"Gotta Catch 'Em All!"

I'm not usually one to get caught up in the latest craze so when the boys started talking about Pokemon GO they didn't really sell the whole concept. But being the kind of dad that I am I knew I had to get involved or I wouldn't hear the end of it as I had an excited Pokemon fan who wanted to play. After some reading and writing today I figured I should take him out hunting, so we headed out looking for Pikachu and his friends.

It didn't take long for my inner geek to come out when Opeie said 'Dad! I can't catch this Zubat!'. From the moment I flicked that first Pokeball I was hooked. I was a big Pokemon fan back in 1999 I even shamefully gave myself a Pokemon name and had it tattooed on the back of my neck (no I'm not adding a picture). We've just got back from an after tea Pokemon hunt and over the past 2 days Opeie and I have walked roughly 15km looking for these adorable little creatures, above everything else it is great exercise.

The reason for the post though was the raised concern of a 5 year old walking around with an expensive phone. We've already had to replace two laptops because of child related accidents and I didn't fancy being without a phone, so while I had a spare hour and the boys were playing with their friends, I turned to my old friend, (LEGO) and built a Pokemon case fit for outdoor Pokemon fuelled adventures.

The boys, as expected loved it and while we've been searching we've had some interest from other Pokemon hunters out and about. As happy as the boys were with the case, Opeie had his own idea and informed me that it needed the word 'GO' on the back in blue. I love the extra little ideas the boys come up with so I was happily oblige.

If you've not played Pokemon GO yet, get it downloaded to your phone. Its very addictive, its great exercise and overall it gets you out with the children, fun, FREE, outdoor family bonding! Perfect for the summer holdiays.

"Creative collaboration is awesome."

Last year while we were at the LEGO Golden Brickies event we met a really interesting chap called Mark, an interesting an eccentric gent that the boys refer to as the 'Hamleys LEGO guy' We hit it off since then and have chatted on and off. While Mrs M was working in London a few weeks back she popped in to Hamleys looking for something fun for the boys and bumped into Mark who invited us to an event for the release of DK's LEGO Awesome ideas book at Foyles bookshop.

In preperation for the event, knowing that Mark has the same phone as me I decided to make him a custom phone case. If you've been following us for a while then you will know that I like to accessorize and create relevent LEGO cases for each event so it was nice this time to be making one for someone else. It had to be a Hamleys themed one and Mark's awesome ringmaster outfit was definitely going to be star of the show. Needless to say the case was loved and it was great to put a smile on his face.

Now on with the event. It was awesome to meet four of the builders from the book and we got to see some of the models that were included. These books have been great for me and the boys for our building inspiration and its always interesting to see how other builders use those bricks that we love so much. You cant beat a LEGO event where a huge box of LEGO is dumped on your table and you are told to be creative. The boys were set a challenge to make models from the themes in the new book. Seth chose the city catagory and built a town clock and Opeie chose the space section and with a little help from daddy he built an alien spaceship...

It was a great way to spend a grotty, rainy Sunday morning and the event gave us a few ideas for some future builds, so stay tuned.