Our sneak peek at the new Lego Store

When I told my son Cameron, 7, that we would be visiting the new Lego Store in Sherway Gardens the day before the Grand Opening, and that (gasp! Call Children's Aid!) I'd be taking him out of school for this, his response was, "I think I'm going to faint."

As some of you know, my boys are NUTS about Lego. They play with it every day, put Lego on their wish lists for each gift-giving occasion, read Lego magazine, visit Lego.com and count their allowance in anticipation of what they might be able to buy. Cameron even had a Lego-themed birthday party.

So naturally, yesterday's outing blew his mind.

The moment we arrived at the store he clapped eyes on the Star Wars Death Star model - a coveted collector's item - in the shop's gallery window. (You can also get a good look at the impressive Tower Bridge set there.)

"I'm Brandie Weikle" I said to the Lego staffers who showed us around. Cam echoed "and I'm in Lego heaven."

 

One of the highlights was this amazing set-up where fans can assemble their own Lego guys.

 

 Cam had a great time with that. SO many smiles on this outing.

 At the "Master Builder Bar" kids can follow instructions to build Lego models using the bricks in the middle of the table, or play games online, as Cameron is doing here.

Immensely popular with the truly commited Adult Fans of Lego (AFOL), the "Pick-a-Brick" wall offers an ever-changing combination of bricks in various sizes and colours, perfect for creative types inventing their own Lego models.

Speaking of creativity, one of my favourite parts was staring into these display cases to see models put together by talented builders who aren't even Lego staff - just fans happy to share. This theatre, complete with skeleton under the stage, is great...

...as is this circus scene.

As we pulled out of the parking lot after our visit was done, Cameron said "My favourite part was just walking around, seeing what they had and being AMAZED at what they had."

If you haven't had a chance to check out my story on the Lego store opening, you may not know that the grand opening runs Friday from 11-7, and Saturday and Sunday from 10-6. A highlight will be the construction of an eight-foot R2D2 in Sherway Garden's central square.

I also wanted to share that I was helped with this story by Phil Fraboni, an adult fan of Lego who plans to be at the opening on Sunday. Fraboni has been playing with Lego since he was a wee boy. His collecting passion today is Star Wars Lego, of which he was around 50 sets. 

Here he is showing off some of his assembled Star Wars kits. So dedicated is Fraboni to both Lego and Star Wars that this weekend will also see him trooping with the 501st Legion Canadian Garrison in London dressed in Star Wars: The Clone Wars Captain Rex armour.

His mother is a much better Lego mom than I am. She saved all of his sets from childhood INCLUDING THE INSTRUCTIONS! Fraboni plans to put these all together once he has the display space!

You can follow Phil Fraboni on twitter at twitter.com/hamcam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embarrassing ourselves for the babies

This morning three of us from The Star participated in Media Rock Band, the kick-off to a great new family festival in Toronto called Funday Sunday on November 29, 2010.

The event supports causes dear to my heart: Sunnybrook Hospital's Women & Babies program, which specializes in providing care to women experiencing high-risk pregnancies and their babies, some of them premature, and Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, an agency that protects at-risk youth and women in Israel.

The highlight of Funday Sunday will be Toronto's Top Rock Stars, a Canadian Idol-style competition where teams of gaming experts and would-be musicians compete playing XBOX Rock Band. Bands will register in three categories:

• Under 12

• Over 13

• Family

They'll have the summer to practise and to raise funds for Sunnybrook and Hadassah.

This morning's event for a kick off to raise awareness about Funday Sunday.

Yourhome.ca editor Jennifer Wilson-Speedy, rocker Brett Lodge from our graphics department and I formed a team - with one ringer supplied by the organizers (thank you, Phil!), and performed the Blondie hit One Way or Another. Jen is a Rock Star ace but Brett and I were playing the game for our first and second times, respectively. We didn't come ANYWHERE near winning, but it wasn't completely humiliating and we had fun!

Here you can see Jennifer above on guitar and just barely make me out with the microphone.

   

Here's our group shot, left to right, Jennifer, Brett, me and Phil.

And here we are with the rest of the participants, including teams from Today's Parent, CTV, Flow and Sunnybrook. All teams were judged by a panel of celebrities including Erica Ehm of the Yummy Mummy Club. Congratulations to the winners from Flow!

Participating in Toronto's Top Rock Star is not the only way to enjoy Funday Sunday and support these charities. You can also buy tickets to the day-long event, which includes games and activities for kids, a marketplace and an area offering information and tips about family health. Or you can sponsor a team here.

Signs of spring

If you're lucky enough to be in parts of the country not covered in snow, I hope you've enjoyed one of those incredible, life-affirming spring weeks.

This is the time of year when neighbours come out of their houses and say hello to one another, children reclaim their playgrounds, and parents enjoy nice stroller walks to the coffee shop without the tedium of snow pants and boots.

In celebration of all things spring, thought I'd share a few of my own signs of the season.

My youngest, Alister, two-and-three-quarters, sharing an ice cream with best friend, Kara, 4, at Beresford Park this week. (Photo by Shai Sabuelba.)

Alister at the first of many outdoor birthday parties the summer will hold. (Photo by Shai Sabuelba.)

 
Cameron and Alister on their cousin's trampoline in St. Thomas, Ontario this past weekend. (Photo by Rachel Radauskas.)

Static electricity caused by jumping on said trampoline. (Photo by Derek DeCloet.)

And here are a couple of pics contributed by my friend, Kelly Smyth, a photographer and mom of three always on top of capturing seasonal fun.

Friends Adam and Ella take a walk in Rennie Park.

Lemonade stand salespeople (from left) Nolan, Jake, Ella and Davis.

And last, isn't getting yourself out of winter gear an incredible relief?

How YOU spent March break

If you haven't had a chance to read Andrea Gordon's great piece on what children really want to do for March break, please be sure to check it out.

Her article is a good reminder that, for all the pressure to come up with the cash for a week-long peak-season family vacation, or all the guilt we feel if we can't take the week off work, kids have really simple expectations of March break.

They just want the week off school.

Tweens and teens relish the chance to sleep in and little guys like my Cameron just want to play Lego with friends. And even an outing to the playground or swimming pool is enough to qualify as March-break fun in the eyes of most school-aged kids.

We hit Bowlerama with the kids on Saturday afternoon. Bowling turned out to be a great rainy-day activity. And we laughed until diaphragms ached at the impossibly slow journey of 2-year-old Alister's bowling ball down the alley. (Was it stopped? No, there was just enough gravity to pull it toward the pins, maybe merely wobbling one a little or knocking it over to his enthusiastic cries of "I winned!")

Last week I asked some of you what you remember from March break. Not surprisingly, the events you recalled told a tale of a much less structured time in school holidays!

Here are some of the responses (via Twitter, of course):

@femwriter: Drove my mom crazy. 11 kids at home all at the same time.

@hvbabywilltrvl I usually spent the week with my grandma. I week of junk food and TV. I LOVED it!

@YMCbuzz I liked to embark on a week-long project. Snow-fort, tree house, sew an outfit for my dolly, knit a craft!

@janelangille Go tobogganing, but of course there was usually more snow back then.

@jamesspeedy Video games. Oh wait, did you mean outside?

@SproutRight Ontario Science Centre!

@TheHaj Play outside with friends all day until suppertime. Parents didn't take time off work because we were at school. Pure freedom!

These days childrens' aid would likely get wind of it if you left your under-12 kids home alone, so if you need some inspiration, you can find it in our March break guide. For instance, we've got a round-up of events happening throughout the GTA, as well as some crafts you can make at home. And if you need to find some grown-up fun amid all this excitement, here are some ideas from @PartyMummy on planning some March break fun for moms.

Lego birthday party

Cameron turned six on Saturday.

Since he lives and breathes Lego - Star Wars Lego in particular - there was really no doubt that he had to have a Lego-themed birthday party this year.

We agreed that the party would start with about an hour of indoor play at various Lego stations. Even the dining room table, territory he and I struggle over in Battle-of-the-Somme-type fashion (me daring to advance with meals and baskets of lemons, he trying to establish planet Tatooine), would be fair game.

We set up various Lego stations on the table, living room rug and a small kids' craft table. Naturally, the dining room table's prime real estate was devoted to Star Wars.

Ellis (left) and Cameron assembled some sort of Star Wars fighter jet thingie....

...and the whole cast of characters...


 

...including these guys, (prequel and original film characters mixed together - yes, I know), made for a pretty popular set-up. Anticipating fights over the Star Wars dudes, I coerced my tallest (and hopefully suitably intimidating) friend, David, to help Derek and I supervise. Luckily, there were no scuffles over storm troopers, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Anakin, or even Princess Leia.

Lego expert Noah channelled his inner Jedi knight.

 

A couple of new, more basic kits were assembled during the party, which was satisfying for kids newer to Lego (the youngest guest was three). More experienced Lego builders were able to help out, with only a moderate number of "Brandie, I need another window piece/blue flower/picket fence piece" kind of requests. That's Maddie in the background. She knows from Lego.

My favourite thing that happened spontaneously was this group effort to make a Lego plane fly using helium balloons (not that any of these kids had seen the movie Up).

Note the engineering using pieces of Lego to attach the ribbons to the wing. One side of the plane was actually raised a little.

I can only handle 10 kids inside the house for so long, so they were all kicked outside after about an hour, a plan Cameron and I agreed upon ahead of time. We had no outdoor activities planned, but they got up to their own thing on the play structure...

...while the adults "supervised" from the patio table.

 

Cameron (left) opened his presents (Charlie, middle, Seamus, right)...

 

...and then it was time for cake!

The cake was made by Sweet Escapes in the Distillery District. The red brick was red velvet, the yellow brick lemon, and the blue brick chocolate.

I've never commissioned a fancy birthday cake before, but this time it seemed worth it, since I wasn't killing myself with elaborate and clever Lego games and crafts, and this would enforce the theme in a way Cameron will (hopefully) remember. (And I don't have the cake-decorating chops to take on something like this without serious risk of meltdown.)

 
I think he was pleased.

 

Everyone had their preferred colour or colours of cake...

Adults lingered over cocktails and cake at pick-up time, while the kids played inside and out. Each kid took home a $4 box of Lego and (after a clean-up that seemed to last 24 hours) that was that.

(Only we've gotta do it all over again this Saturday for little brother Alister's 2nd birthday. Help.)

One week until Halloween!

I drove home with a kick-butt jack-o'-lantern belted into my front passenger seat.

Funny thing was, I found myself doing that arm thing that parents do when they have to stop suddenly. You know, where the right arm just juts out in front of the person - whether seven or 70, or actually a bag of groceries (or just a single giant vegetable) - as if somehow that was going to make the critical difference in the event of a collision?

But seriously, this is a special jack-o'-lantern. Toronto Star Living section designer, and resident pumpkin expert, Jo-Ann Dodds, created it for the video we just posted on how to carve a cool pumpkin. Lucky for me and my two boys, Jo-Ann kindly gave it to us to enjoy for the week. As long as we can keep it safe from racoons in our enclosed porch - and provided the weather stays cool - the jack-o'-lantern will be fresh to impress on Halloween.

The video is just part of the great offerings on parentcentral's fun Halloween Guide.

If you haven't seen the pumpkin stencils yet, make sure you download them this weekend.

The weather is perfect for a family outing to a pumpkin patch. Not sure where to go? Check out Patrick Cain's cool map of GTA area pumpkin farms.

And while many of us may start out with great visions of imaginative pumpkinscapes framing our front doorways, when push comes to shove, hollowing out pumpkins is kind of time-consuming. If Thursday comes and you have find yourself with more pumpkins than patience, try these simple mess-free approaches to pumpkin decoration. I'm counting on the toilet paper "mummy" idea to get me out of carving one of our beast-like gourds.

Don't get me wrong. Halloween is really fun when you've got kids, and I'm looking forward to preparing this weekend and in the days ahead. If I get REALLY motivated, I just might make a batch of popcorn balls using my granddad's secret recipe. We'll see.

Attention shutterbugs: This contest is for you!

Oh, come on. Admit it. You took 972 photos at the pumpkin patch this weekend.

Yes, it would be a little embarrassing if you were the only one snapping away as junior looks at pumpkins, sits on pumpkins, sits on a hay bale, sits on a hay wagon, rides a pony, rides his parents for ice cream cone, etc. But you're not.

And chances are you took some pretty great pictures of your kids at Halloween last year, or you will at the Halloween festivities over the next ten days.

This is your chance to share —and possibly to win. Enter our "Click to Win Contest", sponsored by Henry's, and you could win a Nikon D40 camera. All the better for capturing memories over the coming holiday season. Plus, your photo could be shown in our Halloween photo gallery. Get all the details here and the rules and regulations here.

Full disclosure: I took about a hundred photos of my two boys jumping in a pile of leaves on Saturday, and I have hundreds more from Halloween last year. Ditto this year's outings to the Brickworks Farmer's Market, Thanksgiving and our summer trip to Sandbanks. (It might have been a two-night trip to Prince Edward County, but based on the size of the Facebook album, you'd think it was a fortnight in the south of France.)

So don't be shy. Share your photos soon!

Your Halloween helper

Green grocers are stocked with pumpkins. Costume shops are selling out of vampire teeth. Bags of candy line the drug-store shelves. Waistlines are under threat.

Yes, it is Halloween time again. With Thanksgiving out of the way, there's no denying the spooky season has arrived.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Halloween is — apparently — the second-biggest season in terms of consumer spending (after Christmas). Yes, it can get a little crazy-competitive — with Martha Stewart-esque pumpkin wreaths, $100 costumes and the battle of a thousand cupcakes. But if you can set aside any ambivalence you may feel about that aspect — you've got to admit, there's no time for like it for kids — and their parents, too!

No other holiday is geared just to having fun. There's virtually no family obligation. On Halloween you can (usually) get away with just emailing the grandparents a photo or 17. There's no bird to baste and, compared to Christmas, virtually no shopping. No airports. No long car rides. No weeks-long party circuit.

The anticipation, though, is almost as delicious as waiting to see what Santa will put under the tree. And the rule-bending that the Hallowed Eve brings just doesn't get duplicated the rest of the year. On Halloween, the kids are in charge (well, at least we can let them think that). THEY decide who they're going to be. THEY get to stay up until "grown-up bedtime." THEY get to eat enough candy to make themselves sick.

Getting ready for the big night can take a little prep, though, and you'll be able to make the most of the Halloween season if you check out our new Halloween Guide. If you like to decorate for this cool occasion, you'll want to check out the special section on our sister site, yourhome.ca, as well.

On the parentcentral.ca Halloween page, you'll find safety tips, the dish on costume trends, craft ideas and inspiration for Halloween parties. Check back often, because we're always adding more.

And if you share your favourite Halloween pics, you'll have a chance to win a Nikon D40 Camera, courtesy of Henry's camera shop (plus your little Batman or Hannah Montana could get their mug on parentcentral.ca). Get contest details here.

Enjoy the festivities!

Halloween Hullabaloo

Have your kids decided what to be for Halloween? Last night I discovered (to my dismay) that all the Luke Skywalker costumes on buycostumes.com are sold out. I hope this means I'm not out of luck, but my five-year-old just changed his mind from side kick Hans Solo to the man himself, and I've been - perhaps naively - hoping that, should this happen, I'd be able to borrow the Luke costume, since there had to be at least a dozen Lukes on the playground last year.  The infant-sized Chewbacca costume for my younger son is another story. That's a definite online buy.

Still, for a sewing-challenged parent like me, it's a relief that Cameron is veering toward a mass-produced movie character this Halloween. Yes, part of me feels like it would be so much more creative and interesting to construct some sort of clever D-I-Y costume out of egg cartons and old vacuum tubes. It briefly looked as though I was in trouble when he wanted to be the Pink Panther. Pretty sure they don't have Pink Panther at Toys 'R Us.

Though the toughest Halloween fulfillment order, surely, is what you're faced with when your little one can't decide WHAT to be, and instead concocts some sort of hybrid two-for-one costume in his or her little mind. Like being, say, "half Indiana Jones, half werewolf." I have absolutely no good advice for those situations.

What deadline do you impose for a final decision about Halloween costumes? I'm thinking that it's got to be soon... October 1st?

How do you plan to celebrate? Halloween has, apparently, become the second-biggest festive occasion in terms of consumer spending, and it's clear that some of that goes into decor and party decorations. Some people are clearly forgoing trick-or-treating for at-home Halloween parties, or doing both.

We live in a very kid-friendly, walkable neighbourhood, and Halloween is the time I feel most grateful for that. There's a great vibe on the street, parents socializing as kids bound up and down porch steps, fuelled by sugar and the high of being outside after dark. When the kids are done trick-or-treating, our enclosed porch is a great place to enjoy a drink with friends while the kids count their candy.

Watch here for details of our Halloween contest, and for tips on having a fun, safe and EASY Halloween.

Amusements parks and other business

I got nauseous on the "Berry-Go-Round" at the Ukrainian Festival in Bloor West Village a week ago.

Alongside its plates of boiled perogies and cobs of butter-drenched corn, our little local festival features a tot-sized carnival with rides geared to the bouncy-castle set. Climbing inside one of a half-dozen strawberry-shaped huts along with my five year old and three other riders, I felt well within my comfort zone. But within seconds, the mother sitting across from me and I were both willing ourselves not to be ill. In the final moments, I resorted to being a complete wet blanket and forbidding my son and the other boy on the ride from turning the wheel that spun the strawberry on its unholy little axis.

Needless to say I wasn't ready for the Behemoth when we hit Canada's Wonderland on the weekend.

Does anyone out there know why so many of us are less tolerant of dizzy-making rides as we age? Is there some deterioration of the inner ear that occurs to make us queasy on the Gravitron, and even to cause that little flip in the tummy when we try to relive our high-flying days on the swings at the park? Or is it plain-old fear of injury, the kind you simply cannot experience when you have barely a notion of your own mortality, or even that your bones are breakable? I'd love to know.

But maybe some of you had no time to contemplate amusements rides over the weekend because you were inside constructing a solar system out of papier mache or helping your child work through pages of rote math exercises. I encourage you to check out the interesting discussion that is happening in the comments on Kristin Rushowy's story about homework.

Please visit this blog often. I'll point you to some of the interesting stuff we have on the site (if you haven't yet checked out our great finder tools, including listings of all registered daycares, be sure you do), and share a little of my own parenting adventures (and misadventures) as well, too. I welcome your comments and feedback. This blog can also be a place where we discuss and debate some of the issues that come up in the news. If you're wondering where to find the latest on the Chinese tainted milk story, by the way, you can read it here.

And speaking of milk, Dr. Jack Newman's breastfeeding clinic could close because the private funding source is drying up. Let's hope this clinic — which has helped thousands of mothers overcome some of the difficulties that derail breastfeeding — finds another way to keep its doors open. Read Andrea Gordon's article here.