Star Wars Weekend at LEGOLAND Windsor

During the May Bank Holiday LEGOLand Windsor hosted a Star Wars weekend to celebrate International Star Wars day – May 4th. As soon as I heard about this event I knew we had to be there. I say “we” but really mean “me”. The visit had the potential to be the perfect day as it included my three favourite things – LEGO + Star Wars + Family.

We opted to go on Sunday 5th May based on the fact the weather was supposed to be better that day. The 3 mile traffic jam that took over an hour to get through, suggested that many others had thought to do the same. Traffic is not a nice experience at the best of times but with a hyped up Toddler in the car I cannot think of anything worse. The cries of “I want a SNACK!” and the replies of “I haven’t got ANY LEFT!” could be heard for miles but I couldn’t help it, I get cranky when I am hungry.

The wait was worth it and the buzz of the crowd congregated around the entrance reflected the excitement of every child and man-child. As a privileged Premium Pass holder it only took a quick flash of my sacred card to see us safely through the lengthening ticket lines.

Our first taste of the Star Wars extravaganza was the life sized replica of a Land Speeder. Visitors to the park were offered the opportunity to have their photos taken whilst sitting inside the impressive Speeder. The order of the queue was patrolled effortlessly by a very realistic looking Gamorrean Guard. Unfortunately the realism was a bit too overwhelming for my Toddler son and despite my best efforts to encourage a Gamorrean cuddle, my son kept his distance. My camera and I really hoped this wasn’t going to be the case for all the characters we would encounter.

As my son and I giddily skipped deeper into LEGOLand we were confronted by a gaggle of Stormtroppers who ushered Darth Vader as he admired the view of Windsor’s answer to the Death Star… Windsor Castle.  Even I at 29 years old and at 6 foot tall cowered in the shadow of the overwhelming figure of Darth Vader, so I held out little hope for my son embracing a photo opportunity. Surprisingly or worryingly my son strode towards big D with confidence and posed without prompting. Our encounter was peaceful, I got the photo I wanted and I got to keep my hand too.

Darth Vader at LEGOLand Windsor

I always knew he belonged to the dark side!

We were on a high and the fun continued as we stopped for several more photos with loitering Stormtroopers. We continued our descent into the park via the well placed metallic play slides rather than the boring stairs. As we got to the bottom of the slides we heard the echoes of a bellowing Jedi Instructor at the Jedi Training Academy. I hoped that we would get to join in but before I could say “May the force be with you” I found myself stuffed inside the carriage of a rather cramped and cautiously paced DUPLO train – those damn Toddler mind tricks had fooled me again!

Time was passing quickly and the park had unsurprisingly reached capacity. Rumours had reached us that tensions were high as record numbers of enthused Star Wars and LEGO fans were being turned away. It was crammed and I sensed my Toddler was losing interest after spending 15 minutes sifting through footpath gravel for “good stones”. Luckily at his age he isn’t bothered if gets on any rides or not. I decided that we would wrap up our visit with a whistle stop tour of the park via the LEGO Train – Orient Expedition. To our amusement the train before us was occupied with a dozen or so Storm Troopers who were lapping up the attention from the crowds.

Storm Troopers LEGOLan Windsor Train

Forget the Death Star the LEGOLand Windsor Train is the choice of transport for any discerning Storm Trooper!

Our Star Wars adventure was nearly over but it wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to the Star Wars LEGO Miniland experience. The walk around attraction is packed with LEGO built scenes from the saga, my favourite being the over-sized Millennium Falcon and Planet Hoth. My son took advantage of the dimmed lighting and thought it would be fun to inject some adventure and drama by slaloming through the legs of people in front then dashing off out of sight. I managed to get a few photos before sprinting after him and wailing like a Wookie for my son to come back.

After my heart had stopped racing we made our exit via the LEGOLand gift shop. The wide choice of LEGO sets is phenomenally exciting and I was eager to help my son spend his pocket money. After enthusiastically pointing out the various Star Wars, Avengers, TMNT and LEGO City sets available it was a little surprising to see that my son had chosen a Princess starter set. Well who am I to tell him how to spend his money, and as that’s what he wanted that’s what he got.

In hindsight the day had probably come a couple of years too early for my son to get the most out of it, but seeing all the dressed up Padawans walking around the park gave me an insight of what I hope to experience in years to come.

Storm Troopers at LEGOLand Windsor

This is not the Toddler you are looking for!

As Yoda would say LEGOLand Windsor, do this again you will!

 

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Posted in Activities, Love LEGO, The Blog

The Bath Time Daddy

As a working Dad my Father and Son time is very limited during Monday to Friday and more often than not our one on one time coincides with bath and bed.  The thought of the day coming to an end for an over hyped Toddler is not always the most appealing and can result in some epic tantrums. It also means that I am the victim of a Russian Roulette style welcome when I walk through the door. The majority of the time I get a fantastic running jump bear hug but on occasions I will be coldly ignored despite my best efforts to get a reaction. I get why he reacts like this as not only are Toddlers a roller-coaster of emotions but my arrival must act like a warning siren that bed time is near.

I am not saying I walk in the door and we rush up to the bath then bed, we normally get a good hour together before the bed time routine starts. However, the countdown is on and when the time comes my son’s reluctance to get up to the bath often escalates into unmoveable stubbornness. This has meant that I have had to become VERY creative with the ways I get my son up the stairs.

Below are some of the recent examples I have used to get my son into the bath:

The Amazing Dad-ini Magic Show

With a cape and a wand or a towel and bog brush depending on your level of imagination, I stand at the top of the stairs booming out the words “Roll up, Roll up for the Amazing Dad-ini Magic Show”. With a teasing act of ‘find the LEGO man under the plastic egg shells’ the trap is set and my boy comes running up the stairs. The front row seat to the rest of the show is in the bath tub. Job Done!

Underwater LEGO Adventure

The complex task of getting my son up the stairs to bed is not always a spontaneous act; it can take hours of tactical planning. During the witching hour before bath is when I often start the preparations. The Underwater LEGO Adventure requires a bit of build-up time which is spent adapting the “here’s one I made earlier” LEGO cars into boats. Then the dance begins as the temptation to find out if the boats float in the bath is too good to turn down.

The iDad Warning: Playing with LEGO in the bath is great fun but always keep an eye on any floating pieces. A LEGO brick up the bum is far more painful than a LEGO brick under your foot.

The Bath Time Band

Water flutes? What a fantastic idea! Your child can have fun with music and water.

Yes your child can have fun creating ear piercingly high pitch sounds using water flutes but you won’t! Purchasing bath time water flutes was the worst idea I have ever had, on the plus side it scared off all stray dogs, foxes and loitering teenagers within a two mile radius. It was also a sure fire success of getting my boy in the bath.

Toddler Bath Time Antics

Bath Time Antics

Other bath time manipulation includes:

The Dirty Pirate – This involves a foam pirate sword a dastardly Captain Hook figure and the choppy waves of bath tub.

Farting Cups – Is there anything more hilarious to a Toddler than plunging an upside down plastic cup into water and creating bubbles that sound like smelly blow offs?!

At this point you may be questioning my ‘proper’ parenting skills and I wouldn’t blame you. I have read plenty of articles about how bath time should be a calming experience leading to a peaceful bedtime and that play should be kept to a minimum.  I am not suggesting that advice is wrong or that my antics should be taken as advice but this is what works for me and we have damn good fun whilst doing it!

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Posted in 12 Months +, Activities, The Blog

Am I trying to relive my childhood through my son? Too right I am!

One of the greatest perks of being a parent is that you can get away with playing with toys again without anyone giving it a judgemental thought. For someone like me this is a dream come true. I wouldn’t say I was a late developer in life but I was a kid that stayed a kid for as long as possible before it got weird… or so I thought.

At the age of 14 I was still playing with Micro Machines and whilst my friends were getting designer clothes and aftershaves for Christmas and Birthdays I enjoyed getting random toys and building LEGO. Other teen boys would be trying hard to flirt with girls, I on the other hand spent my time on all fours digging in the dirt creating some insane car stunts with my beaten up Hot Wheels collection.

Thinking back my reluctance to let my childhood go could have partly been a result of there being a 12 year age gap between me and my Brother. He was just discovering toys at a point where I should have probably been giving them up.

Even though I still actively played with all sorts of toys in to my mid-teens, I managed to maintain a cool “Don’t call me a boy, I am a Man” image at school. Yes, there would be the odd moment when I would be caught off guard but what you gonna do when a G.I. Joe falls out whilst the school bully rummages through your pockets for lunch money. Despite those odd moments I would say overall no one knew about my behind closed doors toyphilia. Anyway I wasn’t interested in getting my kicks from under-age drinking or smoking I’d rather get my highs from over-age LEGO and Transformers fiddling.

However, my childhood days were numbered and by the time I turned 15 ALL my toys had unknowingly been shipped out whilst I was away on a school trip. It was a dark time for me but I suppose it was time to grow up and go cold toykey [see what I did there]. I couldn’t even get my fix from my Brother’s toys as he was still that bit too young and Tellytubbies, Barney the Dinosaur and DUPLO really didn’t cut it at the time.

So now that I am a Dad I have perhaps taken the opportunity to get back into the toy market a bit too enthusiastically. The result of this has been my two year old has far too many toys that he is too young to get the most out of and have really been bought because I wanted them. Although now he is getting older we are starting to enjoy those toys together. For instance, he now adores his Hot Wheels cars and he [me] is building quite a collection despite Mummy imposing a [unsuccessful] toy ban for the month.

Anyway from a selfish perspective it makes it more interesting for me if we are playing with toys that I like too. The true joy I get is not from playing with the toys that I like but watching my son get enjoyment out of them and sharing that experience with him, it has really helped create some memorable Father and Son moments. There has been a lot of laughter shared especially during the moment I took a Hot Wheels car to the face after a stunt session went bad. Check out the blink and you’ll miss it video.

On a serious note, I do worry that my son won’t have much chance to develop his own taste in toys if I am constantly influencing his decisions for him. However my feeling is that I should make the most of the opportunity whilst I can, as the likelihood is that when he goes to school his taste will be influenced by other peer pressures stronger than me.

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Posted in Being a New Dad, The Blog

Men can use Pinterest too!

There I have said it! I use Pinterest and I am not ashamed to admit it even if pinning is considered as a feminine activity.

Has Pinterest made enough effort to make itself accessible to Men or is it happy to be stereotyped as a female driven social network? Should they even care how they are considered when site traffic continue to rise. Or should men just stay clear completely and join their own network? That’s what Manteresting are suggesting with their male version of Pinterest which is crammed with male stereotypes, like photos of women in sexy poses, super-charged cars and extreme sports.

If you haven’t given Pinterest a chance because you think it is full of photos of cute kittens, fancy finger nails, how-to hairdressing and funky fashion I would suggest you give it a go and see how you get on you may even enjoy it. I personally love the Geek, LEGO, Star Wars and Kids sections.

I am currently addicted to browsing through all the Superhero themes and accessories as I look for inspiration for my son’s new bedroom. The likelihood is that the majority of stuff that I have pinned I will never own, but who cares the fun is in the dream.

I have shared some of the pins below that I am currently pinning for my son’s bedroom. Take a look you may even see something you like.

If you are a Man and use Pinterest then leave a comment to lend some masculine support to reassure me I am not the only male on the social network.

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Posted in The Blog

Star Wars: My Son’s First Time

At what age is it acceptable to introduce your child to Star Wars? I am sure the answer to this question varies radically depending on who you ask and whether they like or have even seen Star Wars [yes, shocking as it sounds some people haven’t seen Star Wars]. If you were to ask me then the answer would be “at the earliest opportunity!” and that is exactly what I did this weekend.

At time of writing my son is two and half years of age. Yes he is young but I guessed that now he can just about sit through a feature length film that he would be ready for his first Star Wars encounter. I had put a lot of thought into when we would watch it and whether we started with Episode I – The Phantom Menace or Episode IV – A New Hope. After much deliberation I finally made a decision and opted for a Sunday morning and put my own preferences aside to select Episode I as a starting point. The idea of a morning viewing was fueled by the fact that he is normally quite lethargic during the first 30 minutes after waking, which I hoped would buy me some time to get into the more exciting parts of the film before interest levels wore off.

What happened during the viewing wasn’t what I hoped for…

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way….”

Son: “What’s this?”

Me: “Star Wars!! You are going to really enjoy this! Are you excited?!”

Son: “Why?”

Me: “Because it’s an intergalactic space opera with action, excitement, adventure, drama, comedy…”

Son: “Why?”

The conversation continued down this line throughout the entire Star Wars opening crawl, but to be fair to him the opening titles were never going to grab his attention. When the action started he seemed engrossed, my son didn’t say a word, I was close to welling up as we sat cuddled close on the sofa watching a film franchise that had influenced so much of my life.

8 and half minutes into the film all was going so well.

At 9 and half minutes I turned around to notice not only had my son wandered off but he was in fact squeezing a bottle of red poster paint onto the kitchen floor. He was no longer playing ball and my loyalties were torn as to whether I put a stop to his dramatic artistic expression of what apparently was a train or carried on watching Star Wars. After a quick intervention we were back on track and I never thought I would say this, and I probably never will again, but thank goodness for Jar Jar Binks! Who knew that Jar Jar was purely put into the franchise to capture the hearts and minds of toddlers worldwide, a shrewd move to ensure the movies live on for generations.

Good old Jar Jar got us to the ‘There is always a bigger fish’ scene. At this point my boy’s excitement levels were at their peak and everything I had imagined about sharing the joy of Star Wars with my son were becoming a reality.

But… it didn’t last, two minutes later he was “fixing” his unbroken beanbag by thumping the stuffing out of it with several thunderous strikes of his plastic toy hammer. Whilst we are on the topic plastic hammers for under 3’s are not a good idea.

At this point my enthusiasm had faded but I decided to see it out till the pod racing scene. If there was ever a scene in any film to gain the interest of a young boy surely it had to be the excitement of the pod race?

No.

The exhilarating sound of the frantically energetic pod race was drained out by the cries of…

“Daddy, this is boring…… boring Daddy. This is boring”

This prompted an instinctive reaction to slap the stop button. I couldn’t risk ruining his Star Wars experience any more. I decided to cut short and confront the possibility that I pushed too soon. I couldn’t let Star Wars become Star Bores.

My Son's First Viewing of Star Wars

He is not feeling the force!

If only I had gone with my gut feeling and started him off with Episode IV – A New Hope after all I am sure he wasn’t the first and won’t be the last to shout “this is boring” during a screening of The Phantom Menace.

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Posted in The Blog
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