Boys and their toys (or really, kids and their toys, but the gendered version rhymes)

1) My German friend Teresa, a cartoonist, is going to send us one of her children's books, about a little boy finding out what different construction equipment is used for.  I'm excited.  Not that I can read the German at all, but it'll be fun to make up my own dialogue to put in the word bubbles.  And maybe this way Xander will feel more multi-cultural.

2) Ari and Happy Baby Colors are now best buds.  He has SUCH a serious look on his face whenever I read it, and he focuses so intently.  Learning colors is THE most complicated endeavor he's ever undergone, you can tell!

3) Much like sports references in the Midwest, construction references are ubiquitous in our house.  Take, for example, yesterday's dinner proclamation, spoken by Xander as he put his water cup down on the table:
"Water is like a bulldozer.  It pushes the food down my throat!"

4)  This is more of an "adults and their toys" reference, because we wouldn't let Xander watch this with us, but - we finally saw X-Men: First Class.  I loved it!  I found it really touching, actually, especially the backstory for Magneto.  I won't get into spoilers here, in case anyone hasn't seen it (admittedly not likely at this point), but the way they made the relationship with his mother and Judaism paramount to the use of his powers?  Brilliant.  I could feel my emotions being manipulated but didn't mind a bit.

5) I'm on a whole bunch of parenting email lists. One of them this week had a list of "The 5 Best Toys of All Time":

Stick
Box
String
Cardboard Tubes
Dirt

Well, I asked Jonathan to corroborate this list, because I wasn't sure about it. His response? "I have to agree that box and stick are in the top 10. I wouldn't put dirt that high up, but I guess this is a national average thing."

What do YOU think are the five best toys of all time?