Brick By Brick...

My husband Tony is a bit of a sports fanatic. He's not much of a commercial watcher either.  So it stands to reason, that whenever a commercial comes on, he'll flip to a sports channel.  And he'll watch, basketball, football, soccer, poker, curling, competitive tiddly winks, whatever, as if he had money on the game.  (Which he may have, I have no idea, that's not the point.)  The point is, when it is his team, that block of time is shot.  Outings need to be planned, meals rearranged, and laundry is done on TV time outs and half time.

So when I proposed that Sunday would be 60 degrees and a great day to head into Boston to see an exhibit I was interested in, I immediately recognized the deep sigh and double wrinkled forehead head tilt he responded with.  Patriots and the Revs kick off at 1pm.  Clearly I would be on my own.

Not to be discouraged, I forwent the half price tickets on Groupon, and decided that even if my Mom didn't what to go, I would head in alone. So imagine my surprise when he decided at 8 in the morning that he'd miss kick off so we could go. (What can I say ladies?  I married well. Or he wants something. Again, not the point.)

So, off we went to Faneuil Hall.  We arrived just in time to see the restored lion and unicorn (with time capsules) be unveiled and re-secured atop of the old State House. Confetti from the tree lighting Saturday night still blew through the streets.  Tony couldn't help himself and resulted in several pictures of him trowing it in the air, none of which I can post here as he recruited Youngest into all the shenanigans. Mainly though, we were there to see "The Art Of The Brick" exhibit by Nathan Sawaya.  He creates his masterpieces entirely from Legos, and his use of them is nothing short of amazing.

His use of three dimension to otherwise flat (and often recognizable) canvases is astonishing, and in some cases boggles the mind...

The Easter Island Head used approximately 70,000 gray Legos while the T-rex used just over 80,000. Youngest was most impressed...

But my favorite were the random ones, created from his own experiences, or even himself...

His "Self Portrait" stands over 4 feet high.

Others offered whimsy...

And evoked thought....

He often has large exhibits outside that he constructs from the signed Legos of those who have come to his exhibits.  These over-sized "Tree Huggers" were on display in Central Park over the Spring. He will be creating an exhibit for Boston as well, and our signed bricks will be part of his "Fenway" exhibit.

Tony's favorite was a toss up between "Crowd" in which the people look as if they are just a crowd on the street, but when seen at eye level, they meld into a giant eye staring back at you, and this "stained glass" piece, made entirely of clear Lego bricks...

My favorite was suspended mid air, as if he is ascending into heaven or giving in to a greater power.  Not sure why I loved it, I just did....

After the exhibit we ate our way through the marketplace, stopping at Cheers for lunch, Quincy Adams Candy shop and an attempt at Sprinkles Ice Cream, where the wait was simply way to long.  We perused the shops and Tony insisted we come back for date night, which I suspect had more to do with visiting the Ice Bar than having an actual date.

On the way out we spied the Christmas tree...

which stands easily 25 feet tall.

But the highlight of the trip for the boys would have been Al... a busker from Sydney, Australia, who juggled a chainsaw, 3 machetes, and a spinning wheel of doom, atop a 10 foot pole. He could also fit his entire body through a tennis racket.

Which sadly I have no pictures of.

In the end, it was a great day out.  Tony made it home for half time, and I promptly fell asleep next to him on the couch for the next two hours.  The boys finished up their weekend homework and rounded out their weekend with a fend-for-yourself dinner.

And now I really want to dig the Legos out of the attic...