Game On

Sorry I bailed on the Wednesday list yesterday. We are heading to Sequim for a long Easter weekend and there is a lot of prep to be done. Also, I was hell bent on some tamales and they took twice as long as I had planned . A couple of weeks ago Hans started talking about being part Mexican. I was wondering where he was going with this. Several days later we were grocery shopping and as is customary at the end of the trip the kids pick a treat. We are recent converts to WinCo, thanks to my sister Alex, where they stock copious amounts of bulk candy. The first visit those barrels beckoned to Hans with their siren song but in the end he chose something else. This is where being Mexican comes into play. They sell a pack of gummy Mexican food. Burritos,enchiladas,dulce de leche, and so on. My kids are huge fans of gummy food. Oscar would proudly announce he was having a hamburger for lunch and pull out a gummy burger, insisting if it's in the shape, it counts as real food. So Hans chose the gummy Mexican food as his treat and the whole way home all I heard was how he has to eat Mexican food because he is in fact a Mexican. Now, he is proudly declaring he is more Mexican than his brother and sisters. I absolutely cannot let him find this picture, it will be over. Although, I could produce this as a counter attack for Oscar and Siobhan. I guess if they start eating some more gummy tamales they may catch up on their Mexican.

We play a lot of games around here. I enjoy board games. We are pretty good at making up our own versions so that everybody can play. As you may recall, Cash Cab is one of our favorites. We are gamers way back. My Grandma was a game fiend. Scrabble is a staple around our family but Yahtzee was Grandmas favorite. Between the ages of 18 and 26 I must have played 10,000 games of Yahtzee with my Grandma. She would just talk and I learned a lot about our family, my Grandma in particular during those games. She was also a crossword and Jumble fanatic. Video games were not lost on her, and while she never played she could spend hours watching someone play Nintendo and guide them through all the shortcuts.

I have a large assortment of games. I used to have Laverne and Shirley, which was my favorite and something Brittney and April may remember. I recently acquired Sweet Valley High. I haven't played yet but hope to score a sweet date with "bad boy" Bruce. Hope I don't get stuck with Winston. Down in the corner of this picture there is a German made Lotto. This is Hans and Olives favorite game. They could play it for hours, and we have. There is a great game shop in Salt Lake called Game Night Games that has really awesome games. They have a play area in the shop and host game nights and tournaments. I have also found some new games to play from blog reading this last week or so. It's fun to read links to links to links. The things you find. So, todays Wednesday(on Thursday) list. what games do you enjoy?
#1. Yahtzee, I actually prefer this to Scrabble(blasphemy!). It is such a relaxing game, I love the noise and you can actually talk while you play, not too much concentrating involved.

#2. I have to put Scrabble. Pete and I played tons of Scrabble when we first met. He even made a travel Scrabble like the size of a wallet. He made a mini board out of a big white shipping label and stuck in an old square tin lid and then cut out teensy little letters from magnet stickers. That was for our flight to Seattle when I first met him.

#3. Monopoly. We didn't really play this when we were younger but Pete, the kids and I play quite a bit. They are intense, long games but we keep going back. We have the British version as well as Spongebob and the classic. Pete is especially fun to watch playing this.

#4. Cash Cab. Have I told you about that?

#5. Puzzles. The kids like to work on puzzles with me but I will be the first to admit that it stresses me to no end. I am in a zone when it comes to puzzles. Just like a good book, it must be completed once it has begun. And yes, I do mod podge and save some of my favorites. Nerdy, I know.

So I hope to find some new games to play. We will be setting up my Moms computer this week and I looking forward to her comments and lists. Still loving the lists. Maybe I will post from my Moms, but if not have a Happy Easter! Oh yeah, Happy Birthday to my nephew Clayton who is one today and Happy Birthday in advance to Gretchen tomorrow. We love you!