Playmobil to the Rescue

My children have too many toys. Too many toys that they don't play with. Looking at them, some they have played with for years (like the train set that Bode's played with since he was 2 years old. So maybe it's understandable if he's not as interested in it at almost 6 years old). There are bristle blocks and regular blocks and Duplo blocks and some Legos. A random bin of "weapons" and hundreds of cars and trucks in the vehicle bin. Various Little People sets. A kitchen and a toolbench. They are not lacking and are, in fact, a bit spoiled, methinks. In a way, some of them are probably a bit young for them now. But, still, it annoys me that they don't play with their toys. So this toy, i bought for ME. They could use something new and fresh. And i need them to be engaged in something for more than 2.2 seconds. So i boxed up the Thomas trains and the dinosaurs (and i'm considering boxing up a couple of other bins) and put them away for now and brought out the Playmobil pirate set. Thanks to Corinne, who has mentioned in blog posts over the years how much her son enjoys Playmobil. I saw the set at Costco and very happily added it to my cart.

I gave it to them yesterday afternoon. It took some assembly (which initially made me say, "Arrrrrgh!" but it wasn't too bad!) but it stays together (unlike Legos where they're always coming to me to fix a piece; etc.). They have played with it nonstop. They woke up this morning and have been playing with it for almost 3 hours already. Yes, they bicker a little. Yes, Bode is uber-bossy about what Keegen can do/where he can shoot the cannon, but that's typical. They love it. Which means, I LOVE IT!

Here are some pics of them with some of the set. And making their meanest pirate faces...

don't mess with these scurvy pirates! Arrrrr!