Kapla joy

Boys still love playing with kapla, especially A1. He had the patience to make this tall tower. It was taller than me.

On another occasion, he made a castle wall at the entrance of his bedroom door. He managed to walk over it without any problem even in the dark.

As usual all these constructions last less than a week when the floor has to be cleared for the cleaning lady on monday. If I have to vacuum the rooms, I would try my best to avoid them. Not easy at all.

Kapla fun

In A1's room, there are often Kapla planks lying around. A1 loves playing with his Kapla and always asked for more so that he can build bigger things. Since he received his first 200 planks, we had added another 200 coloured planks on his birthday and on Christmas. 

These are two examples of his work. Sometimes he combines other toys in his creations.

Below is a city with a small entrance guarded by a Playmobil motorist in front of a Playmobil laptop. There wasa zoo, the Eiffel Tower made of Duplo bricks, a train station and a big parking. The two containers were toilets.  

 This is another of his creation. He held up a plank as he wanted to show how a Kapla plank looked like.

His creation could only last a few days because every monday morning, the boys have to tidy up their rooms before going to school. The cleaning lady comes on monday and would expect the floor to be cleared of toys so she can do her job. 

When I do housework, I would just navigate around his creations. It is often a challenge just to walk in his room. 

If you need ideas on toys, go for Kapla. It is worth it.

Morning fun

When the boys wake up before me, sometimes they stay in their rooms to play. One morning, I found them in A2's room building. Here was a boat and an Elmo fire truck made by A1.

Then, A2 told me his creation was either Eiffel Tower or a birthday cake. I was surprised he had the patience to build such a block.

Lastly, A1 told him he made a DS (Nintendo video game). He had seen his older cousins playing with one. He never asked for one for his birthday or Christmas gift (yet). I am glad he prefers to make one himself.

Fruit trees

Last November, we planted an abricot tree in our garden. It was a 7 years old tree. This spring, I spotted two abricots growing from this small tree. What a delight.

 Last year, I did not get to enjoy any fruits from the garden. The birds ate up all the cherries before we had time to pick them. This year, I bought a net and Seb and I put it over the cherry tree. Good thing the cherry tree was not too big. The harvest is plenty for this young tree. I am waiting patiently for the cherries to turn bright red. This evening, I picked 7 red cherries and the boys enjoyed them. I tried one and it was sweet and firm. Delicious.

As for the apple tree, there was no apple last year. This year, there were bees working in the garden and they helped to pollinate the fruit trees. I am expecting a big harvest of apples too. However, I have to check for aphids everyday. The ants are protecting the aphids. So I have to destroy the ants and the leaves infested by aphids and its eggs.I found this website that explains the interesting relationship between the aphids and the ants.

And when I see the ladybird, I leave it alone because I know that it is my ally. Ladybirds are just as important as bees.

My first contact with aphids, ants and ladybirds did not start in the garden but on a boardgame few years back. Seb bought A1 a game when he was in USA. It was the Ladybug Game. The players choose their ladybugs and try to reach the finishing point by collecting as many aphids as possible and avoiding the praying mantis. Near the end, the players must have enough aphids to give to three lazy ants to continue the journey home. We enjoyed this game a lot as a family. But these days, it's UNO and Monopoly that we play. I would have to dig out the Ladybug game to play with the boys and then show them these real insects on the apple tree.

Checkers

A1 received a checker set for his birthday. We taught him the rules and he understood quickly. It was not easy for him in the beginning to apply the rules as he forgot that the piece can only move forward unless it was jumping over an opponent's piece to capture it.

When we played with A1, A2 would join us to watch and tried to understand. He picked up the rules fast too.

In no time, the two boys started to play against each other. Seb or I would watch to make sure the boys do not break the rules and to teach them some tips here and there.

Last weekend, the boys were playing checkers just before we headed out of the house. I told them to pause their game and get ready to go. I was amused to see that the only remaining pieces were the kings.

Seb told me that once the board was cleared of the many pieces, the boys' aim was to avoid the opponent's pieces and reach the other end. They were trying to get as many kings as possible.

This is the first time I saw that many kings on a checkers board. When we reached home that evening, the boys did not have time to continue their game. At the end of the day, I kept the game. A1 was disappointed the next day. We have no idea who the winner was. It looks like a dead lock to me looking at the picture above.

Kapla

For Christmas, A1 received a box of Kapla. Though the boys had Duplo bricks and wooden construction blocks, Kapla took structure building to a whole new level. 

A1 had already played with Kapla in school so he was really happy to own a set. Kapla is a set of identical small wooden planks. With imagination, one can build complicated stuff with these stable planks. 

The box came with a book showing different creations. While A2 was building a simple garage for his car, A1 and I tried to recreate what we saw in the book. Here is one of our simple construction. I would recommend this for boys and girls of all ages as a toy. 

Many years ago, I watched on TV, a program about the creator of Kapla. When he first invented Kapla, he had a hard time convincing the market that these boring looking planks would be a great educational tool for children. He finally found success when he introduced Kapla to school teachers for recreational usage. Parents asked the school about the wooden planks their children were enjoying in school and that was how Kapla became so popular. I knew then I would have to have this if I ever had kids. And yes, it has been fulfilled.

Mega slide

It had been a while since I searched on LeBonCoin for a second hand slide. The boys find the slide they had too small.

The search was over when I finally found the one within my budget and not too far away for pick up.

After we ensembled the pieces, the boys were happily playing with it. They put the small slide beside the big one and used it as a bridge.

On Wed, when my neighbour's children came over, they had fun with the slide too.

 

When I have the time, I will put up the small slide for sale on LeBonCoin.

 

Speaking of which, I sold the boys' Bebe Confort Axsis car seats within two days after putting up the announce on LeBonCoin. Such items do sell like hot cakes. LeBonCoin is free and very useful.

Vive LeBonCoin.

Scooter and motos

These are the scooter and motos we have at home. One too many for 2 boys. When A1 was little and starting to walk, we bought him the scooter which could be converted into a walker. When A2 started to walk, we bought A1 a red moto so that he could give the scooter to his brother. Then A2 started to fight with his brother over the red moto, we bought an even bigger moto for A1. What a mistake. This new addition is too big for our appartment. A1 cannot turn smoothly in his big motobike along the coridor.

I wanted to get rid of the scooter but the 2 boys still use it now and then. At least, there is no fight over the motobikes and scooter now.