Lego Zombie Cupcakes. Ze Bomb.

It's Miro's 11th birthday and we're kicking cupcake creativity up a notch!

His latest interest is pure, unadulterated zombies.  Call of Duty zombies, Left4Dead zombies, The Walking Dead zombies, ooey-gooey-goody zombies.
So if you're serving up a zombie-themed cupcake spread, how do you it with just the right balance of gore and giggles?

First, we went swimming (even when about to face a zombie, you want to do it fresh, ha!).
Midnight Snacks took care of the rest.

Presenting Miro's Zombierthday Party Cupcakes!  Moist chocolatey goodness snug in a thick blanket of sweet finely-sculpted fondant.  In colorful Lego palette, no less!  There's your balance.

The craftsmanship was just insane!  The details were way, way over expectations!  It was blood-curdling and lip-smacking all at the same time!

Now for those who are just about to go into cardiac arrest, the rifles are simply yummy representations of the good guys' defense in the fictional zombie apocalyptic video games kids play nowadays.

And the blood, well, it's strawberry syrup.  Not real blood.  Sorry to disappoint.

Bottomline, it was fun and quirky and really put my boy into that 'I... want... braaaains...' birthday kind of mood.  I call that an undead success.

Got a crazy idea for your next party cake/cupcakes?  Leave it to Midnight Snacks to pull it off.  And, how!

How do you like your Lego?

This year, Miro brought home bonus knowledge from Robotics summer camp.

Lego Digital Designer.  That's what the scribble said in the tiny piece of paper he clasped gingerly in one hand.  

Lego Digital Designer is a program available for download online (and that we did the first five minutes Miro got home).  As the name suggests, it's an application that allows kids and adults alike to design and build their Lego creations via the simple drag and click of the mouse.  Yet another proof that the digital world is definitely upon us.

I see a bunch of goodies with this Lego advancement.

• You have more bricks on-hand than you can possibly collect in a lifetime.
• You get to build fast.
• You get to create a scenario for each creation with a simple change in the background.
• You get to spot your masterpiece from all angles, thanks to an amazing camera control feature.
• You get to make your Lego creation move with a series of programmed commands.
• You don't lose pieces in the process.
• You don't make a mess.
• You don't stub your toe.
• Lastly and more importantly, it's FREE! 

The Lego Digital Designer --in all its unique glory-- honorably sat on the boys' Mac desktop dock along with the other kid-important applications like Safari, Firefox, Snood, Super Mario Brawl, iTunes,  Powerpoint, and Freehand.  But it was only touched the first week it was installed.

Surprisingly, despite their knack for high-tech toys and video game designing, my boys are old school when it comes to Lego.  They would rather play Lego in its original tactile form.  They love hunting for the right piece in that huge mound of bricks.  They love the feel of snapping the tiny blocks together.  They love the long time ti takes to build something great.  They love the mess!  And they would rather admire, move, and play with their final masterpiece with their own bare hands. 

I guess for a lot of things, it IS more the journey than the destination.  Success is sweeter when it took your blood, sweat, and tears to get there.

And for my boys --and I bet for a bunch of other kids-- that also applies to Lego.

Lego Mindstorms: Attack of the Robots

You see this?
It's a robot.  A fully-functional, sensor Lego Mindstorms robot.  And who designed, built, and programmed this beast to do his bidding?  Miro!  At the Tech4Kids Robotics Camp.

So this is me biting my tongue and kicking myself in the shin for saying I wouldn't put Miro in such a mega high-tech program.  Pester power beat old school.  And thank goodness for that because Miro had the time of his evil genius life!

Open to kids 8-14 years old, you start off as a Mechanic, then an Engineer, work your way up to Advanced level, and then Athlete Tech Guy Superhero God!  It's perfect for summer camp but the program runs all year.

All Miro needed was creativity, a damn load of patience during construction, and MY laptop.  The Tech4Kids guru taught the class the basic commands, but the kids have to do the computer-to-robot programming on their own.  What followed was a series of daily heart-thumping, nerve-racking competitions.

Just to mention a few, there's the Maze Maneuver Match.

The Bumper and Slasher Battle.

The Windmill War.

The Crane Quest.

The Cable Car Competition.

The camp doesn't have that gigantic, graduate-and-celebrate-my-ass-off culminating event in the end unlike most summer programs.  But screw that!  Tech4Kids and Lego Mindstorms give kids daily fulfillment!

Now, allow me to chew my previous Tech4Kids blog to shreds.  Tech4Kids kicks ass!  It's the real, bad ass, hardcore robotics deal.  Perfect for future mad scientists like mine.

For Love of Lego

Nothing beats the happiness that is LEGO.

Practically the best buy a parent can possibly make.  Possibly the best show of positive parenting a parent can display.  Ok, I overdid that.  But nothing pushes a child's imagination than the concept of building things from scrap --fueled by a parent's unconditional support, of course.  And since bottlecaps and empty tin cans aren't always sanitary, we have Lego and Lego Duplo blocks.  

They have been my children's best friends and creativity channels for many years now.  And I don't see these toys being forgotten any time soon.  Even with the Nintendo DS and the Gameboy comfortably available within reach, these boys will always go back to their Lego boxes to set their minds and hands to work.  It's the perfect exercise for any child's developing brain.  It helps their dexterity, too --but then, I'm overdoing it again.

Whoever invented Lego really has a smart, good, responsible head on his shoulders.  Not to mention a happy, fat ass sitting on tons of cash.  Lego is a gold mine.  Not just for him.  But for your kids.  And for parents.  Everybody wins!  Can I have a glorious angel choir at this point please?