the education of henry

Brick Cities

2025-11-16

This week I got to see an aurora for the first time.

On Tuesday we got our COVID shots, and that went fine. I barely felt it. But I felt it when I woke up at 2:30 Wednesday morning with my teeth chattering. I did eventually get back to sleep, but Mom and I were both feeling awful in the morning. Dad said we needed a sick day, so no school in Wednesday. Mom and I took turns playing Civilization in the morning, and I watched a lot of How to Train Your Dragon: Race to the Edge. We were both feeling better Thursday after twelve hours of sleep, but we only did a half day of school. If you are wondering, Dad was fine. No side effects from the shot for him.

On Friday I went to hang out with Jonathan and see his new LEGO organization and some of his new sets. And we went exploring in the woods behind his house...all the way to the top of the bluff!

Looking for the pictures I took at the top...

Here it is - we made it!

The view - those little white things are houses.

The big deal for the week was Brick Cities, a LEGO show organized by Rob, our favorite BAM store owner. We were there first, of course. It was a lot of fun seeing people's creations and talking to other LEGO enthusiasts. We got some ideas for new things to build, too.

I'm holding a LEGO spear.

An Oliphant and Ring Wraith from Lord of the Rings.

LEGO sword - surprisingly sturdy.

Waiting to get into the big room.

The beach house from Harry Potter - the roof tile technique on this was really cool.

The interior.

LEGO fireworks

A tiny MOC of the fight on Umbara from Clone Wars - this was one of my favorites, even thought it was small.

The next nine pictures are all the same builder - he had the coolest overall display of the show.

Very nice tower in the snow.

We all really like this ship - especially the decking, which was done with SNOT (studs not on top) plates.

A medieval stable, which was cool enough, but the builder made hexagonal bases, which was something we've never seen before.

Another medieval building with lots of great details.

And another castle.

A fire-breathing dragon

A house in the woods.

A decaying castle or church - not sure which.

On to some other builds...

LEGO quilt

The Millennium Falcon parked at Mos Eisley space port.

Another castle - this one has a water feature.

Interior of the water castle.

A Star Wars display.

A working windmill!

We talked to this guy about his windmill for a while, trying to get an idea of how to build our own - I really want one for my medieval set up.

The Pandalorian - definitely the funniest MOC we saw.

This guy was awesome - this whole suit is made out of LEGO - even his belt!

This sculpture was really cool: CREATE

Rob made the sign, so we had to get a picture with it.

After the LEGO show we stopped at Rob's BAM, which was only a mile or so away. We looked around but did not buy anything. Then we drove over to see Freya, Josh, Kara, and Zelda for a little while. It was a nice day so we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine.

We stopped at the BAM by Freya's on the way home. I bought an allowance bag of the tank from Rebels and some minifigs. Dad found a set his friend Brian was looking for, so we got that, too. And then Dad wanted to go see what was on the pick-a-brick wall, but when we went to the mall, the parking lot was so full we just left without even trying to go in. When there are that many cars, the LEGO store is always so full you can hardly move and it is no fun to pick bricks. So we went home from there, with a stop for some treats on the way - Mom got some food to go, I got some croissants, and Dad got Killer Brownies.

We were all pretty tired when we got home.

Sunday was a quiet day at the house. We had some school to catch up on from missing Wednesday and part of Thursday, and I had to get working on my paper for Henry V: The Astonishing Story of England's Greatest Warrior King. Oh, and Dad talked Mom into making some cupcakes.

And here are Mom's puzzles for the week:

For reading, this week we started listening to All Quiet on the Western Front. It is pretty dark, but there are some fart jokes and the guys in the book are likable. As I mentioned, I am finishing up writing papers on the books I was reading, so I will be starting my new book next week.

For viewing, we watched Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam, Andrew Zimmern in Ecuador, and Good Eats about preserving herbs. We also watched several episodes of Big Bang Theory and we finished season one of Battlestar Galactica and started season two.

For films, we watched Won't You Be My Neighbor, a documentary about Mr. Rogers and the impact he had on the world. Later in the week we watched A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the film version of Mr. Rogers's impact on one person and his family. Both of these were excellent films. On Friday we watched The Address, which is a documentary about Greenwood School in Vermont. The school is for boys like me, who have learning disabilities and had problems in school with bullying. The documentary is about how these kids learn to overcome their challenges in part by learning and reciting the Gettysburg Address. A lot of the things we do for home school were inspired by this film. I think everyone should watch it.

And that was my week! Take care!