"The little things made me who I am today"

Day 13:

Just a random robin sitting in a tree as we were out for our daily hour walk. It did a pooh while we were watching it which made Opeie chuckle. It's the little things that really matter these days.

Scarecrow and Bane dress up.

Hello its Opeie. i made a cool lego police car and i wanted to write a blog post because i was not feeling very well. i hope you like it.

"I saved the city again, it was off the chain!"

It's that time of year again where me and the boys can be found standing around in toy stores for extended periods of time feeling up small plastic bags. We love a new LEGO Minifigures series release, for the boys it means new characters and for me, it means new parts and the recent LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures are the best yet. After receiving a surprise package over the weekend of two of those saute after blind bags it has kick awakened that 'got to have them all' feeling that I get with every series.

We are all really excited about the release of the new LEGO Batman Movie (the trailer is amazing) and the Minifigures and kits that have been released alongside the movie have got the three of us pining (not something we need this soon after Christmas). With Cave Batman and Arkham Joker toying with me from the shelf (I love a good Pun), I rang my mate Steve who works at our local Smyths to make sure that they definitely had lots in because I knew where I was heading first thing Monday morning. 

 For me it was all about Vacation Batman and Lobster-lovin Batman, but the entire series is a must have. As expected that evening the boys began their plans on what they think our next big build is going to be so that should be interesting over the next few weeks.

Right before the boys went to bed they had decided that Vacation Batman needed a pool so while the boys were off to bed, I clanged around downstairs rooting through the LEGO (very zen), finding parts to build them a bat-shaped pool, worthy of the dark knights awesomeness. One of the things I love most about a new Minifigure series is the inspiration for building that comes with them.

Today we couldn't come home from our trip out without swinging by Smyths for another bag feel up session. I must have felt up 150 bags and I still can't find Pink Power Batgirl or Glam Metal Batman which was very disappointing (there's always tomorrow though).

 If you haven't seen them yet, the new LEGO Batman Movie sets are definitely worth looking at. I'm desperate to get my hands on all of them.

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."

Dinosaurs are still on the top spot of Opeie's interests which is great but he is starting to now branch out a little (I could have turned that in to a pun had I have used it later on in the post but sadly it is lost now). Anyway back to what I was talking about. Opeie's latest topic of interest is birds since watching a couple running around in our garden a few weeks back. So yesterday we had one of those days where Mrs M was in London working and there was no afternoon school run so we decided to go bird spotting and where better but Lake Vyrnwy which is the centre piece of the RSBP reserve.

We've been before a few times but back then we were there for the stunning scenery, the huge dam and the very beautiful Rhiwargor waterfall. This time though it was all about the birds and we were really excited when we pulled in to the car park and was greeted at the door by a Robin (a great start to our bird watching morning).

It was freezing, but we had wrapped up warm (despite my usual shorts) and we were armed with grandads binoculars (which I should have returned 2 years ago, oops). Apart from the Robin when we arrived, as we walked around taking in the sites the bird watching was pretty slow. We could hear them but had no idea where they were hiding.

Being able to have days like this really makes our home schooling special, it is effortless learning. we talked about the the dam, the bridge and the wildlife and I also got to hear about how Opeie felt about the pieces in the sculpture park.

Opeie was desperate to see some birds though so we made our way over the dam to get to the RSPB visitor centre, not before making use of Grandad's binoculars again though over the lake. The view is stunning and Lake Vyrnwy is definitely one of my favourite places to visit.

While at the RSPB visitor centre we picked up a Michelin I-SPY bird book and asked where the best place was to spot birds and we were pointed towards a cabin that we had walked past everytime we had visited before. The cabin is a large hide where you can sit and watch so many different woodland birds up close while they feed. We got to tick off Greenfinch, Siskin, Blue tit, King tit, Nut hatch and a few others, when we stood up to look about the cabin we saw lots of Pheasants too picking up the dropped seed. Being able to watch the birds up close like that was a lovely experience for Opeie and we sat there for quite some time, chatting to the other visitors and reading the information on the boards inside.

As I have been writing this Opeie has sat next to me and we have been talking about visiting Lake Vyrnwy again soon, but in the dark for a spot of star gazing. Because there is minimal light pollution around the area I think it would be a great spot to take in the magic of our solar system at night and maybe add that to Opeie's list of learning interests.

"Sometimes that light at the end of the tunnel is a train."

Since our recent purchase of a big mystery box of LEGO and our new found love of LEGO trains, we ended up building a DC Comics inspired Joker train which I wrote about last week. Our track was looking a little bare and while me and Seth were out scooting on friday we walked across a level crossing and feeling inspired he rushed back to build one for his track. I love how he went on Google for some ideas and then sat and built it while we were making lunch.

I wanted to make something fun for the boys to play with too, to add to their new track so while the boys were in bed last night I started to build them a platform based again around their favourite comic book characters, the minifigures have got to get on and off somewhere right?

With some great colourful characters to choose from and base shops and stands on, I had so much fun building. I wanted to build a couple of shops/buildings based around specific characters and their colour schemes so that the boys could use them for their usual creative role play. I started off with one of my favourite DC minifigures 'The Flash' who is manning the Stations information desk and ticket sales. Best man for job of a fast paced railway station I say.

When we purchased The Riddler Chase kit a few months back, I thought it was a little random that he came with a banana but it gave me all the inspiration I needed to build him a Deli/Pizza stall. I love builds like this as you can go all out with the smaller details and with this amazing timeless building toy there is is no end to the possibilities.

I wanted to make use of the large printed, single piece Batman doorway that we got when we brought Opeie the Batman easy build Defend the batcave kit. I love these kits for the larger printed pieces as they are great for younger builders to build around but also look great on custom builds like this. I think it worked perfectly for the exit from the station.

I had no idea who to base the space that was left on as I wanted to build something colourful but then I remembered the custom iPhone cover I built a while back and the character that was sitting In the back of it. The remainder of the platform definitely belonged to Aquaman and it had to be a newsagents. I love the orange, green and yellow colour scheme and it ended up looking great.

A few benches, bins and CCTV and we were ready to add all the other DC characters in or collection. Luckily Mrs M had some work on last night so apart from the rummaging of bricks it was a quiet night making the most of one of my favourite and more creative hobbies.

If your a regular reader to our LEGO posts then you'll know that I like to include ourselves in most of our custom builds and this one was no different, wearing fitting outfits of course.

The boys were super excited when the got up and saw what was waiting for them and they couldn't wait to start adding to their new piece of LEGO railway. This has by far been the best kind of train toy we have had as every piece of it is fully customisable if you have the patience and creativity.

“If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.”

Seth hasn't been with us for the last week, he's been away. Obviously we really missed him so today knowing that he was coming home we were all really excited, Opeie especially (he's been asking for his big brother every day). After all the big hugs and kisses Seth was desperate to give Opeie something he had got him while away, a selection of super hero ducks. It was so sweet how excited he was to give his little brother his gift and Opeie was really happy when he saw them. I love that they are so close it's so important and knowing that Seth was thinking about him while away makes me so happy. They've been joined at the hip this morning, Opeie's going to be even more excited when he realises that Seth doesn't have to be in school for a while.

Roll on the summer holiday and some amazing adventures with my favourite people.

"Whatever is fair in love and war is also fair in crimefighting."

I wrote a post in November about the different kinds of building materials me and the boys use in the house, when i wrote the post i was really excited about writing this one but i knew it wouldn't be written until after Christmas. Back when i wrote the last post we had found some building blocks by Fisher Price that i hadn't seen before called Trio and the boys really loved them, especially Seth as the blocks are bigger than Lego and i think he finds them easier to play with.

As there wasn't much to play with in the box i decided to look on eBay to see if anyone was selling a bulk load of them but there wasn't. On the off chance i decided to look internationally and when i did i got really excited by what i found. First off I'd like to say that Fisher Price are amazing. Mrs M collects vintage Fisher Price toys and Ive been so impressed by the Batman Imaginext range which Seth has loved and equally impressed by the Batman Little People and Wheelies range which Opeie loves playing with. I did think there was anything else out there comic themed but as i found out during that eBay search there was a Batman Trio range that hasn't been released in this country.

We must have been really good last year as on opening our Christmas presents we realised that Santa must have stopped off in America to get some of the boys presents. Santa's the best (ill definitely be leaving him an extra mince pie next year). There were quite a few sets within the pile of gifts and the boys couldn't wait to get in to them. The Batcave is a great set and is pretty big too, what i and the boys loved most about it was how easy to put together it was, the instructions are really clear and because the pieces are bigger it takes no time at all to erect.

You cant have the Batcave, Batman and Robin without his evil counterpart. Good old Saint Nick kindly sent us the Joker Laugh Factory playset too which is colourful and lots of fun. This was the set that Seth had asked for for Christmas.

There are a fair few Sets in this range, one of the things i liked most was that 'The flash' got his own set with a vehicle, he's not one of my favourite comic heroes but i do still enjoy watching the John Wesley Shipp series and the boys love it too. I don't remember him ever driving around in a meaty vehicle like this though, i bet the insurance on it is a nightmare.

The most confusing of the kits was the Superman kit. The man of steel had Superhuman strength, Speed, Stamina, Invulnerability, freezing breath, super hearing, multiple extrasensory and visual powers, intelligence and regeneration but above all he could fly so I'm not sure what use he would have for an air craft??? any way its still a great little toy.

We did need another villain or it was going to be a very unfair battle, not that i want to give the baddies the upper hand but i do believe in a fair fight. The penguin and his umbrella rocket launcher was a great addition to our play.

When were playing with the Lego batman figures and the Batman themed things that we have built Seth loves a good Jokerbot, A battle with the Joker just wouldn't be the same without one so when Seth opened one of his presents to find a Trio Jokerbot he was a very happy little boy.

As i said at the start of the post im really impressed with Fisher Price, when your a dad that's in to comics and all things Super it can be difficult finding appropriate toys for your young children but Fisher Price has definitely helped with the introduction of new characters during our play time and overall i know it's safe. The only real downside is that many of the toys are not released in this country and seem to be exclusive for the US market. Luckily Santa gets to fly all over so it handy having a visit from that jolly chap once a year. Maybe this year Seth might get some of his Pirate Gifts from over the pond as they do work very closely with Mr Claus.