Lego modular building

Summer Fun 2015

Now that everyone is back in school, Labor Day has come and gone, all of our regular activities have started up again, and Ryan’s sabbatical is over, I guess summer has really ended. But what a summer it has been!

We kicked off our summer at the end of May by going to the Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Turkey played in his sixth season of parks and rec baseball…or tried to. We had so much rain in the first half of the summer (including a tropical depression that made it to the St. Louis area), that almost half of his games were cancelled, which was a huge disappointment.

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We visited the St, Louis Zoo to see Kali, the zoo’s new polar bear. We were impressed not only with the bear, but with the new exhibit, Polar Bear Point.

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The four oldest children attended a week-long choir camp at one of our sister congregations in the city of St. Louis. They had a great time learning about music, got to go on a few field trips, and decided that they want to join the Kantorei at Hope. Chickadee had a fun time that week having me all to herself!

Tim Horton’s finally opened a store in St. Louis, and we were there on opening day! (This was also the week that Ryan’s sabbatical began!)

This summer in school, we learned about Illinois state history. We went to Cahokia Mounds on the first of our summer school field trips. We’ve been there several times, but there is always something new to learn!

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July was the busiest month of the summer. We started with our traditional, Markel family Fourth of July celebration, which is always lots of fun.

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Bunny went to Camp Wartburg for a week of theatre camp. We missed her at home, but she had a great time!

The week after she got home, Bunny celebrated her 11th birthday. The celebration included a trip to the spray park and a bunny cake, of course!

A few days after that, we left on our first-ever Markel family summer vacation/road trip. We visited Bowling Green, KY, Atlanta, GA, and our main destination of Charleston, SC. Even though there were a few bumps along the way, it was more fun than I could have imagined, and we covered all the vacation bases–family, food, baseball, history, architecture, and the beach!

Back home, the girls and I went with Grandma to American Girl Night at Busch Stadium.

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We also drove to Kaskaskia, IL, to see the location of the first Illinois state capital and the Liberty Bell of the West.

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August saw a bit more road-tripping. First, a drive to Vandalia, IL, to tour the oldest existing Capitol Building in Illinois.

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We also drove to Springfield, IL, to visit the Lincoln Home, the Old State Capitol, and the current Capitol Building, as well as a few other locations.

Moose went back to school…he’s in the fourth grade this year! Still not ready to say goodbye to summer, though…

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Turkey, Bunny, and Ladybug also went back to school. Since Ryan was still on sabbatical, though, I still wasn’t convinced that summer was done.

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We had a fun time taking Little Luther with us on all of our travels!

Ryan and I even found time to build not one, but two Lego modular buildings!

Moose got to miss a day of school for our field trip to The Magic House, where we learned what life is like in China, and did a lot of other fun things, too.

That same day (and the day after), we also drove down to Carbondale for a college women’s volleyball tournament.

And just last week, we celebrated the historic reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a tea party!

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We traveled this summer…a lot. We visited not only spray parks, but pools and the beach, as well.

Most of all, though, we spent a ton of time together as a family, creating memories that I hope will last several lifetimes! It was a more amazing summer than I could have imagined, and I’ll never forget it!

Lego Detective’s Office–Night Four

Tonight, we finished the Lego Detective’s Office!

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There were no minifigs in this part of the building, but we did find a new style of cat!

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Half of the build was roof, the other half added a third floor (a small kitchen) to part of the building:

We also built a sign for the pub…I always love the way Lego makes signs!

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There’s even a water tower on the roof!

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Although it’s smaller than a lot of the modular buildings, it’s very pretty!

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It looks really nice in between half of the Pet Shop and the Parisian Restaurant, and the color scheme reminds me a little bit of Rainbow Row!

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We are now officially out of modular buildings, so we are anxiously awaiting any news of what the next set might be. I am, as always, still hoping for a corner bank with a clock!

Lego Detective’s Office–Night Three

Tonight we built the third part (which is the second floor) of the Lego Detective’s Office.

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As has been the case with all the builds in this set, we added another two minifigs to the scene–the detective (finally!), and his assistant:

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This floor has some of the best details I’ve seen in a modular building yet. Another printed window, a Lego bathroom, and an office full of details, including a filing cabinet, a safe, and a hidden panel behind a picture!

The windows in the back are really nice:

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And the front looks great!

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I can’t wait to finish it off, and see how it looks with our other buildings!

Lego Detective’s Office–Night Two

Tonight we worked on the second part of the Lego Detective’s Office…Al’s Barber Shop. I will admit that this has raised some questions. The Lego Parisian restaurant is called Chez Albert, so who is this “Al” that seems to own the majority of our Lego street? Is Al the barber, or does the barber just work for Al? Will we ever know?

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Another two minifigs were added…the previously mentioned barber, and your friendly neighborhood policewoman:

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There were some great details in this build, including our first-ever Lego mirror piece (not just a sticker, either)!

I love the sign and the barber pole:

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I also love the breezeway between the two parts of the building. This is a feature unique to this set.

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Please note the foliage not-so-subtly covering up another part of the Lego cookie caper!

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Floor one is complete, and it looks great…we’re looking forward to moving on to the second floor, and the actual detective’s office next!

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Lego Detective’s Office–Night One

Ryan’s sabbatical is winding down, so we figured we better get started on our last Lego modular set that’s just been sitting around…the Detective’s Office!

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Only two minifigs in tonight’s build…I originally thought it was a thug and a barber with especially wild hair, but as we worked on the set, it became obvious that it’s a pool player and a darts player (although I still think the man on the left might be a thug).

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This is an interesting set to build, because it’s split into four sections, but the way the book is numbered, it’s really only two builds. But we always like to draw out a project like this, so we’ll be building it over four nights, even if that does mean we’ll be working on relatively small sections each time.

The first night’s build is the first floor of the left side of the building, which is a pub (The Highlander). There are great details, including a pool table, a dart board, and a ceiling fan.

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You can see the secret passage for the cookie smuggling operation that appears to be plaguing this building:

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The front is perfect…they really captured the look of a neighborhood pub!

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Next up will be the rest of the first floor, which is Al’s Barber Shop. We won’t get to the actual detective’s office until night three!

Lego Town Hall–Night Three

Tonight we worked on book three, and completed the Lego Town Hall!

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There was only one minifig this time…the janitor:

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There were two parts to book three. First we worked on the third floor:

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It has a lot of nice details, including a conference table, some potted plants, and my favorite part, a Lego globe:

It made a nice addition to the building, but we weren’t done!

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We also had to build the roof and bell tower:

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Again, there some nice details, including a clock that actually moves. The rolling skylight is also really nice:

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The two parts of book three look really nice together:

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It a huge set when it’s completed!

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Our modular Lego street is really taking shape!

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We still have the newish Detective’s Office left to build…hopefully we’ll finish that one sometime before the end of Ryan’s sabbatical!

Lego Town Hall–Night Two

Tonight Ryan and I built the second floor of the Lego Town Hall. There were not nearly as many parts as floor one had, and the instruction book was much thinner:

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Only two minifigs this time: the mayor and his assistant.

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The each have a desk and chair…the mayor, as you might expect, has a much fancier office than his assistant:

I continue to be impressed with the (working) elevator:

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Other interior details include a cool rug and an overlook down to the first floor:

There are nice details on the outside, including fancy windows, flowers, and a balcony:

It looks very nice attached to the first floor:

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And in back, you can see the workings for the elevator continuing on up:

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Book three looms large on the horizon…it may have even more instructions than book one did!

Lego Town Hall–Night One

It’s been eight months since last we worked on our Lego Modular Main Street, and six months since Ryan and I got the Town Hall for each other for Christmas, so I guess it’s about time for another project! The Town Hall is the largest modular building, and the first floor was a very detailed build.

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As always, we began with the minifigs…five to start. They include a bride and groom, their photographer, and a pair of mischievous children who appear to be spying on them:

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The details inside the first floor are amazing, from the podium, to the bust done in Lego, to the desk complete with lamp, computer, and even money!

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The outside details, especially the crest and the columns, are also fantastic.

The back also has some nice details, including the mechanism to work the elevator:

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So far, the building looks great!

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I can’t wait to add the second floor, and really try out the elevator!

Three-Year-Old Meets Lego Main Street

Ryan and I have been working on building a Lego Main Street for over a year. We started with the Grand Emporium, and have added the Parisian Restaurant, the Pet Shop, and the Palace Cinema. As you might imagine, Chickadee is very interested in our Main Street, which is placed on bookshelves just at her level.

I’ll admit I had wondered where the minifigs were disappearing to, but it wasn’t until we were done with school for the year that I had time to take apart the buildings and investigate. It didn’t take long to find them:

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Yes, she had been stashing them all through the nearest door she could operate (she has yet to figure out the revolving door on the Grand Emporium, which I guess is a good thing). Main Street figures, members of the Simpsons family…they were all in there.

I’m glad I finally solved the mystery, but I a little concerned about what kind of mischief she’ll find to get into once we build the Town Hall and Detective’s Office sets that are waiting for us!

Lego Palace Cinema–Night Three

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Tonight we finished the Lego Palace Cinema. One of the first things we worked on was the door leading to the roof:

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The roof tiles were also an early addition to the set:

As was this gong, which I think is a really fun touch!

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One of the best parts of the set, though, is the signs…they look great on their own, and even better put together!

The moviegoers have discovered that the stairs lead to the secret roof door:

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The front facade of the building, minus the signs:

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And from the side and the front, once the signs were added:

Because this is a corner piece, I decided to leave a street between it and the Pet Shop, so the limo can drive through:

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A view of our entire Lego street:

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This was a fun build. I really love how it mimics Grauman’s Chinese Theater. I also love that it’s our second corner building…it really adds options for how we display our street. The next building we add will be the Town Hall…we already decided that it will be our Christmas gift this year, and it’s even been purchased already. Since it is for Christmas, though, it will be a while before we build it. After that, we’ll be looking forward to finding out what the next modular building will be, and how it will fit into our street!