A Great Day Out for LEGO Fans!

Brick 2015 A Great Day Out for LEGO Fans 

This weekend I was lucky enough to travel to The NEC in Birmingham for Brick 2015. I was expecting a lot of LEGO but I can't believe just how many bricks there were!

They are also holding a Brick Show at the ExCel Centre in London on 11th - 13th December so if you think this might be for you read on to find out what we got up to at this weekend's show.

When we arrived at the NEC we headed straight for the exhibition and got going with exploring all the activities. There were some amazing displays and models- we all had different favourites but there was a huge Titanic and a Colosseum that were both really awesome that we all loved and there were models of characters like Hagrid, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and R2D2 which I really wish I was able to build.

         

We joined in with making a huge mosaic- everyone had a base plate and a tiny section of a large picture to create which was then put together to form the whole thing. 

We made our house out of LEGO which was then added to a huge map of the UK and placed where we asked for it to go. As Lottie had made our house I made a floating building and asked the man to put it in the sea!

There was a chance to make racing cars and test them and race them on the ramps, which was good fun and we also attempted another Guinness World Record challenge- there were several different building challenges to complete.

We got to try the LEGO Dimensions computer game which is really really awesome and I would love to get at some point and the Avengers one which is coming out next year which was good too - although Lottie was cross that she couldn't make Captain America fly (he doesn't fly but she wouldn't believe me!)

Along with all the activities and all the amazing displays there were huge pits of LEGO each in a different colour which you could either sit in or grab a handful of bricks from and just build- it was fantastic- like a ball pool for big kids and grown ups! I think it would be my dream come true to have my very own LEGO pit, although Mum says we'd definitely need a bigger house then!

After that there was plenty of chance to add to our own LEGO collections with a huge Toys R Us selling just LEGO- there was so much to choose from! 

There were plenty of other sellers to buy from but I have picked out my favourite three stalls for you to keep an eye out for at the ExCel Show:

FAB-BRICKS.COM - we didn't get to see them at the show as they closed the queue off an hour before the end of the show so they could get everyone finished and we didn't arrive at their stand until then but they make personalised mini figures- you choose the hair, head, body, and legs and then they will engrave it for you. It looked amazing and both Lottie and I really wish we'd got them done so I would definitely recommend visiting them early on in your day.

Base Ace- 3D play platforms - My Mum had seen these online before we went and we were really excited to see what they were like- they are a brilliant idea and really good quality. The man showed us how you can have them upside down or add extension packs and lights and basically use them to come help play with your LEGO in any way you like. Lottie loved the treehouse type set but I really liked the one that reminded me if a rocket but I think you could use them all in so many different ways- I would love to create a fort or a space ship.

Mechabrick- the people there were really friendly and have created a game that has a large board and robots, weapons and people that move around but basically you use your existing LEGO and create models from you imagination which the robots then move round and blow up. It is also compatible with your base boards so the game can become as large as you like. It looks like a great way to enjoy LEGO with your friends and see where the game takes you. 

As you can see I now have a whole load of new ideas of what I would like to start saving up for!  

I would really recommend Brick 2015 as a great day out for any LEGO fan- there are plenty of chances to shop but there are also loads of chances to just play and enjoy LEGO alongside loads of other people who also love it.

Tickets for the show at the ExCel Centre can be ordered from here

A Note from Mum....

We had a great day out as the whole family- we all like LEGO (well except baby Sam who would just eat it but he was happy to sit in his pushchair and watch the world go by!) I felt there was plenty to do for children of Luke and Lottie's age groups and we easily filled the whole day and I also saw plenty of people with much older children who still seemed to be enjoying themselves- if anything I would have said we could have gone for longer as we didn't spend very long playing in the big LEGO pits or looking at some of the models. 

I have seen some people saying the tickets are pricey- they are right- it isn't a cheap day out. However, it is comparable with other Exhibitions we have been to and if your child enjoys LEGO then they will definitely get enough out of it to make it worthwhile. Our friends also went and they thoroughly enjoyed the day and again their son would have been happy to stay all night! It should also be a consideration that parking is £12- however this is the standard rate at the NEC for any show I have ever been to there and would be expected anywhere. The products being sold start from £1.50 upwards so you don't need to have a huge budget for treats to still enjoy the day but with Christmas fast approaching the December show will be a brilliant chance to get stocked up for it. 

We were lucky enough to be given tickets to the Brick 2015 Show and would like to take this opportunity to thank Poppyseed Media for their generosity. However all thoughts and opinions within this post are our own.

Grand Designs!

Grand Designs

I LOVE the Redbull Soap Box Challenge and really enjoy watching it but more than anything would like to take part in it when I am older (although my Mum's response is 'absolutely not'!)

My Dad, however, really enjoys anything like that and quite likes the idea of it so whilst Mum might put her foot down and say we can't actually race our creation he has suggested we start designing our own vehicle, which is quite fun in itself. We have some time together each evening once Sam is in bed and when Mum is reading Lottie her story so we have been putting our heads together to start designing our winning machine!

We have decided that we will be best off starting with a design, then building it out of LEGO and creating a test ramp for the LEGO version to be trialed on before sourcing the parts to build the final version and then hopefully testing it out! We have done some rough drawings so far and I we will start doing some full designs over the next few days.

Have you ever designed or built a vehicle of any sort? What tips can you give us? Any warnings of what we should look out for?!

What's it all about?

What's It All About?

My name is Luke and I am 7 years old. I have a little sister, Charlotte who is 3, sometimes she is lovely and sometimes she is a pain but mostly we have lots of fun together. We also have a new baby brother, Samuel, who is 6 weeks old. He is so cute and I have lots of cuddles with him. He mainly just drinks milk, sleeps and fills his nappy but he loves his bath time and likes watching me and Lottie when we are playing, Mummy promises me he will soon be wanting to play with us. We live in the countryside in the East of England with Mummy and Daddy and spend lots of time playing with our friends.

I am a normal seven year old- I love football, LEGO, drawing, baking, Harry Potter books and arts and crafts. Liverpool are my favourite team.

Unlike a lot of my friends I also love entering competitions (and winning them if I can!!) My Mum has enjoyed competitions for as long as I can remember and I have picked up the bug from her so we look for 'arty' ones and I have great fun making and drawing things to enter- sometimes I even win!

Mummy and I were talking about writing and she told me that when she was young she kept a diary. This seemed like fun but I wanted to be able to do it on the computer (I like to try and get my hands on her laptop when I can but she doesn't often let me!!) so she was telling me about blogs, she reads a lot of different ones by people and says some of them are really good. I thought I could do that too so I am going to write a blog about things that I do, great places I go, competitions I enter and things I like that Mummy has been sent for us to review- although probably things like children's books, which we sometimes get, and perhaps not the coffee and toothpaste she has just tested! 

I will be writing most of the posts and coming up with ideas for them but Mummy will help me to make sure they are ok to put on the internet and will do the publishing, as well as checking any comments as she says I have to make sure I stay safe if I am going to use the internet and can only do it with her help.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog if you stumble across it and if you have any suggestions of things you would like me to write about please let me know and I will see what I can do!