I am such a nerd...

Big Deal #1: Today being Memorial Day, Grandma had the day off. The whole day.

Big Deal #2: Crabtree Valley Mall is the new home of a brand-spanking-new Lego store.

These two things combined determined our morning outing: Raleigh!

Now, you must understand--I am 26 years old. And I was not a huge Lego fan as a kid. But I am apparently just enough of a nerd to fall in love with all things orderly, all things predictable, and all things that come with explicit instructions. I think I was more excited to see all the pre-built models in the store than my kids were...except for the 8-foot Captain Rex (from Star Wars: The Clone Wars) made entirely from little plastic bricks. That one they loved! I dragged Luke around like a little puppy saying, "Look! Isn't that cool?!?!" and making sure he saw every 2-foot by 2-foot box that held more than 700 pieces. He would usually just say, "Yeah" and try to walk off. Poor kid.

When we got home with nearly $100 worth of Legos (thanks, Grandma!) I was nearly as excited to put them together as the kids were. Adam got a Duplo set (the bigger ones, since he's still a little guy) that makes a little fire truck. It comes with a firefighter and a nearly-scary plastic hatchet and orange flame. Sara Beth chose one of the 3 girly things in the store--a set from a collection called Belville that has a horse and rider and bricks to build an awards stand and something for the horse to jump over. And Luke got one of the 3-in-1 sets that makes a racing bike, a chopper-style motorcycle, and a drag racer. They also got a set of magnetic 4x4 bricks in 10 different colors, so they can build cool things on them and then put that on the fridge. THEN the kids filled a Pick-a-Brick cup to boot! They had to promise Grandma that this was their last big treat for the whole week...and I will be very impressed if that actually happens! :D


I love these things! I love the way everything goes together just so; I love the fact that the Lego people have created so many cool things to fulfill a specific purpose; and I love that my 4-year old pays enough attention to them that he learns to use the instructions and do them all by himself. And of course, they must be perfect for him, or they just won't do.

Again, that's my boy.