Year-End Shenanigans
Every January MILUG members get together to celebrate the past year. While this used to involve a potluck, music, and other in-person fun, during the pandemic we have transitioned to an online gathering. Even though we meet online, we still have lots of fun playing LEGO related games, guessing LEGO trivia, and participating in build competitions!
Fun Games
Members had to guess the number of bricks in the LEGO bottle (including the bottle). How many do you think there are? (see the end of this blog post for the answer). James C was victorious with a guess just 7 shy of the correct answer. We also played some awesome MILUG trivia using Kahoot. We were warned ahead of time that all the answers could be found in our blog so it was an even playing field for both new and old members. Everyone had lots of fun but in the end our 3 founding members swept the top two spots on the podium with team Laurta (Laura and Krista) coming in first, followed by Pichael (Michael) in second, and Peter W in third.
Guess the Number of Pieces 
Trivia using Kahoot
We had a couple of quick build challenges using a colour and letter drawn at random. The time crunch sure made it challenging to think fast! Everyone had lots of fun with this one and there were definitely some super creative mini builds!
Dots Quilt Challenge
This year we held a Dots quilt build challenge inspired by the Women’s Brick Initiative (WBI) quilt. We used 8×8 plates and LEGO Dots pack Series 1 or Series 2. Members had 15 minutes to create their design using one or both of these packs. While most members opted for more traditional symmetrical designs, one member created the “Alien seafarer”, the perfect centre piece for the MILUG quilt!
Micro Master Build Challenge
One of our annual build competitions is the master build challenge and this year the theme was left wide open. The catch was that it had to be a microscale build! Interestingly, the MOCs (My Own Creations) created by members tended to fall into a couple of themes, likely inspired by the colour palette and elements in the sets that were used. Most surprising was that two members designed microscale universities.
Town and Country
Rainbow Metropolis by Derek J 
Country Farm by Scott H
University Campus by James G 
The University of Modern Art by Wendy W 
Arctic Research Base by Peter W
Ocean/Harbour
Busy Harbour by Laura H 
Oceanography by John L 
Island Retreat by James C
Post Apocalyptic
Post Apocalyptic Castle by Ian T 
Battle of Two Worlds by Krista S
Space
Mars Outpost by Michael T 
Blast Off by Krista S
Creative
Baby Robot Thinks the Building is it’s Momma by Richard H 
Volcano by Mike S 
Pirate Ship by Peter T
While fun was had by all, we sure look forward to an in-person event next year. Fingers crossed!
(The number of pieces in the bottle, including the bottle, is 397!)
