Bits and Pieces

11/22/2014

Benjamin had a sleep over last night at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's house.  He didn't like sleeping in the spare room, because he much prefers sleeping in our bed.  Once all of his objections were raised, and there were many, he fell asleep quickly.

This morning Benjamin was up before me and while I was still asleep, Pop-Pop "lit" (gas fireplace) a fire to warm up the back of the house.  When I came down, Benjamin was happily playing with literally bits and pieces of toys he found in a toy chest I keep downstairs.  He built a railroad out of pieces of wooden track in a zigzag pattern and added little cars.  He had a name for his newly built town and provided that the dogs don't come in and out of that room, his little town will be safe.

One of the toys he is playing with is something that his father and Scott both played with as children.  It is now considered a vintage toy on Ebay, if you can even find it.  While searching for it today, I found accessories, like pieces of track and buildings for $.99, which is a steal.  But wait - the shipping is $28.00!  Nope, not going to be something that I'm going to buy.

The nice part of the the racetrack Benjamin is playing with is that after you play, you close up the track like a suitcase.  When not in use, it sits nicely under my sofa.

Years ago I bought Benjamin a large amount of foam blocks of different sizes.  I wanted foam because if he built something on one of my tables, there would be no damage to the wood.  Also, when he was younger, if a tower of blocks fell on him, there was no bodily damage!  I keep the blocks in a very large plastic container that I store in the spare room until it's time to play.

I may not have complete sets of many toys, just bits and pieces, but when Benjamin comes to visit, those bits and pieces become treasured toys to him.

Happy playing.

P