We've had one set with a few cats, another set with a lot of dogs, so it looks like the Friends team is paying plenty of attention to pets this year! It's not at all surprising then, that there's another set dedicated to pets - or perhaps their owners - in 42678 Pet Accessories Van.
This set seems to be a natural complement to the other pet-themed sets - after all, the pet owners need to go shopping. Or in this case, the shopping can come to them.
I lamented in a recent review about the lack of dogs accompanying a set. It seems that LEGO has largely addressed that inadequacy by giving canines their whole set - or at least a whole business geared to them - with 42677 Dog Treats Bakery.
There have been several bakeries in Heartlake City, but this is the first geared toward anything other than people!
Other than 42691 Garden Restaurant, the Friends set that received the most attention was the smallest of the wave, 42681 Axolotl Adventure Boat. This marks another first for Friends - the first axolotl! They do look cute, with some suggesting that (gasp!) they may be cuter than the sloths. That can't be, but there's just one way to find out.
It seems that every year the Friends team comes out with a set that can rival the modulars with respect to interesting design and build techniques (remembering fondly 2025's 42670 Heartlake City Apartments and Stores).
This year's entry, which caused quite a stir when it was revealed, is 42691 Garden Restaurant. The architecture looks stunning, and makes great use of the new warm pink colour. You can almost feel the North African breeze while building...
We've made it! Christmas Eve! It's been an interesting ride with this calendar. Friends advent calendars haven't always been known to go out on a great note. As a result, I'm opening the last door of the calendar with a little bit of trepidation.
I'll also share my thoughts on the overall calendar, as well as how everything looks on the placemat.
It's Christmas Eve!! I'm not sure what to expect for the final day, as yesterday's ice tree would have made for a very good finale. Here's hoping that as we finish the calendar, something even better is behind today's door.
I'll also show what everything looks like on the gameboard/place mat, and share some overall thoughts on the second Disney calendar.
We're almost there - Day 23! After yesterday's bit of a miss on the festive scale, I have to believe that the builds for today and tomorrow will bring this advent calendar home in an appropriately holiday themed fashion.
Yesterday's cupcake and hot chocolate on the ice table was standard for an advent calendar, but still not very exciting, considering the commenters were most excited about the transparent jumper plates! I hope there's something fun in store for our second to last day.
Christmas is almost upon us, as evidenced by the addition of a tree to the scene yesterday. I'm ready for more Christmas cheer. With just three days to go, that means we must have festive builds for those days, right? Right?
We have two adorable kittens (along with two trees). I'm guessing the seesaw is for the kittens? I hope they let Anna and Elsa play on it as well. Hopefully today's build will provide a little bit more for the Frozen characters to do.
So, we're at Day 21, and we've only just had all the attendees to the sleepover show up! All five Friends in the calendar are here along with their animal companions. My one question now is - where's Zac? I can forgive Paisley's and Olly's absence as they were featured in last year's calendar, but poor Zac hasn't had the benefit of getting the holiday treatment in an advent calendar yet. Maybe next year....
In the meantime, there's only four more doors to open! Let's hope for something fun today.
I really liked seeing Elsa's box with one of Anna's drawings yesterday that was from one of the pivotal points in the movie. I think it's one of my favourite entries! It was accompanied by another build, a tree (or buzzsaw, or feather duster, depending on which comment you read). With only a few days left in the calendar, I expect some more fun builds.
Yesterday's karaoke machine is guaranteed to get the party started, and keep the Friends singing until the wee hours of the morning. I expect today that we'll meet another Friends pet.
Things are looking up for the calendar, with yesterday's adorable kitty with blue mittens and a seesaw. As we head into the final days of the calendar, hopefully we'll finish with a few strong days.
Our sleepover has full attendance with Nova's appearance yesterday. Based on the pattern that we've seen in the calendar so far, I expect either Nova's pet or something that reflects her interests today.
That might well be the theme song for this calendar, since we're had three houses so far. I'm used to an advent calendar building a scene, but wasn't counting on building a neighbourhood! Here's hoping that we find something other than a house behind today's door.
Arendelle got a little bit more festive with the addition of a Christmas tree and some presents! Even if the tree was on the small side, I'm happy to see something else expressly for Christmas to build. Let's hope the festive streak continues as we start the last week of the calendar.
Yesterday's hobbyhorses were an interesting and novel addition to the calendar, ensuring that at least some of the Friends have something to do. After all, we have four Friends so far, and only two hobbyhorses.
For today, I think we'll find one of Autumn's pets to join the party, since every Friend we've met so far has brought along a pet.
Arendelle is getting more populated - with houses, at least - with the addition of a second house to the playmat yesterday. While the house was nice, it was still a bit of a disappointment to see. Hopefully we'll stray away from buildings today!