Lego At The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

LEGO has always fascinated me. I love the idea of colorful blocks that can be used to build whatever your imagination allows. Yet, I never played with them when I was a kid.

I’m not sure why but I don’t recall any of the kids at school playing with them in the 80’s either. Perhaps they were just too expensive for the kids in my poor rural community and not trendy enough to pressure parents into buying them.

Today, you can buy kits to build all kinds of things like the castle from Harry Potter, the Eiffel Tower, a flower garden or a set from your favorite tv show. I have a basic beginners set that I sometimes pull out on a cold winter night and often ogle the more advanced sets in the store.

When I visit my Pittsburgh friend, I get to stay in her college student son’s room which is packed with fabulous Lego creations that always make me smile.

So imagine my zeal when we found a fantastic Lego village and railway in the visitors center of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. It was put on by Steel City Lug, a local group of adults that love Legos. By the way, LUG stands for Lego Users Group.

Boy oh boy!! They made me want to clear off the dining room table and start building! Who knew you could make a working Lego train? There was a longer train but I forgot to photograph it.

I really like the group’s mission system:

“We further the enjoyment in all facets of hobbies that surround LEGO products, including, but not limited to: building official sets, building MOCs, collecting, artistic expression, investing, reselling, designing, robotics, sorting, and anything else that would drive someone to seek membership.”

This sounds like a group I would appreciate if I lived closer! Do you belong to a Lego group? I would love to hear about it! Find Make The Journey Fun on Facebook to see more photos.

Small Army

It has required something close to a small army of tiny super heroes to get me through this week but we are finally here. Friday is always a sweet reward but it is especially welcome today. I did a little too much yesterday and anticipate a quiet weekend of naps and recuperation from this nasty bronchitis.

Gentle is the word I seek right now for more reasons than I can say here.

Be gentle with yourself if that’s what you need. Go forth into the world and adventure with enthusiasm if that works for you. And if you can, attack the world with the confidence of a four year old costumed as their favorite super hero!

By the way, this little Lego army is on a shelf in the bedroom of my Pittsburgh friend’s son. He’s away at college but has left in his wake an impressive collection of complex Lego creations. Still, these little guys were my favorite!

Have a great Friday, friends!

Kingwood Center Garden

This weekend took me to a new favorite place. Kingwood Garden Center is a 47 acre estate in Mansfield, Ohio. It’s the former home and historic estate of Charles Kelley King. A native of Maine, King was hired as the first electrical engineer at Ohio Brass in 1893. He rose within the company, eventually becoming president and chairman of the board. King had the house and grounds built in 1926 and lived here until his death in 1952.

He had a library, an office and a reading room! They were equally fabulous.

Married and divorced twice with no children, King understood the value of his home and commissioned a study to determine the best future use for his estate after his death. The result was the creation of a foundation that opened the gardens to the public in 1953.

Today you can explore the home, gardens and greenhouse for just $8 admission.

This place is fabulous and surpasses Franklin Park Conservatory as my favorite place to stroll through a garden.

They currently have a Lego exhibit that integrates Lego sculptures into the estate. I really liked this Monarch Butterfly which is comprised of 39,708 bricks. It took 425 hours to build!

There are so many nooks and crannies to explore, benches to rest on and lovely flowers to enjoy.

Plus, they have a greenhouse, a cafe and gift shop. You are also welcome to bring in your own picnic food if you wish. Want to visit? Get all the information from their website!