays in our family, and Leah's preschool Valentine's Day party on Thursday was full of fun.  I served as one of the "Party Moms" (of course!), and was able to stay at preschool with Leah for the entire morning.  Afterward, she declared, "This was the BEST day of my life, because you came to school with me, Mommy!"   That dear girl could not be any sweeter!

This was my favorite Valentine this year.  Leah made it for Luke and completely sums up the love and adoration that our sweet Peanut has for her brother: 

Our Valentine's weekend contained even more family fun, as we went to see Wild Kratts Live in Charlotte on Saturday.  Santa gave Leah tickets for our family to see this show, and it did not disappoint!  The expressions of joy and excitement on our children's faces as the "real, live Martin and Chris" came onto stage were priceless.  Leah wore her Creature Power Suit to the show, and it was a very special afternoon:

And for your entertainment, here is the pile of books that Luke deemed necessary to pack for the 1.5 hour car ride to Charlotte:

I am actually thankful for that bag of books after I had a near parenting fail last week.  On Ash Wednesday, I attempted to explain the season of Lent to the children and told them that Mark and I give up desserts for Lent and how it is a sacrifice because it is something we enjoy.    Luke promptly chimed in with, "Well, I can't give up desserts... but I will give up reading because I enjoy that."  

And I stood there speechless, and texted Mark the story, followed by #Lentgonewrong, #CaptainLiteral.  

Anyway, I'm thrilled that Luke changed his mind about his Lenten resolution, and once again, I am humbled by my inability to clearly explain things to my 7 year-old.  

Always fun and funny moments with our crazy family!  

Snowed In!

In case you missed it, there was a huge blizzard this week.  Record-setting snowfalls were measured in many states along the East Coast, shattering previous records and making history!  We got a grand total of... (wait for it!) 4 inches... and our kids haven't been to school since last Wednesday.  Even though we've lived in the south for more than a decade, it still astonishes me every single year how an entire region can be crippled by a few inches of snow.  I was trying to explain to a friend (who lives in upstate New York and has endured REAL winters for her entire life) that things just never get plowed here... and that we have to wait for the snow to melt to resume normal life again.  (So at this rate, we may return to school in mid-April...)  Anyway, this year, we finally discovered the secret to being snowed in: You just need grandparents to come visit!  Bean and Poppy beat the weather and arrived last Thursday with the hopes of watching a basketball game of Luke's, baby-sitting so that Mark and I could go on a date, etc.  We had a full weekend planned of fun activities...  and then it started snowing.  Every single one of our plans was cancelled, BUT we had so much fun being snowed in and made many discoveries.

We found out that the 4:2 adult/child ratio is exactly right for bundling the kids up in all of their winter gear (and were so thankful that THIS was the year that the kids received their first snow pants for Christmas!):

 We learned that grandmothers are the best sledding buddies:

 and that Poppy knows how to build an amazing snow fort.

We remembered that the magic of a southern snowfall is that unplowed neighborhood roads magically transform into long, wonderful sledding hills which last for days:

...and that Daddy turns into a kid again when his parents are visiting and he doesn't have to go to work!

This snowstorm, we played board games, watched movies, and built Lego creations.  We cheered on the Demon Deacons from our "stadium seats" as we watched the basketball game on tv...

...and discovered that the Tooth Fairy pays double when you lose Tooth #8 while being snowed in! 

We also learned that NOTHING in the entire world tastes better than a Krispy Kreme when a visit to the doughnut store is the first time you venture out of the house in 4 days:

We realized how much Winnie loves to eat snowballs, that grandparents will always pull you on a sled, and that it's really not that cold when you can comfortably lounge in the sun while the kids have a snowball fight:

It may not have been a record snowfall here, but we certainly made history with our fun memories of being snowed in!