"Now whatever you do, Dont push this button!"

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was sitting outside of our local toy store on a Sunday morning waiting for the doors to open to get my hands on the Guardians of the galaxy LEGO kits. After being a big fan of the comics when I was younger and a HUGE Marvel fan, I was already excited by the fact that they were making a movie. When I heard that there was going to be LEGO kits to accompany it though, I was in nerd heaven. Marvel and LEGO for me are the ultimate partnership.

The first movie (as with all Marvel movies) ended with an 'until next time scene' so as you can imagine, the second film starts filming and I'm equally as excited and patiently waiting for the LEGO kits to come out. I definitely haven't been disappointed, It's a little crazy to think that possibly the smallest LEGO part in the kits is the one that we were waiting for the most. After Groot heroically saves the team in the first movie we were left with a dancing baby Groot that stole the show. Being able to have their own baby Groot was definitely at the top of the boys LEGO wishlist.

It's not often that our LEGO kits stay built, they usually get taken apart to use on our custom builds, but the Milano has stayed in one piece as it was one of my favourite kits of all time. The Vol.2 The Milano vs The Abilisk kit gives you a slightly scaled down Milano with a new colour scheme which is awesome but surprisingly it was the bright pink Abilisk that the boys wanted the most. With four of the characters from the previous kits in new outfits plus that adorable Baby Groot it was a great selection of characters to add to our ever growing Marvel collection.

It may have been all about Baby Groot for the boys but I couldn't wait to get my hands on Yondu. Ayesha's Revenge 76080  not only gives you Yondo (with that awesome new mohawk) but also a new Starlord, Ayesha and Baby Groot in his ravager outfit, Awesome for the mid-priced kit of the three released.

When the boys and I are looking at new kits we are always checking out the parts as well as the finished builds. As we are always making fun minifigures at home we love it when there is a new fun minifigure piece and the headpiece on Mantis from the Ravager Attack set 76079 had grabbed our attention. As the cheaper of the 3 kits released, this was a great one for giving you the last member (and probably most entertaining) of the team Rocket Raccoon along with Mantis and an interesting looking Taserface. With the M-ship also included it's making me think I should start suspending these awesome ships from the ceiling at home.

If you are a Guardians of the Galaxy fan then these LEGO kits from the vol. 2 movie are more than enough to get you excited about the upcoming release. If you are a LEGO fan too, then picking up these kits as soon as you can is a no brainer!

For the full range of Disney Store’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 products CLICK HERE. I think we'd all love a Dancing Groot, Opeie is pining after one and I could definitely enjoy a cuppa from this awesome Groot Mug.

"You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality."

It's been a fair few months since me and my friend Steve completed the LEGO arcade which has become a pretty awesome addition to our home. When I get up in the morning and walk out of our room it is the first thing I see across the landing and it always makes me smile. I feel really proud of what we both achieved. The boys love the fact that they have an arcade in their room but the build has caused a little problem. The Christmas Death star that we built is no longer accessible to them to play with which Opeie has been a little bit disappointed about. The shape of the build and the fact that all the sides were open made it the perfect shape for Opeie's LEGO adventures and roleplaying with his Minifigures. How rude of me to box that in and have it on display.

I felt pretty bad, so after many many chats about why I can't keep getting it in and out,  we decided that we should build another, but more fitted to the themes that Opeie loves and the recent release of the Disney Minifigure range was all the motivation we needed to get building, so we started coming up with ideas. I wanted this build to be built solely from the bricks that we had, to keep costs down because I can get far to carried away with ordering parts from Bricklink when we are working on something big. we did, however, need odd shaped plates for the levels so I made that my one purchase and actually stuck to my plan even though I did have to change a few ideas because we were missing certain coloured bricks. 

With the characters from the Disney range being so colourful I knew that it was going to end up a great looking build and we got so into it from the minute we started. The plan was that we were going to build it together but at 5 Opeie didn't really have the patience to sit there for long each building session so Opeie dipped in and out but was involved in every part of this fun team build. I'd say he ended up more like a foreman/architect, explaining exactly what he wanted and where things were going to go which was great as you can't beat a child's imagination and ideas. The great thing about the original Death star build is that each level is built in quarters which, for a build of this size is perfect for a customising as you can work on each room individually.

So here's what me and my little Disney fanatic came up with...

The lower level of the Death star is really limited space wise as to get the rounded shape without making the complete build enormous the roof needs to be quite low, apart from the quarter open section that we had used for the Wampa in our Christmas Deathstar build. Because of this Opeie came up with the idea of having an underwater scene all the way through that level with treasure chests full of gems, shells, starfish and any other sea related LEGO pieces to make it look pretty. We used the open section for Ariel and Ursula and also found Flounder out from a Disney Princess kit that we had bought Mrs. M a year or so ago for Mothers day which we were pretty excited about.

Opeie loves role playing with his Minifigures and really enjoys playing with the kitchen, lounge, and bedrooms on the Simpsons house so we decided to make the Mickey, Minnie, Donald and daisy sections like rooms from a house. Donald and Daisy got the kitchen, with an oven, sink and breakfast bar. Minnie's room became the lounge with pink and white sofa's and a Mickey head coffee table and Mickey got the bedroom. Opeie informed me that Mickey was messy so he needed dirty socks on the floor, old pizzas and drink cans. We made the door joining Mickey and Minnie's room mouse shaped and built one of Mickeys walls with Windows to look like his trousers.

With the next level complete we had got to the rooms I was more excited about building. When the Disney series was released I was itching to get my hands on the Cheshire Cat and Alice, as I have always loved the books and the Disney movie for me was one of my favourites. There were so many ideas for the Alice in wonderland scene but as we had the Cheshire Cat it seemed only right to try and recreated the scene in the movie when the two meet. 

Opeie came up with the idea of having a slide down the upper centre column so our Alice in Wonderland room became two Alice in Wonderland rooms and we added a room on the upper level with the white Rabbit about to go down the rabbit hole (with the slide to the next level). I didn't have the rabbit mascot figure to use for the build so I put some feelers out on the Lego Facebook trade pages asking if anyone had some ears for trade (as I didn't need the whole figure) and a lovely chap called Ian Messaged and said he had some and would happily just post them to me as a kind gesture, genuinely nice guy! 

I walked into the boys room this morning and spotted the luggage cart from the City airport VIP kit we recently reviewed and I noticed the 'follow me' sticker on the back, so I couldn't resist adding that in above the rabbit hole too.

We knew exactly what we wanted to do for Peter Pan and Captain Hook but ended up building the section three times before going with what we did. If I'm honest I'm not at all happy with Hook's ship but Opeie loves it so it stayed. Part of the room was water for Captain Hook's ship and the other was land with Peter Pan in a tree house (another great idea of Opeie's). I added tick tock croc to the water but then Seth came along and put a clock in his mouth which I thought was great. The little details really make these builds and it makes such a difference building with the boys as they come up with the best ideas.

Aladdin was originally going to be the cave of wonders but we thought that it would end up being quite bulky and take up a lot of space, so we went for a market scene. That part of the movie really stuck out for us and the song is so catchy. Opeie was frantically trying to find the only Minifigure style monkey that we have to use for Abu as he wanted him scaling a wall with stolen fruit. The scene gave us the chance to use our snake charmer which had been sitting in a box since we got him. I racked my brain for ages on how I was going to make the genie look like he was coming out of the end of the lamp and then Opeie just clipped him to the top. I'm still not sure why that didn't cross my mind but again having helpers really makes the difference.

I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do for the toy story scene because it wasn't just buzz and the alien that we had from the latest series. Opeie has quite a nice collection of the other characters from the movies and of course wanted them all displayed. With so many characters to fit in a small area, I was stumped. I attempted to make a larger scale bed and dresser but it looked awful. The boys had no idea too so we went to our back up Mrs. M, who casually said 'why don't you make the wagon toy chest', that woman is a genius. With a few of the figures peeking out of the chest, there was plenty of room for Lotso, Bullseye, Rex and their friends. The build has made me realise though that we need to get hold of Hamm, Stinky Pete, and Twitch.

With the larger mid-level complete we only had the top to work on and I was eager to get the whole thing finished so that Opeie could play with it. The one section was already complete with the White rabbit waiting to go down the rabbit hole and Alice casually reading her book under the tree, 

I was really looking forward to building the Maleficent section of the Death Star because of the contrast in colours with the rest of the build. We knew it was going to be heavy on the grey and we all thought that castle style walls would look best but we were not sure how to fill it. In the end, we made a glass casket for sleeping beauty (I had to use rapunzel and she doesn't look very sleepy haha). We added in a poisonous apple and Opeie was more than happy with that.

Opeie's idea for Stitch was to have the walls looking like a space scene with stars and have Stitch in his red and white escape ship. Lilo and Stitch is one of Opeies favourite Disney movies so I really wanted to do a good job of that section. I tried so many times to build a ship but each time it looked awful so I had a word with the boss to discuss our other options. We decided on a beach scene with Stitch playing in the sea. With a beach bar, surfboards, water skis and sun loving folk it really was the better-looking option and turned out great.

Which left us with only two characters to display from the series, Mr. Incredible and Syndrome! Sadly these guys got relegated to hanging off the side of the build fighting because Opeie knew exactly what he wanted to do with the remaining room. 

He didn't ask " do you want to build a snowman?" He just gave me clear instructions to exactly what he wanted for the frozen section of the Death star. Mrs. M had bought me the Frozen castle for my birthday last year and Opeie wanted Elsa, Anna and Olaf up top for all to see. So using the pieces from the LEGO movie ice cream truck we built Anna's ice cream stand while Elsa just shot her ice Ray's about and that pretty much concluded our build. Opeie has however spotted the new Frozen kit and wants Sven and Christof for the scene.

My favourite part of the build was probably the most simple. As soon as I saw the Toy story aliens were going to be included in the Disney Minifigure series I thought how great it would be if someone made the grabber machine from the Pizza Planet scene in the movie. So I went hunting on the swap sites for aliens and managed to get hold of 17 over two days. Using rounded curve windows we turned the lower centre column of the Death star into a grabber which you can see through every room on the first two levels, genius use of space if I do say so myself.

I enjoyed building this so much more than the Christmas Death star because I was using a lot more colour and it was great switching between the themes. Seth said excitedly, "that Death Star looks brilliant, you know that box of all the Simpsons figures that we're not doing anything with? Maybe....", I stopped him there, I think I'm done with Death stars for a while. All that's left to do now is play and Opeie has been loving it even more than our previous build.

We finished this a few days back and yesterday me and Seth started on his big build idea, so watch this space. If last nights building session, while he was doing his physio was anything to go by I think it's going to be a pretty impressive build together.

Want to see more? check out the video HERE!

  

"Creativity is contagious, pass it on”

As part of Daddy school, a lot of our time is taken up by creative activities. It's so important to let your little ones explore their creative side, especially in the early years. Opeie loves drawing, if he sees pen and paper lying around then he'll start doodling and if there's one thing I'll take from studying art at university is that mark making, in all its amazing forms is an important start to any creative endeavour. The boys have access to a huge range of artistic media and although I'm partial to pencil, paper and hands-on craft, it's really important to be open minded to art via technology. I'm useless when it comes to using a computer this way and sadly always turn to Mrs M when it comes to creating the things I need. 

Technology plays s huge part in our day to day lives now and the last thing I want is the boys to fall behind just because it is out of my comfort zone. Seth is starting to show interest in coding and photoshop and Opeie is desperate to get involved. I'm a firm believer in gaming in education and I use lots of different games for various aspects of his learning, the obvious being reading, writing and mathematics, but also for learning strategy. There are great gaming titles out there that cover learning technology. Pokemon typing adventure has been one of my favourite for teaching Opeie keyboard skills early on and the art academy range has been great for what is almost a very basic style of Photoshop, learning to use various icons to create a masterpiece.

We reviewed Pokémon Art Academy last year and being huge Pokemon fans, the game gave Opeie a great introduction in how to create his favourite characters using shapes and techniques. Whatever we draw together I try and break down what he is looking at into a selection of simple shapes to work from. The art academy games back up my approach to teaching but digitally.

With the release of Disney Art Academy, Opeie's inner digital artist has yet again been awakened and he has been in his element recreating has favourite Disney characters. It's frustrating when you are young and struggle to draw the characters that you love. For me it was Basil the great mouse detective, I'd spend days trying to draw my favourite characters from the movie and it's where my love of drawing stemmed from. Disney art academy breaks these well-loved characters down to their most simple form making them accessible to anyone that wants to know how to draw them and this is what makes the game so special. By Taking the budding artist through each step of creating a character, their form, colour scheme and expressions, the game is building creative confidence. It's a great way of teaching that in life if you want to achieve anything you first need the confidence to attempt it.

With over 80 character drawings to attempt and a huge amount of techniques to learn along the way this game is as educational as it is playful, the perfect game for the younger generation of future artists.

"No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you."

Back in March, we asked Opeie what he wanted to do for his 5th birthday and he was desperate to go to the cinema to see Zootopia. Disney do an amazing job of getting the hype out for their new movies and Opeie had seen trailers and posters for what had seemed like months building up to the release date.

On the day of his birthday, we had a family outing to the cinema and as expected the film was AMAZING! I can't ever remember being disappointed by a Disney movie. Our trip to the cinema inevitably kick started Opeie's love of Judy Hopps and all her friends. Opeie is a huge Disney fan and loves the classics but Zootopia had him talking about the movie for weeks. The great thing about the release of a Disney movie is the products that tie in with it, hitting the shops. I remember snapping up as many cars as I could when Seth was going through his Disney Cars phase and as always, it was so much fun playing with him.

the movie had Opeie pining after one prop, the carrot recorder. From the minute we walked out of the cinema Opeie was asking if you could buy them, so when one arrived through the post along with his very own Zootopia PD badge he was super excited and ready to start cleaning up the streets. Opeie's bottle holder on his Micro scooter made an excellent front seat for his talking Judy Hopps and together Zootopia PD's finest were set to change the world.

 Since then the pair have been inseparable and Judy has been on all of our adventures alongside Opeie's trusted sidekick Rose. I love it when a movie has this much of an impact on the day to day fun that we have and Opeie's new job as the latest ZPD hotshot is definitely keeping us all entertained.