Lego modular building

Lego Corner Garage–The Second Half

Time to take a look at the second half of the build for the Lego Corner Garage!

The second floor contains a vet’s office, which includes both the waiting and examination rooms. There were a lot of cool little builds in this section, including a neat desk lamp and a heat lamp for a frog. Two minifigs were included this time…the vet himself, and a child, who I assume is taking her pet (possibly the rabbit) for a check-up.

As always, the amazing sense of humor the Lego Group has is obvious…Dr. Jones Animal Care…No snakes!

The windows on the second floor were fun to build, too!

The third floor is home to the minifig that came in the fifth set of bags. It’s a nice little studio apartment, and it contains something hard to find on our Main Street…a BATHROOM! I especially loved building the little TV.

Even without the roof, it’s an impressive building!

The sixth set of bags was a quick an easy build…just the roof, with a nice little garden, and a place to lay out and catch some rays:

Even though I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with adding a garage of all things to my Main Street, I have to admit, it’s a nice-looking building, and I love having another corner to add to my modular grouping!

As soon as I’m certain I’m happy with the layout, I’ll shared a picture of my updated modular Main Street!

Lego Corner Garage–The First Half

Now that I’ve finished the Lego modular Bookshop, I figured I should get to work on the Corner Garage, a set I’ve had for almost a year, but hadn’t found the time to build yet. I decided that even though this building doesn’t split nicely down the middle, I’d stick with building it in two sections. Here’s a look a the first half, which included the bags numbered one through three.

As always, the bags for part one built the foundation for the set, which isn’t always too exciting. This set, however, had a very interesting feature right off the bat…a moving rack for cars to be lifted on! Also included were a mechanic and a very good boy.

The rest of the garage (and the downstairs entrance to the vet’s office located on the second floor) was built in the second set of bags. I love the moving garage door, and all of the little details in this part of the build.

The third set of bags contained the pieces to build the gas pump (and its overhang) plus the tow truck.

The tow truck gave me some fits. Because it has more moving parts than a regular Lego vehicle, it was a more complicated build, and I had to bring Turkey in to help me complete it!

Possibly my favorite part of the whole set is this sign…that is some excellent humor!

Here’s a look at the set, about half-done:

Up next…the second half of the build, including the vet’s office and an upstairs apartment, which actually contains an elusive Lego bathroom!

Lego Bookshop–The Second Half

Time for the second half of the newest Lego modular building! After building the side for which the set gets its name (the bookshop), I turned my attention to the attached apartment building. The fifth set of bags contained a minifig and the foundation for the home, which included an awesome staircase!

A second minifig was included in the sixth set of bags, and the main living space for the home, including a lovely cabinet and charming tea set, plus a really cool window, were added:

Structurally, the seventh set of bags didn’t add a lot…mostly it was just a framework, with some pretty big gaps. But it did include the bedroom, with a fun build of a bed, and a cute little dresser. (It did not include a bathroom, which is troubling to me, because I really don’t feel there are enough bathrooms for all of the minifigs that frequent my modular Main Street!)

The final set of bags finished off the exterior of the bedroom, and included a fun little balcony, plus an amazing way to build some shingles for the front side of the building around the windows:

Probably my favorite part about this set is that the two halves can be separated and displayed however you want. I mixed them up here, just to show how each arrangement looks, but in the end, when I finish my modular Main Street (for this year, anyway), I’ll have them in two completely different locations, and not connected to each other at all!

I still have last year’s modular garage to build…I’ve been holding on to it for almost a year, and I’m hoping to get started on it soon, so I can add it to the Main Street, as well, and share an updated photo of my current design!

Lego Bookshop–The First Half

I’m taking a departure from my usual Lego modular building summaries to try something new. Since the new bookshop splits down the middle into two buildings, I’m going to look at the building process for each half. First up, the eponymous bookshop. The first set of bags (there are four sets for each part), contains one minifig and builds the foundation for both the shop and the birch tree out front:

The second set of bags finishes off the first floor of the building and contains another minifig:

No additional minifigs in the third set of bags, but the second floor does contain the living area of the upstairs apartment, including a really cool grandfather clock build:

The fourth and final set of bags does introduce another minifig (the bookshop owner and resident of the aforementioned upstairs apartment), and my favorite parts of the whole build so far, the bedroom, which includes a really cool chameleon piece with a tank, a lovely autumn birch tree, and an awesome roof!

The other half of the building is residential, which my modular Main Street really needs…I’m looking forward to putting it together!

The Top Five–Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2020

Here we are, at the beginning of a new decade! I thought it would be fun to come up with a “Top Five” of the things I’m most looking forward to this year. I kind of wish I had something really big on my list, such as a family vacation like the one we took to Florida in 2018, or a trip to London, but I really don’t need grand events to come up with things I’m excited about! So here are the things I’m thrilled are coming up in the next year (more or less in chronological order):

  • Lego Modular Bookshop–I always look forward to the release of the new modular building on January 1st, but I’m especially excited about this year’s set, because like the Pet Shop, it is a building in two halves, which will offer me lots of options for displaying it on my Main Street! Actually, I was so excited about the set, I was in line outside the Lego Store 20 minutes before they opened this morning, just to make sure I got one of the 29 sets they had in stock (I did)!
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons–I feel like I’ve been waiting for a new Animal Crossing game forever. Sure, I’ve played (and enjoyed) Pocket Camp for the last two years, but it’s not a full game, and it’s just not the same. So if you’re looking for me on March 20th, I’ll be living the island life with my animal friends!
  • Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen–One of the highlights of every year for the last several years has been the release of the latest book in Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series. We’re nearing the end, with the last book set to come out in 2021, but until then, May will be a great month for reading for me!
  • Tokyo 2020–Everyone knows I love the Olympics, and I’m especially looking forward to this year’s summer games, because our whole family has an interest in Japanese culture. It will also be a bit bittersweet for several reasons, including the fact that it will be the closing bookend on Turkey and Bunny’s homeschool summer school experience (summer school began in 2008 with the Beijing Olympics), but in spite of that, it’s still going to be a fun time!
  • Great North American Oktoberfest–I actually thought this event, which is the first in what appears to be an annual event traveling to different cities, was going to be held in 2019 (and, as it turns out, I was right…originally it was scheduled for last year), so you can imagine my disappointment when we didn’t get to attend. I’m hoping that it won’t be postponed again, and I will be able to enjoy this experience in St. Louis in the fall!

Lego Main Street–2018 Edition

Now that the Assembly Square is finally completed, our modular Main Street has a different look!

I’m still undecided about adding the Downtown Diner to this streetscape. I don’t really feel like it “goes” with the current aesthetic, but I’m waiting to see what the 2019 modular building is before I decide for sure!

Lego Assembly Square–Night Six

The final set of bags for the Lego Assembly Square included builds for an upstairs apartment, the fountain in the plaza out front, a fun tower, and the addition of our very first Lego baby minifig!

The completed set is GORGEOUS! I love everything about it…the size, the colors, the great architectural details, the lovely homages to past modular buildings:

Since the Assembly Square has been released, there has also been another addition to the Lego modular collection…the Downtown Diner. Even though it has a cool, 1950s retro vibe that is right up my alley, I haven’t purchased it yet, because I’m not sure it goes with the overall look of my Modular Main Street. I am looking forward to seeing what the next building will be, though, and hopefully it will be something I’ll add to my Lego neighborhood!

Lego Assembly Square–Night Five

I think the fifth set of bags for the Lego Assembly Square contained one of my favorite builds ever!

Yes, I really enjoy the ballet studio. But the real reason I love this part of the set is because I essentially built Joe Negri’s music shop! Seriously, the minifig even looks like him!

Almost done…but there’s still one set of bags left to cap the building off!

Lego Assembly Square–Night Four

On to the fourth set of bags for the Lego Assembly Square!

The pattern of the build continued here, with the second floor being added to only two of the three sections. This time, I added a dentist’s office and a photography studio, and that also meant the addition of two more minifigs…the dentist and the photographer, of course! The build for the patient’s chair in the dentist’s office was especially cool, and the details were spot-on, right down to the color!

It’s really starting to take shape!

I can’t wait to take a look at the next section of the build!

Lego Assembly Square–Night Three

The third set of bags for the Lego Assembly Square included the parts to finish the bakery and florist (I love the giant flowers!), plus the build for the cafe. And not only was there a cafe employee to build, there was also an adorable Lego dog! There are some great details here, including an homage to one of the original modular sets…that won’t become clear until I flip the cafe sign up correctly, however!

This brings us to the halfway point in the numbered bags, but as far as instructions, I don’t think we’re quite half done yet!