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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Mother's Day Cocktail Party

How are things looking for your Mother's Day?

Will you be sleeping in, eating a leisurely brunch and getting a pedicure? Or reading an entire novel while sipping coffee in your favourite chair?

Didn't think so.

You probably have a busy schedule this weekend and at least some of it may involve celebrating your own mom, step-mom, grandmother or mother-in-law. Whether you're putting miles on the car or just wearing out the floor boards in your kitchen, my guess is that the day might not be all about you.

As some may have read before, I host a party for my friends around each Mother's Day. You can see a photo gallery of one of these here.

The party in the gallery looks pretty fancy, but in the last two years, I've changed this event to a low-key Thursday night cocktail gathering in advance of the big day. Food prep is minimal: I put out crudites and hummus, olives, good cheeses and crackers, and serve hot appetizers baked straight out of the freezer (thank you, Mr. President). Friends bring pretty desserts.

The focus is on the cocktails and conversation, and everyone looks forward to dressing up a little and sneaking out after bedtime for a bit of grown-up fun.

Here are a few pictures from this year's event (all photos by Kelly Smyth).

 

Raising a glass with me (left), Tanya Davies, Erin Billowits and Fabienne Moureaux.

It gets crazy if you give guests too many drink options. In addition to non-alcoholic offerings, we made two cocktails, Kir Royales and Sidecars.

Lego picked up? Check. Lights dimmed to hide grubby slipcovers? Check. Tulips purchased for $10 on way home? Check.

With me here from left, Lisa Murphy, honourary mom and expert lemon squeezer Jennifer Wilson-Speedy, and Kira Vermond.

Irene Tashiro (left) and Juli Belliveau.

Sarah Noonan (left) and Tanya Davies.

It doesn't matter what you serve or what your house looks like (candlelight does wonders, though!). The key is to the gather the people you want to see and share a few spirit-lifting laughs.

So go on! There's still time between now and Mother's Day, or even in the week or two after, to do something that's just for you and your people. Budget-friendly options could include chick flicks and ice cream, a pot luck, or a wine tasting where everyone brings a bottle. You don't even have to host: A night out at the movies, the neighbourhood pub or a restaurant would be quite a treat as well.

Happy Mother's Day!

More inspiration:

More Mother's Day coverage

Mother's Day photo gallery

Recipe finder

Yummy Mummy Club

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.

Family Literacy Day and Wicked Wednesdays

In case you missed it during all of today's Apple-related madness, it is Family Literacy Day.

The event is run by ABC Literacy Canada, and the idea is to "encourage families to read and learn together."

I agree wholeheartedly with the folks at ABC that literacy is about more than just reading books. You can encourage literacy by doing all sorts of things, including following a recipe. I love the way we can organically learn about fractions through baking, too. (I know, that was my nerdy schoolmarm moment of the day.)

Not sure how to mark the occasion? Here's a list of fun activities. Or find a Family Literacy Day activity in your area.

I think my favourite Literacy Day initiative might just be the Munsch at Home contest. Families submitted their own Munsch-inspired stories for a chance to be published with a real-deal Michael Martchenko illustration, and to win personal visits from Munsch both at their home and in their neighbourhood school.

We've got the winning story here.

ABC has all the finalists here.

We weren't really trying to mark the occasion, but I guess we started our Family Literacy Day with a pre-breakfast reading of Captain Underpants. After school today, our caregiver will be cajoling lovingly encouraging Cameron through a couple of pages of homework (due tomorrow). That counts, right? And we'll be reading our routine bedtime stories, likely including favourites by Mo Willems or Oliver Jeffers.

On a slightly different but related topic, I've been noticing a pattern of badness on Wednesdays (not every Wednesday is chock full of Family Literacy Day fun).

I don't mean to suggest that my boys are being "bad" on Wednesdays - it's more that we're all hitting a bump of midweek fatigue that leads to tears on Wednesdays evenings.

The kids even cry sometimes, too.

But seriously, we've all been through quite a bit of school- and work-week busyness by Wednesdays, when the weekend still feels quite a way off. Sitting on the bunkbeds last week, Cam drying tears about something I can no longer recall, I proposed that we start a new Wednesday tradition called "Wicked Wednesdays." (We're predictably alliterative about these things, having already had "Friday Fun" in place for a while.)

We've had stomach flu ripping through our house this week, so I'll be happy if we can mark our inaugural Wicked Wednesday with a minimum of vomit. However, the "deal" is that if the kids already have their pajamas on WHEN I GET HOME AT 5:30, we can have a movie night and a "snacky dinner" in the living room. For some reason, this break in routine has the kids pretty excited.

I'm all about parenting by gimmick if it makes the evening a little more fun and bedtime come a little sooner.

So in between our Family Literacy Day reading, we'll be taking a brief (90 minute) break to watch a movie. I won't give away what it will be other than to say it will likely be part of a series that rhymes with Czar Pores.

If you're also looking for a way to get through Wednesday, I hope you just might find a little help in the Munsch stories, or copy our lower-brow movie plan.

Back-to-school party

My oldest boy, Cameron, is headed back to school tomorrow. Not only that, but he starts Grade 1, which is a pretty big deal when you're accustomed to calling it a day at 11:30 a.m. and everything that happens outside of the kindergarten wing is cloaked in mystery.

Cam has taken a while to get comfortable with the notion of being in Grade 1. He doesn't yet know how to read and some of his friends do, so he's been concerned that he's not "proper for Grade 1." A little pomp and ceremony have been required to nudge him from plain old nervous to nervous excitement.

I wrote last week about the transitions that September brings, some of them welcome, some of them, not so much. Suffice it to say we both needed something to give Labour Day some shape, mark the end of summer on a high note and welcome the start of school.

We decided on a back-to-school lunch at noon. This way everyone could have a leisurely meal and good long play and still get to bed on time. (You could do this with school-bus themed invitations and a school-bus cake, but this was planned on short-notice, which I think is the easiest and lowest-pressure way to throw a party.)

I didn't feel like manning the barbecue all day, and I wanted to be able to talk to my friends, so I made platters of sandwiches (school-lunch theme, right?) that I could pull out of the fridge when guests were assembled. Along with a selection of other kid-friendly snacks, Irene's veggie tray and a plate of watermelon, this was all that was needed.

 

(Unfortunately, 2-year-old Alister sidled up to this tiered snack tray when I was busy setting up, and polished off the chips.)

It was a gorgeous day, so the backyard was the perfect place to gather.

 

Left to right, that's Alister (he's not going back to school), Maddie, Davis, Ella (who declared her intention to marry Davis several times during the party), Cameron and Emerson.

The kids had plenty of opportunity to burn off some last-day-of-summer energy...

...sliding...

...climbing...

...colouring...

and playing "Octopus." (Octopus? Cameron explains: "One person is the octopus and they say 'run!' and if you get touched, you're seaweed.")

Naturally, all of this requires refreshments...

Of one kind,

Or another.

Because after keeping kids entertained through nine weeks of summer vacation,

the grown-ups deserve a little fun, too.

Hurray!

Naturally, the centrepiece of this sort of gathering is always the cake (who doesn't like cake?).

 

I swung by Baskin-Robbins late Sunday afternoon and selected this ice cream cake from the few left on the shelf. I asked the young man helping me if someone could pipe the words "Back to school!" on top.  He said yes, but added, "I dunno why anyone would want to celebrate THAT." He then proceeded to spell it S-H-C-O-O-L. The above is his fix-it job.

It went over Okay.

 

 

But the important part is that, by dinnertime, Cameron had declared that he was now more excited than nervous, and that going into Grade 1 "makes me feel so much bigger."

And that's the point.

Have a great first day of school.

Cameron quote of the day

"I'd kind of like to be a news reporter like you and Daddy but I think that scientist is a good job for myself."

A tale of two tantrums

It's a good thing my toddler looks like this...

otherwise he would be FOR SALE!!!

On Saturday I took my boys for a walk down to Bloor Street, where the local shops and bakeries are, and where I would endeavour to pick up groceries, flowers, etc., for a dinner party.

I left the house with Cameron, 5.5, Alister, 1.5, and a stroller that is — I would learn — a complete affront to my younger child's dignity. It was a lovely day, and naturally, Alister wanted to walk. I wanted him to walk for at least a little while, too, so he could blow off some steam. He, however, didn't want to miss a single driveway, lawn or retaining wall on the way to the village. We were progressing at a rate of about a block per half hour, the clock was ticking and, I knew, he was quickly approaching expiry.

Cameron and I cajoled, chased and coerced Alister in the right direction — me occasionally swooping him up with tickles to distract him while nudging us along a few houses. When we hit Bloor, though, and my toddler alternated pressing his face into every carpet-store and bakery window with careening toward traffic, I decided he had to go into the stroller for an agonizing two blocks until we reached Bread and Roses cafe for some sort of food refuel.

He had one of those tantrums, like from sitcom television...? You know, the kind with the back arching and total refusal to lower his bum into the stroller. He wailed. He screamed. He yelled "Mommy!" Huge crocodile tears poured down his face as I repeatedly tried to string each of his legs into the stroller. I wrangled him into the straps, he pushed up against them. Strangers stared. Mothers looked on sympathetically. Several people looked as though they might speed dial the Children's Aid Society. I laughed and made light of it because it was the only way to retain some element of dignity. Alister kept up some yoga-worthy back bridge the whole time just to make the point that he wasn't REALLY sitting in the stroller.

We got to the bakery, and luckily, ran into a friend and his son out front, which allowed us to tag-team order. I food-bribed Alister with half of a huge cinnamon bun. (Not a high moment in my parenting career.) He calmed down and smiled "more?" as he finished each bite.

I needed to return something at Chapters. So we headed there and he played contentedly at the Thomas the Train table while Cameron and I read books. Eventually, though, with nap-time approaching, I needed to wrangle him back downstairs, do the return and jet.

Of course he didn't understand that the Thomas train in his little fist belonged to the store and that his own was waiting at home. Naturally, he wanted to go back up the down escalator. OBVIOUSLY, he wouldn't go back in the stroller.

So about those b*stards that put all the brightly-coloured, cello-wrapped, holiday-theme crap on a table right at toddler eyeball level while you're waiting in line for a cashier... I think an afternoon with a set of sugar-high triplet toddler boys throwing tantrums in a toy store would be appropriate karmic payback, don't you?

Carrying around a satisfyingly crinkly, spring-themed lollipop the size of his face was amusement enough while the cashier waited for a manager to sign off on my return. When I pried it from his hands and started wrestling Alister back in the stroller, he put up such an ultimate-fighting performance that nice people were coming up and saying to me, "Do you need a hand?"

I got him strapped in and out the door, Cameron patiently tagging along beside.

But my white-trash parenting adventure didn't end there. Not sure what this says about how we've been feeding him, but there's a Pizza Pizza on the corner next to the Chapters. As we passed it, my hollaring toddler recognized the logo and shop and started saying, "Pizza? Pizza?"

Realizing this whole thing might have been related to the small breakfast he had, I peered into the stroller and said, "Is that what you want? Is that what this is about? Because if you want a piece of pizza, you can have one." Five minutes later, with a small square of pepperoni pizza acquired (along with a huge stack of napkins) and quartered, we were on our way back home, happy as can be, both boys munching away.

The moral of the story, moms and dads?

Don't forget the snacks.

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!