From the Front

A war has started in our mudroom.

I think it about has to be the last war or close to the last one since the dictator (Cole) is 14.

It has been a long time since the last time the army men came out and started fighting.

Caution.....the following pictures are graphic and violent:

An aerial view of the battlefield. It appears that the green guys are winning.

Looks like the red guys were in a jeep and one is trapped underneath and the other is surrounded.....lets go in for a closer look....

Oh boy. It is worse than I thought. The poor red guy that is surrounded should just throw his weapon down. The green guys also need to sort of look past the red guy to the person opposite of them and think about friendly fire.

Lets get a closer look at the action just next to this group:

Oh man. A firing squad.

And we have a standoff between what appears to be officers going on here.

These poor soldiers have put in a lot of tours of duty in the last several years. The dictator (Cole) has not been as battle hungry in the last year but he is certainly on the fight now.

One of these days these battle fatigued soldiers will be piled in their tote and they will stay there until a new dictator rules. Will that be a neighbor or a grandson or a nephew? I don't know for sure....but they will be here ready to do battle again and again.

My brothers had little army men too.....but none of them made it. They were mostly blown up by firecrackers or chewed up by a dog when they were left out in the yard.

Generational Toys.....hard to beat. We have several. Thomas the train who has been retired now for quite a while but will be ready to go when he is needed because Thomas is a really useful engine.

Lincoln Logs - they are my favorite. I loved Lincoln Logs as a kid and Cole is actually making a fairly impressive fort right now with the Lincoln logs....the army men have taken it over and raised the American flag.

Then there are Legos. Legos are my least favorite because they have tiny little parts that are hard to find and end up in between the carpet and wall or somewhere similar and then get into the vacuum. We have actually gone through the vacuum bag more than once looking for a lego piece.

Hot Wheels - do boys ever outgrow these? Cole has so many favorites. He is partial to the old style cars. This was the first Christmas that I know of that Cole's wish list didn't read : Legos, Lincoln Logs or Hot Wheels. Typically they were the only things on his list. Now....electronics have taken over but for today....the Army men and the Lincoln Logs pretty much rule.