Lewis is convinced the Boston 4th was produced by a Jack Russell Terrier with the weird randomness of the shots for the fireworks spectacular.

Hec, I LOVE Matilda's new Lego set.

That's awesome, Hec. What did Emmett get? Owen is officially a Lego nut. We got this last weekend. If you check the box closely, there are sharks with LASERS! I taught Owen how to make the Austin Powers finger quotes when he says "lasers." He wasted not time figuring out how to use one of the Lego guys for bait and feeding him to the shark.

I'll admit that this set was also for me.

What did Emmett get?

Some super cool helicopter in the Agents series.

At the store they also had the Lego Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal sets. The Taj has the most pieces of any Lego set (almost 6,000). They also had the Corner Cafe set we linked too a while back, comparing it to the city in Kiki's Delivery Service.

I have to share with you all the ultimate nerd accessory, the coolest Lego set of all time. EM ordered it for Emmett for xmas and it was backordered for six months! It didn't arrive until school was out. But the Star Wars Special Edition Death Star is the most amazing Lego thing I've ever seen. It has two working elevators, and you can aim the Death Star beam and the guns, and best of all? It has the garbage compactor. And it works. And it has a Lego dianogoa monster (the thing in the water in the garbage compactor). And a special flight bay for Darth Vader's TIE fighter. It's boggling.

This thing is big. I don't know if you can get the scale from the picture but I can't reach my arms around it.

That Death Star set is so cool! I'm in the midst of ordering the figures on ebay--Owen wants Chewbacca. The Agent series is pretty awesome. We'll probably get the command center for Christmas.

The Agent series is pretty awesome. We'll probably get the command center for Christmas.

Emmett's favorites (aside from those mentioned) are in the Batman series: the Batcave and Arkham.

Also, if you haven't played the Lego computer games for Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones well they're very very fun.

So I'm at a bar, which is mostly deserted, because NYC is empty on July 4, and the DJ is playing nothing but Jackson 5 songs. It's kind of awesome.

Jealous!

I watched the fireworks from the GWB. It was interesting seeing fireworks silently and basically at eye-level.

Bob went to a party but I was feeling too antisocial to go. So it's me and the cats and tofu mac & cheese, which I'm oddly ok with.

When I took Emmett to the Lego store earlier in the day I spotted this. So I felt obliged to get it for Matilda. Who is, indeed, contentedly playing with it now.

Polar bear!

Polar bear!

With mommy and baby polar beer so they can act out that psychodrama for life.

Here's the full Death Star description:

Recreate the action and adventure of the Star Wars movies with the ultimate Death Star playset! This amazingly detailed battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes, moving parts, characters and accessories from Episodes IV and VI on its multiple decks, including the Death Star control room, rotating turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor's throne room, detention block, firing laser cannon, Imperial conference chamber, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser'¦plus much more! Swing across the chasm with Luke and Leia, face danger in the crushing trash compactor, and duel with Darth Vader for the fate of the galaxy! Includes 24 minifigures and droids, plus all-new Dianoga trash compactor monster! Includes 6 new and exclusive minifigures and droids only found in this set: Luke Skywalker (Stormtrooper outfit), Han Solo (Stormtrooper outfit), Assassin Droid, Interrogation Droid, Death Star Droid and 2 Death Star Troopers! Also includes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Emperor Palpatine, 2 Stormtroopers, 2 Emperor's Royal Guards, R2-Q5, and mouse droid!. Movie-authentic Death Star environments include the Superlaser control room and target monitor, Imperial conference chamber, TIE Advanced hangar bay with moving launch rack, Emperor's throne room, droid maintenance room, detention block, trash compactor, and much more! Rescue Princess Leia from the detention block cell, then escape through the secret hatch to the trash compactor below! Reenact the final duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Emperor's Throne Room! Death Star measures 16' (41cm) tall and 16'½' (42cm) wide! TIE Advanced measures 3'½" (9cm) wide!

With Geekgasm reviews.

I'll also note that EM didn't pay $500+ for it. It was more like $300 when we ordered. Still a big ticket xmas item but not mortgaging the house.