11/13/14: LEGOLAND Discovery Center Boston Fun With Ian Coffey

We were invited to the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Boston at Assembly Square, Somerville to spend some time with Ian Coffey their Master Builder.  We had a blast and the kids loved the personal time with Ian helping them build.  Plus we got to enjoy the Discovery Center and loved it.

Can you tell the kids are really excited to go in?  This giraffe is amazing outside.

When you arrive there are some cool wall creation areas with LEGOs for kids to play with.  The kids made their names in the wall. 

Ian Coffey greeted us showing one of his latest creations of the Celtics Logo. 

You first go up an elevator and you are at the LEGO Factory Tour.

This is an interactive experience where you get to interact with LEGO people.

At the end of this 10 minute or so interactive experience kids are given a Factory LEGOLAND Discovery Center LEGO.

The kids were able to take a class with Ian who is the Master Builder.

Here he is helping Lauren with her dragon.

I got to spend some time talking to Ian.  A friend knew of his love of LEGOs and put his name in when the Master Builder competition came up.  To obtain his job he went through three rounds of building.  An example was Round 1 he had a half hour to build something from a favorite movie.  He chose Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

 Here is Evan with his creation.  He loves to build.

 Ian is all about creativity and then challenged Evan to build something different with the blogs.  He decided to build a dinosaur that was pretty cool.

Here is Lauren with her creation.

 Here is a picture the kids took with Ian on our last visit.

Evan and I love Miniland.  It was absolutely amazing!  Here you can see the Zakim Bridge behind them and the TD Garden.

It is so hard to represent it, you really need to see all the detail in person.

There is so much of Boston built with LEGOs.  I love Fenway Park as it is interactive.  You can play with it like a pinball machine and hit the ball.

Evan was having fun with it.

We learned from Ian that there are hidden characters in many of the Boston stadiums.  Fenway Park has Sponge Bob, Squidward, Mrs. Crabs, and Patrick.  Can you spot them?

New this visit was Gillette Stadium.

 So much detail it is unbelievable.

In Gillette Stadium there are some special guests including Spider Man, Super Man and Harry Potter.  Can you see Spider Man?

I love that it cycles from day to night.  Ian also shared that during each of the holidays they add special touches.  For Halloween they added some Ghostbusters pieces, a graveyard and some ghosts and more.  I can't wait to see what they have for the holiday season.

I loved all the little touches and interactive pieces.  Make sure to look everywhere.  Evan noticed a button and pressed it and it was Cheers down below and the button lit it up and played the Cheers theme song.

Here is some video of Miniland:

This is the main Discovery area where there is so much to do.

Here is Lauren doing some Karaoke in the LEGO Friends area.

 Lauren posing with a LEGO Cheerleader.

 Evan with a LEGO Racer.

 The kids also love this play area.  Make sure your kids wear socks as you need them for this area.

The kids could really spend an hour in here.  They loved it!

Plus there are two rides.  We went on Kingdom Quest which allows you to shoot at villains as you play through the game.  I won!

Here is another ride called Merlin's Apprentice Ride.  You pedal to go up in the air. 

There is also a movie theatre with 4 different LEGO movies that run every half hour continuously.  It is a 4D movie meaning there are 3D glasses plus other interactive effects.  The movie runs 14 minutes long.  There are also facilities for parties.

 Here is the inside of one of the rooms.  They have two rooms.

 Here is the Master Builder Academy where we took our class.

There is also a Duplo Farm area for little kids.

Here is their food area.  For $15 you can get a kids meal deal which includes a LEGO lunch box, chips, juice box and kids sandwich.

There is a really cool LEGO Store there too so you can get some sets to continue the fun at home.

I highly suggest going there for some fun!

Find them online:  http://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/boston/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/legolanddiscoverycenterboston

Twitter: @LDCBoston #LDCBoston

Disclosure:  I was invited to a media event to explore LEGOLAND Discovery Center with my kids.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/10/14: Collector's Edition Hess Toy Truck

Evan loves his Hess Vehicles and was excited to receive the new Collector's Edition Hess Toy Truck.  It is only available online and is individually numbered with an extremely limited quantity.

 This truck pays tribute to 50 years of Hess Toy Trucks.  Within the truck is a version of the 1964 tanker.

Here you can see it up close.

Evan giving me a view of it.

 Of course every time a new Hess Truck arrives the whole collection comes out.

The elegant, solid green tanker features yellow front fenders and red accents on the front bumper and wheels offset by strikingly beautiful chrome detailing throughout. 

 Evan was having a blast playing with it.

It has over 100 working lights include 27 super bright LEDs.  This is the most of any Hess Toy Truck, first ever undercarriage lighting, and interior showcase lighting in the rear compartment. 

 It is beautiful when all lit up.  There’s also an Official Certificate of Title available for printing at HessToyTruck.com after purchase!

Evan absolutely loves this truck.

All of his Hess Trucks got in on the action playing with his new Hess Truck. 

I love seeing his imaginative play with his Hess Trucks. 

The Collector’s Edition Hess Toy Truck is packaged in a unique, commemorative display box and protective sleeve, and includes 3 Energizer® batteries. 

The Collector's Edition Hess Toy Truck sells for $45.99 plus tax, and includes free shipping and 3 Energizer® batteries.

A must have for any Hess Toy Truck Collector's Collection!

Disclosure:  I received this Hess Truck for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/10/14: Silverlit Nano Falcon Helicopter Giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED: CONGRATULATIONS TANYA FOR WINNING!
My son loves playing with Remote Control Vehicles.  We received the Nano Falcon from Silverlit and Evan couldn't wait to start piloting his new helicopter.  Plus as one of my lucky readers I am giving you the chance to win one too!  Read on to win! 

Evan was having an awesome time flying it around the house and got the hang of it fairly quickly.

 It is the smallest RC model helicopter as certified by Guinness World Records Limited.  It is smaller than 82 mm and weighs less than 11 g.

It is easy to power up.  The controller takes 4 AA batteries and you just flip up a little plug that you put the helicopter on to which charges it.

It flies up and down, forward and backward, left and right.  It has a built-in Gyro Stabilizer to make flying easier.

 My husband tried it first and here you can see Evan chasing it around.  It is right near his right hand.

Then Evan got his turn after John got a feel for it.  He did really well controlling it.  I thought it was going to be tough for him.

 Soon he was flying it right around the room with no crashes.

 He got really good control of it and had it taking off and landing.

He really enjoys flying it. 

 Love this face.

What a ton of fun.

 Love this picture, I happen to get it when it was lined up with his face.

What a ton of fun!

 Here it is as packaged.  It retails for $39.99.  Enter below to win one!

Disclosure:  I received this for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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