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<p>SWOYERSVILLE &#8212; It doesn&#8217;t take long to learn that R.J. Bell likes Legos.</p><p>A &#8220;One Legoland Way&#8221; sign hangs above his bedroom, and he has two entire rooms dedicated to his hobby. Inside those rooms are countless blocks, figurines and creations R.J. has amassed over the years.</p><p>For 9-year-old R.J., of Swoyersville, the only limit he faces with his favorite toy is his imagination.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re awesome,&#8221; he said of Legos. &#8220;I can do anything with them.&#8221;</p><p>Thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, R.J. and his family made the trip of a lifetime to Legoland in Florida for six days in August.</p><p>Make-a-Wish is a non-profit organization that works to fulfill the &#8220;wishes&#8221; of children between the ages of 3 and 17 who have life-threatening medical conditions.</p><p>Lori Bell, R.J.&#8217;s mother, explained a friend of hers who also made a trip through Make-a-Wish recommended the Bell family earlier this year. The trip request then went through R.J.&#8217;s doctor, who signed off and write a letter of recommendation.</p><p>The family learned the trip would be a reality in March, but according to Lori, the idea didn&#8217;t sank in for R.J. at the time.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think he truly got it until we set off to go,&#8221; she said.</p><p>R.J., along with his mother Lori, father Bobby and brother Billy, 7, arrived at the park in Winter Haven, Florida. R.J.&#8217;s reaction when the family first arrived was something that touched Bobby.</p><p>&#8220;It made me cry to myself seeing how happy he was,&#8221; Bobby said.</p><p>From Aug. 14-19, the family had a busy vacation that included two days in Legoland, a day in Legoland Water Park and an especially busy day at Disney World.</p><p>&#8220;We started at Epcot, and then we went to Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom,&#8221; Bobby said.</p><p>Legoland, however, was the star attraction for R.J. as he and his family met one of the park&#8217;s Master Builders. Master Builders are responsible for building park exhibits and designing official Lego sets.</p><p>The family even learned how to learn how to build a small monkey from scratch.</p><p>&#8220;Nobody gets that, ever,&#8221; R.J. said. &#8220;We went back, and they showed us what they build around the park.&#8221;</p><p>The family also attended the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular during the trip, where R.J. met the stuntman who portrayed the iconic archaeologist.</p><p>The stuntman gave R.J. an autograph, along with his hat.</p><p><strong>Building a passion</strong></p><p>R.J.&#8217;s parents explained that his first Lego set was a SpongeBob Squarepants set given to him when he was about 3 years old.</p><p>That was also about the time he underwent surgery to remove tumors from his brain.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s had four brain tumors removed, and he has hydrocephalus,&#8221; Lori said. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, hydrocephalus is the buildup of spinal fluid in the brain.</p><p>He has had several surgeries to remove the brain tumors, and two surgeries for his hydrocephalus.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s been tumor-free for three years, four years now,&#8221; Lori said. &#8220;We were going every six months for an MRI, then every year. This year is the first year that we don&#8217;t have to go for two years.&#8221;</p><p>When R.J. would come home from the hospital, his parents would buy him a gift since he could not be as active as other children. All he wanted, they said, were Lego sets.</p><p>As a result, Legos fill cabinets and drawers in his two Lego rooms. One drawer, in particular, contains nothing but parts for the figurines. His parents added he is especially organized with those.</p><p>&#8220;He has specific heads and bodies and they all stay together,&#8221; Lori said.</p><p>A special Lego figurine of the doctor who performed his surgeries stands proudly on R.J.&#8217;s desk.</p><p><strong>Gift of childhood</strong></p><p>Although R.J. is soft-spoken about his experiences, he is quick to note he enjoyed his time at Legoland.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;d go back to Legoland in a heartbeat,&#8221; he said.</p><p>R.J. brought home more Legos to add to his already-massive collection. One set in particular &#8212; an city-square set exclusive to Legoland &#8212; is so big the family had to have it shipped home.</p><p>Lori said the effort by Make-a-Wish was &#8220;overwhelming&#8221; and the organization&#8217;s generosity throughout the process was &#8220;fantastic.&#8221;</p><p>She added it was a time for the all of them &#8212; especially R.J. &#8212; to really enjoy themselves.</p><p>&#8220;It was just overwhelming to see him have fun finally, be a kid and not have to worry about anything for once,&#8221; Lori said.</p><p>Bobby said the trip helped give R.J. something that has been taken away due to his medical issues &#8212; his childhood.</p><p>&#8220;It truly enabled him to be a kid again,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think he was able to really, truly enjoy his childhood those four or five years because of everything going on.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Brothers Billy, 7, and R.J. Bell, 9, play Legos together in their Swoyersville home. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Brothers Billy, 7, and R.J. Bell, 9, play Legos together in their Swoyersville home. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">R.J. Bell loves Legos. The boy and his family recently visited Legoland in Florida. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego2.jpg</photo1><caption1>R.J. Bell loves Legos. The boy and his family recently visited Legoland in Florida. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Bell family, Billy 7, Lori, Bobby and R.J., 9, in their Swoyersville home. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The Bell family, Billy 7, Lori, Bobby and R.J., 9, in their Swoyersville home. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">R.J. Bell holds one of his favorite Lego kits his grandmother bought him. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091615Lego4.jpg</photo3><caption3>R.J. Bell holds one of his favorite Lego kits his grandmother bought him. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Swoyersville boy with love of Legos goes to Legoland