And only four + a half hours later...

Muffin tins - that is the best idea I have EVER seen! I am *almost* looking forward to the next big lego assembly project with that fabulous new tip in mind!

I am in the midle of one myself with my 6 year old. You took the words right out of my mouth. Now to get my camera and follow the process. Thanks for the inspiration!

I can so relate!
On my DS's 6th birthday in September, he received tons of LEGO sets, big & small. He loves the LEGO City, with the Coast Guard and the Police sets.
My BIL, sis and myself all got really into helping him put them together (DH was deployed or he would've been all into it too)! It took a very long time but it was time well spent to be together, to see the end product and see my DS so happy!
Happy belated birthday to Simon!

Legos are very popular in our home. Star Wars and Indiana Jones pieces are all over my son's room. We have a "mini museum" of his completed works. Ali, I love how you used the muffin tins to organize the pieces. Wonderful idea!

Wow. Good for you! I think I'm the one that would have had the breakdown. But the look on their face when it's finally finished is so worth it. Have a happy weekend!

WoW! I am not a mom, and all I can say is, you ROCK! I would have been the one whining, for sure! LOL!

my son loves legos.
We superglue each piece together so mommy doesn't have to rebuild it.

i dont care what they say ive never put together a set that wasnt full of tiny tiny pieces and that takes a team of adults to do lol. Great idea with the tins though, it turned out super cool.

Ali, I totally know where you're coming from. My DS(almost 5) received a castle LEGO set for Christmas ("age 7 & up"). I spent most of Christmas morning and afternoon putting the thing together. Not two days later, Dad accidentally tripped on it and broke part of it. I put it back together. A couple weeks later sister accidentally sat on it. I still haven't put it back together. Maybe this weekend. He does love playing with it though.
And I had the exact same thoughts as you as I was going step by step through the booklets. Someone had to figure this out and then draw it up and then put in the exact sizes of LEGO in each box. It was quite cathartic, too. Hope Simon continues to enjoy playing with it and no one "accidentally" trips on it and breaks it. :)

Amazing. Happy Belated Birthday Simon :-).

Good work Ali. I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant and my patience for anything has evaporated (and usually I like making playmobile models and so on) so you have my complete admiration!

Isn't it great when us women can play with our sons? It takes you into a whole new world! I spent 3 hours yesterday with my 5 year old counting all the Thomas the Tank Engine trains we have and building the Island of Sodor as many different ways as possible! I love getting to look into their heads doing things like that! Congrats on 37 weeks! Being pregnant is a wonderful thing that I definitely miss and after 5 years hubby and I are finally trying for number 3.

Wow. I have 3 little boys that would LOVE to have that ship. But, I am not as good of a mom as you. :-)

I can completely relate to the LEGO building - my son spent 2 days building his ship for xmas and loved every minute of it. occasionally I'd be called for help and I was amazed that someone actually thought of this and how to put it together - very clever. Oh, and i was cross eyed for the few minuted I helped out.
Leanne Stamatellos
www.leannestamatellos.blogspot.com

That did turn out cool. Sometimes looking at the whole thing can be overwhelming. I had that feeling when I dumped all the parts out of the box to put together my 2 yr olds kitchen for Christmas. EVERYTHING had to be put together. It turned out great & I was pleased that I put it together myself. When I first started my 6 yr old came into the room and said, "Wow mom you have a HUGE mess!" I sorted everything out & then started reading.
We have a very small replica of that Lego ship & my advice is to keep the directions in a file folder for future reference. My DH used to collect Lego kits & since our son has started getting some we've added to the file folder directions.
Hooray for Simon not breaking down for 4 1/2 hours. That's fabulous. And you guys got some really great Mom & Simon time in before the baby comes.

My son is totally begging for one of these ships. He's two weeks away from turning 6 and he doesn't leave many lego creations assembled and I believe I would only want to build the thing once.
You're an awesome Mom. And having two is not nearly as tough as I though it would be. Have a great weekend!

This brings lots of memories--it was pirates here--I think we still have them in the attic--my daughter will be 26 soon! :)

What a deja vu post. "We" got 11 (count 'em-11!) LEGO sets of varying sizes and degrees of difficulty for Christmas. Our 6 1/2 year old son would not rest until we had put them all together. He does some on his own, the age-appropriate ones. What I can't believe is that we didn't get the unit you assembled. How'd we miss that? Man, LEGO's got it GOIN' ON!!

I'm impressed! You should definitely consider a trip to Legoland in San Diego (actually Carlsbad, North County) - it is very cool and you would appreciate the "art" of Lego. They also have a wonderful baby/toddler play area and we've spent many days just hanging in there.

I, too, have often thought about the people who designed the lego sets. I would love to meet them and be able to have a conversation. It would be so cool to see into their minds a bit.
Congratulations on your success with the ship. I have 2 sons, 7 and 5, and lots of legos have been assembled in our house!
Have a great weekend!
Marty