Opa's Legos

I thought that we had purchased enough Legos during February, but the more Mark has investigated Lego sets, the more sets he has found that he likes. In addition to all the fun play sets, there are different Lego educational sets. There are the Lego Master Builder Academy sets. Bentley and opa have started, but not finished the level 1 set. Sets 2 to 5 are scheduled to arrive one every two months. I think you are supposed to practice the skills they teach you before you move on to the next level. The two months between sets will give opa time to do the level individually with the three older children, if they are all interested.

Wanting to investigate other Lego educational sets, opa borrowed a Lego Mindstorms robot from Bentley's school. He and Bentley built and programmed the little robot. Bentley wrote his own program for the robot. Opa liked the robot so much, he bought his own Lego Mindstorms set. (Kara contributed funds.) I thought they bought the set with the robot, but it turns out that there are introductory Mindstorms sets to buy before the set with the robot. The Mindstorms robot set is still on opa's list of items to purchase. Great.


Opa told me that Legos are better than a vacation. I think he's trying to get me to approve a transfer of funds from the vacation account to the toy account. That's very clever on his part. Even though we just returned from vacation that account is still healthy because we've skipped taking vacations for a few years. (I won't leave the grandchildren.)

Two weeks ago the Lego site had their double VIP points with free shipping sale. How could we resist that deal?! (By avoiding the Lego site? By limiting the toy budget?)

What did opa buy during the Lego site sale? He chose a motorized excavator because it’s the only kit with treads and they can be used with the Mindstorms robot (when he gets it!). He also picked up a backhoe (for the technics parts), an Alien Conquest set (the boys like this line and it was discounted before VIP points), and sets 7-9 in the Master Builder Academy series.

What did I buy during the Lego site sale? I picked out some individual bricks from the pick-a-brick wall to fill in some holes in Matt's collection. I wanted to add some color to inspire Viva and I. I purchased two of this brick and eight of that brick in pink, orange, lime and medium blue. I also purchased stairs, windows, fences, heads, spiders, dynamite, jewels, and globes. I only bought 1-10/item. It's hard to know what you will really use until you start an actual project.

Matt told opa that Lego Friends were on sale at Fred Meyer's last week, so opa went to Fred's and bought Viva two new Friends sets. She builds Star Was sets with opa and her brothers, but she prefers pink and purple projects. Star Wars sets are predominantly gray.

You'd think that'd be enough Lego sets for March, wouldn't you? It wasn't. Opa picked up four more Star Wars sets on sale on amazon.com and at ToysRUs. He also purchased a selection of small poly bag sets on ebay.com.



I asked for (and Mark gifted me) a Star Wars set which I will discuss in a later post. It's the most awesome Star Wars set ever.

The new Lego sets will give the children something to do while they are waiting for the snow to melt away and outdoor activities like biking, basketball, badminton, and soccer to recommence. It truly will be a vacation away from the snow!