Legofest 2012

Before we took off for Houston last weekend, we spent Friday afternoon and evening at this year's Legofest.

Team Danger was in absolute awe.

Jango Fett, Boba Fett and Captain Rex (Ryan), all in one place!

Their glee could not be contained.

They even had giant sized models of their latest obsession, Lord of the Rings.

Or as Ryan calls Gandalf, "the guy from your ornament," since all he has ever known before this summer was the Gandalf ornament we hang up every Christmas on the tree. I wasn't kidding when I called him Ryan Radko - the boy knows his Christmas decorations.

Some of my favorites: the ENORMOUS Hogwarts castle, that puts the one in Alex's room to shame...

Captain Jack Sparrow...

And the LEGO vacuum. Clever advertising, and I particularly cracked up at the game they had kids play over who can vacuum the most LEGOs. We didn't win the vacuum, sadly.

But by far, the biggest draw of the fest was the enormous, huge pile of LEGO bricks in the middle of the convention center.

Mind you, they can build these creations any time at home, so I had a hard time understanding their attraction to the giant petri dish of germs.

But there was something about the pile...

Ninjago spinning was a bit of a letdown.

The boys wanted an actual tournament.

Spinning against brother can just be done anytime at home (now, this they understood).

They weren't so sure what to think of the Master Build Academy, either.

 I sort of forced them to attend it, so they could learn from a master. Ryan's current profession of choice is to be a LEGO builder,so I thought this would be a win-win.

Once the "teaching" was over, they enjoyed getting down to more building.

They were all tasked with designing and building a spaceship. Ryan was very proud of his, but was a tad, ahem, concerned he didn't get to take it home with him.

Alex loved 'Creation Nation,' and he designed this tower.

It was placed in Connecticut, Carl's home state.

Texas was already getting a bit full, so New England seemed like a good second choice.

Ryan really loved the blue monochrome build.

What can I say, blue is his color.

Finally, it was time to go.

We went back to visit with some of the giant Ninjagos.

Every one of them. And this is when all h*ll broke loose, and some demon decided to inhabit my youngest son's body. Leave Legofest?? I don't think so, Mom.

More than a few tears were shed. I should note it was past 8:00 p.m., Ryan's normal bedtime, and we hadn't eaten dinner. Bad parental decisions to stay so long to begin with, I know, so I have to accept a good chunk of blame for Demon Ryan.

Not that this phased Alex.

But Ryan was having nothing to do with leaving Legofest peacefully, so crying, screaming, and dragging ensued.

And a few more last shots of my absolute favorite LEGOs, since I'll try to leave this post on a good note and reflect back on the better times to be had at Legofest. Hermione:

 

And the Boy Wizard himself.