Conquering the LEaning Tower...

...but not the ick. Being cooped up in the house for the past 3 days has led to some creative play. Here is the first achievement:

The question is: Which way does it lean? JK. I, of course, took the opportunity to make the assembling of the Leaning Tower a teachable moment, and as the boys did their research about Italy yesterday, they found out a few interesting facts about the tower.

• It was built in 1173 or 1174 (depending on which source one uses) by Bonnano Pisano (and was completed by Giovanni di Simone, Tommano Simone (son of Andreo Pisano) 90 years later
• It is located in Pisa, Italy
• It has been measured to sink 1 millimeter/year
• It takes 294 steps to get to the "Tootsie Roll Center of the Towering Pop" (Oh, excuse me, I mean top!)
• It was built in the Romanesque style

After the completion of the tower, I decided not to adhere to the recommendations and warnings of the instructions:

NOTE: The caution states that one should "Please put small leftover pieces into the garbage after finishing assembly."

I chose to disregard this caution, being a wee bit of a hoarder of all things "potentially craftable."

(The other caution said to "be careful not to let your children eat or put our products or the packaging into their nose or ear." Apparently, enough kiddos were left unattended long enough to warrant this caution being implemented).

Anyhoo, I took the bits of leftovers and crafted this: