"Whatever good things we build end up building us."

Never before have i felt so out of my depth reviewing a product (and its a LEGO product). I know pretty much nothing about Minecraft apart from what Seth has told me over the previous days. So, when i was faced with a review of the new LEGO Minecraft Mine set (21118) i had to turn to my right hand man to get me out of a pickle, for fear of looking like i didn't know what i was talking about. I can write about LEGO day in day out but Minecraft was definitely out of my comfort zone, hopefully the last week or so of education by Seth has helped, i did let Seth have free reign of this review though (i may have added some rude builders in a long the way though). Over to Seth and of course the star of the show, Steve.

I learned a lot from our build together and it made me realise how much i need my little team mates around when building, to keep me on my toes and educate me when clearly i have no idea what i am doing sometimes. Since building the kit, LEGO Minecraft has crept up Seth's Christmas list and it seems to be becoming quite popular as its sold out all over. the Crafting Box looks great for the creative builders not wanting to stick to instructions. Personally I'd like to get my hands on The Farm, for some really interesting pieces.

Seth is already planning on extending his track on a huge scale so stay tuned for some custom Mincraft building very soon.

"When I was a kid, it was a huge insult to be a geek. Now it's a point of pride in a weird way"

Ive become a little slack over the last week with my writing, part of that was needing a few days break from the internet, some nights i feel like being online consumes me. The other thing slowing me down was the recent purchase of ANOTHER huge box of mixed LEGO. I had an email last week from my friend LEGO Steve (as the boys like to call him), saying "have you seen this?" with a link to an eBay listing titled simply 'Lego'. Two big boxes full and not far from where we are, buy it now for £25. I literally couldn't click the buy it now button quick enough and i gave myself a headache with excitement of the bargain. I'd picked the LEGO up within the hour and so one of our favourite past times began (routing through a huge box of mystery LEGO, what would we find).

The new LEGO has certainly kept us entertained and we have found some great things while sorting through it. The first thing of interest i spotted was Jabba the Hutt, closely followed by Lando and Princess Leah which got me searching for what kit they belonged too and it seems that Jabba's Sail Barge is in there somewhere which i have started to build. There were many other fun parts but the thing that has got us the most excited was the selection of train track, wheels and remote control. I didn't think i would be that interested in LEGO trains but as we started to build a custom train i quickly realised how wrong i was. 

If you are a regular reader you will know what comic book geeks we are and although i'm personally a huge Marvel fan the boys love Batman and when it comes to custom super hero builds i am all about the Joker because of all the colours we can use, remember the LEGO Joker's ice cream parlour?

So two days ago we started work on our remote control Joker train and it has been so much fun to build. The wiring is easy to connect and once that is in you can pretty much build around it.  The end result came out so well and the boys were really excited about it.

Because of the battery pack and remote signal receiver there wasn't much room for minifigures so while the boys were in bed (and while i should have been doing the ironing, oops) i started to make a split  carriage based on two other DC villians that we have in our collection. Firstly Poison ivy as i have been wanting to do something interesting with all the LEGO plants, leaves and flowers...

And then Mr Freeze because the boys love the minifigure and the frozen cell pieces so much. Considering it didn't take very long to build it came out a lot better than i expected. Then it was time to build the track which sadly we didn't have enough of so we ventured up to our local Smyths to buy a box of track because we wanted to see our new creation in action (plus we didn't even know if the remote and receiver worked, thankfully all was fine).

And that is what we have been playing with since getting home from our scootering adventure earlier. Weve had lots of different themed LEGO included in our story and the boys room looks like a LEGO explosion has gone off, but i love it,it takes me right back to my own childhood. As always our story revolved around Me and Mrs M being captured and held hostage, this time by that chilling character Mr Freeze. Luckily our fearless boys were on hand to run along the roof of a moving train to make sure that we made it to safety, What brave boys we have. This random find of track and remote has helped us to love LEGO in yet another way and i think the LEGO rail may be showing up a fair bit in our custom builds in the future, Seth has already started plans on his Christmas train idea (although his initial idea was an evil Santa train that was a mobile weapons factory where elves we forced to build guns hmmmm.....not too festive! )

Well for all you fellow LEGO builders out there, happy building, until next time. choo choo!

"The road to success is always under construction."

We had a lovely surprise yesterday when there was a knock at the door and there stood the postie holding a package with Bigjigs Toys written all over it. Our second mission had arrived and we couldn't wait to get stuck in. We opened the package and was really excited about what we had been sent. Opeie was really eager to start playing but we decided to wait until Seth came out of school to get it out because I had a plan. The weather was lush and were always taking pictures of our reviews at home or in the garden so i thought a change of scenery would be nice. A Picnic tea was packed for the Bigjiggers and off we went to Lilleshall abbey to play in the sun. Taking the lovely wooden toys back outside where they came from.

Bigjigs Toys had sent us the Figure of Eight Roadway Set and it was probably one of the best products they could have sent us to review. We have a huge amount of the wooden train track but only 3 pieces of road (and i have no idea where that has come from??). Seth has been saying for a while now that he would like some road so his eyes lit up when he saw what we had to play with.

The set comes with everything you need to make a great track, straight pieces, curves, bridges, trees, buildings, people and most importantly three cars for racing around the track. Bigjigs toys rail and road sets are great for both Seth and Opeie's ages which is great because I love watching them play together. The parts easily connect and being made of wood each piece is obviously sturdy. The track is smooth with a nice finish and the accessories are well painted and obviously safe for children. We will always love wooden toys from Bigjigs Toys as they are so Eco friendly and are the sort of toys that will be played with for many generations.

Bigjigs toys road sets complement many of the other vehicle ranges they have for sale. When mixed with the rail sets you can build life like set ups with rail tracks running alongside motorways and trains travelling under roads. The set has also been great for teaching the boys about the Highway Code using the characters to simulate how dangerous it is to play by roads and to always have an adult with you when crossing the road. We would definitely recommend buying these sorts of sets to anyone as they are so versatile, The tracks can be changed round to suit your mood making it the perfect toy for keeping children interested, also with the option of being able to buy extra track and accessories separately you can add and build a huge set over time without breaking the bank.

To buy this set and many others to compliment it head over to http://www.bigjigstoys.co.uk/

To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.

Play patrol mission 1.2 and we're an agent down, Secret agent Seth is on a sabbatical so the mission will be taken by our mini agent. When i first met Seth he was train mad and had quite a collection of pieces for his wooden track. He still loves it now but it's only been the last month that it's come back out of it's boxes. I didn't think that Opeie would be that interested being the super hero addict that he is but he's been loving it, just goes to show that little boys love trains. They are great for younger children because they are so easy to connect together.

When we opened our package from Bigjigs Toys and saw what was inside Seth got really excited 'wow its a train spinney part, they are my favourite parts'. We had been sent the industrial turntable and we couldn't wait to get building our track. Sadly as i said before Seth wasn't with us when we first played with it but Opeie took full advantage. I love building the train track as its different everytime you build it, very important when keeping your children interested in a toy.

The Industrial Turntable is a great compliment to the other Bigjigs toys items that we own. Its a large piece and has 6 exits coming off it. Opeie loved the sliding stop start sign that changes from green to red. Great for teaching Opeie about when to go and stay (Great for explaining the importance of waiting at traffic lights when were out and about too). What i love most about Bigjigs toys is because of the quality of the items and the timeless designs these are 'forever toys'. When the boys have both outgrown them they will be put in to storage for their children hopefully. Even if that was in 30 years, because of the design they will never look dated. Not all toys stand the test of time but these will make an appearance for many many years to come.

"The only way to be sure of catching a train is to miss the one before it"

The great thing about old grown out of toys is that when you have a second child they can inevitably be brought out again and given just as much love and attention. A few years back Seth was Thomas and trains mad, I remember one Christmas desperately trying to find 'Rocky' for his collection, I did eventually find him but not until new year. Over the years we built up quite a collection to go with the wooden train track that he had. I've been wanting to write a post about them since I started the blog but they've not really come out over the last 2 years.

I figured today was as good a day as any to properly introduce Opeie to the smiley locomotive and all of his friends from the island of sodor. I've tried to get them out before but Opeie loves breaking things up so putting the track together didnt work. While Opeie was having his morning nap I built my own Sodor so that he could play with it as soon as he woke up.

I love wooden toys, their sturdy and kitch and are safe for smaller children to play with, perfect for if you need to briefly leave the room while they play.

Opeie woke up and was very excited at what he saw. I've tried him with the TV program briefly but he wasn't interested. With toys though its a different story as he loves really investigating every thing.

We had a great time with the trains and I loved watching Opeie chase the battery operated Thomas round the track shouting 'choo choo' and saying 'Oh No' with his hands in the air after knocking him off. I love the versatility of the wooden track, after a while we rebuilt the track starting from Seth's room then headed through the hall and all round the lounge. Opeie was very impressed.

The trains and track are definite keepers, when Opeie out grows them they will go in to storage for possible grandchildren in the future, fingers crossed.

Check out that bed hair!!!