The Ann Arbor District Library held its 2009 LEGO Contest on Monday, with entries ranging from two fighter planes about to collide in mid-air to a bunny farm complete with LEGO-brick bunnies.

There were 155 entries by kids from preschool through grade 12. That's 15 percent more than last year, and the highest participation in the four years the AADL has held the contest, says Eli Neiburger, associate director of IT and Product Development.

On a whim, Belle ended up participating, and I'm so glad she did because it was a really worthwhile experience.

When I got home from work on Monday, it was about 1 p.m. and Belle hadn't had lunch yet. Our sitter told me that they had been building with LEGOs, and Belle couldn't be torn away.

I went to check it out and found her hunched over a small building that looked like a stable. She informed me that it was a zoo, and indeed, on closer inspection I saw that most of the enclosures were filled with exotic animals — a monkey, an elephant, a wolf — not your garden farm-variety. Although, there was one cow; I suppose that's what threw me.

Knowing that there happened to be a LEGO contest going on that day, I suggested we take her creation over and enter it in the competition. She was reluctant at first; she just wanted to play with it. After I assured her that she would get it back — in one piece — that evening, she got pretty excited about it.

We went over to Weber's, where the contest was taking place, signed her in and set up her entry. Then we spent some time walking around, looking at the other entries, and she was absolutely enchanted. She wanted to inspect each and every one. (In fact, she took most of the photos in the gallery above.)

That evening, we went back for the awards ceremony. Her project didn't win anything, and although I think she fully expected to (in her developmentally-appropriate, egocentric way), it was a good experience that she didn't.

When the awards for her category were over, she looked at me with kind of a struck expression. It was the first time she has entered a true competition, and it gave me the chance to explain to her that judges liked different projects for different reasons, and you just never know how it's going to turn out. I also pointed out that we can be happy for her friend Forrest, who received an honorable mention.

She recovered pretty quickly, and then we talked about doing it again next year. She was excited about the prospect, and it warms my heart to see my fairy-loving girl getting into such a geeky (in a good way), math-based activity.

To see photos of all the entries, go to the AADL LEGO Contest site.

Jen Eyer is on the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at 734-623-2577 or jeneyer@annarbor.com, or you can visit her at the first floor office at 301 East Liberty.