Old Maid

My seven year old nephew was visiting with me yesterday and I taught him how to play go fish.  He caught on really fast and was having a great time.  After a little while, I thought let's change the game...so he next learned how to play old maid.

He was absolutely adorable, every time he had the queen, he made a face. When I picked the Q (I tried to pay attention where he put it) he smiled so big. We were trying to tell him to be a little more discrete, but he is only 7.

It was only fitting that I ended the game with the old maid, since I am an old maid.

The power of the Magic 8 Ball

This year I am happy to report for the first time that all my little kiddies liked the gifts I picked out for them.  But the winning gift was the Magic 8 Ball.  I think everyone got a chance to ask the Magic 8 Ball about their hopes & dreams. 

I practically ripped the ball out of my nephew's hand...I mean, was his questions about getting Legos more important than my quest for love?  I think not.

Ohhh, Magic 8 Ball....I asked you quite a few questions about my future love life and I was very happy with all the responses.  I even tried to trick you by asking the negative version of the question before, but you didn't get fooled!

So what does the Magic 8 Ball predict for me?  That I will meet my future husband (fh) in 2012, that I will marry into money, that the guy I am talking to now is not my fh, I will have children, and that I will be super happy.  Sounds great, I'll take it.

Family Games

My family and my previous neighbors celebrated 20 years of friendship this year; this may or may not be common, I don't know.  Our friendship has gotten stronger as the years have passed by.  They are really an extension of my family and I love each and every one of them. 

We usually get together twice a year as a family (and times throughout the year but not all 23 of us at once).  In the last few years we started to play games at night after dinner...I believe it all started one year with charades, then we branched out and played Mexican Train, Left Center Right, the newlywed game, balderdash and a few others.  Two Decembers ago I made up Family Feud, which was a lot of fun.  The families played against each other to see which family could score the highest.   I did  a lot of 'research' to put this game together, as in I watched A LOT of family feud, I also sent around a survey for people to fill out.  I probably made close to 80 rounds - not knowing how many we'd go through if we were having a great time.  I wrote all the answers on a large piece of paper and then covered them so I could pull it off to revel the answer & points when someone guessed correctly.  The families LOVED it.  Each selected a team mate to come to the podium - I read the question and they had to buzz in - whoever buzzed in said their answer - if it made it on the board they got to play or pass.   Some of the questions and/or responses were hysterical.

This past December someone else made up a Minute To Win It game, which was hysterical.  Again the teams were broken down by family and each family had to select a person to compete against someone else to complete the task.  Many of the items we did were from the show.

This past weekend as we celebrated our 20th anniversary, we were at the beach.  Most of the time we just sit there and talk, play in the sand or go into the water...all typical beach-like things.  This year we added an activity - a beach scavenger hunt.  We split everyone into 5 teams and sent them off looking for items to collect or to take pictures of and we had until the next morning.  This ended up being fantastic I think a lot of the people enjoyed it because we had to do things that we might not have, thus getting everyone involved as well as provided some fantastic photos.  Add to that the level of competition...it wasn't by family - we were smart to really change it up - so at times it got intense, especially when it came to scoring at the end.

Here are some examples of the items we needed to find:

the list

me as a mermaid

 

my team's items (we lost)



the winning team's items

In the evening we celebrated with a 5 minute slide show of some of the great times we've had and also a coffee table book filled with lots of pictures.  Then we played Family Jeopardy.  I sent out a questionnaire for all family members to fill out and then I made 6 categories for each Jeopardy round filled with trivia questions about each person.  I wasn't sure the best way to execute it, so I set it up as a PowerPoint presentation with each slide representing a different question, then I needed a key to find the slide number for the category/amount the contestants selected.  The questions weren't just "which person's fear is X" but instead there were clues within the question to help solve it; it took a lot of research, but I thought it was worth it.  We hooked the computer up and projected it onto the wall so everyone could see.  Everyone appeared to like it and we all learned a lot about each other...even within our own families!  Even Final Jeopardy was a success.

I'm the proud owner of a wii...now, I just hope to use it

Oh a lazy Sunday.  That is exactly what I had yesterday.  There were some things I wanted to do, but decided instead of fighting the crowds and getting annoyed, I'd rather to those things tonight when it is less crowded out.  I showered, blew dry my hair (which I still find very challenging), and then had some work to do for an upcoming project that you will all read about probably next week.  I put a movie on for background noise, but ended up watching about 5 movies I had already seen.  I didn't leave the house, didn't even unlock my door.  Since I'd seen the movies already, I didn't need to focus (not that they were hard to follow anyway) and ended up surfing the web.  Actually, I don't really know how to do that.  I was looking for a few jobs to apply to this week, and instead realized I was lazy and that if maybe I had a wii fit, I would exercise.

So, I checked out ebay.  Followed a whole bunch of auctions to gain a better understanding of selling prices so I could bid.  I found one, I bid, I lost.  Another bundle had the wii, fit, board, controllers, and like 5 other games.  I lost that one too at like $390.  I wasn't too upset, after all somewhere I decided I liked the black wii better.  I ended up buying a black wii, yoga mat, fit & balance board, sports, an extra black remote, and extra black nunchuck, dancedance revolution & mat, and an extra mat all for $235.16  (from 3 different sellers). 

I don't have this kind of money to throw away, so I better use this stuff.  When I was at dinner at a friends house last week, her husband was down with the wii for 90 minutes doing some sort of FIT exercise and he came up and started raving about it, how it helped him loose weight, etc.  So I figured why not.

I try not to leave my apartment or office for fear of going outside and buying things...but yet, it happened at home anyway. 

Game Review: Scattegories & FITS



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I was introduced to Scattegories back in middle or high school.  What a fun game, that always leads to small arguments. 

The game has supplies for 6 people.  Everyone gets a folder which has an answer pad and the category cards for the rounds.  One player rolls the 20 sided die and starts the timer. The goal is to come up with a word that starts with the letter for each of the 12 categories for that round in 3 minutes or less.   At the end of the three minutes, you compare your answers if someone else has it, you must cross it off. If it is original you get a point.

My family plays that you can get two points for an answer that uses that same letter twice like "Peter Pan".  Even though we have been playing this game together, my sisters & I, we still argue over what does / does not count. I am generally on the No side of their responses.  Can't use an adjective before like "Blue glitter".

I have the older version of the game, but apparently the categories have been updated, which is always nice. But many times you play this game, it changes based on the letter rolled or who you play with.




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 Ravensburger FITS is a strange name for a game, I now just call it FITS.  I found this game in December and needed to buy it.  I loved, loved, loved tetris.  And this game is similar but you can play with up to four people.  Everyone gets the four levels of boards, and incline and the puzzle pieces (which are the same for everyone).  You start out by picking your starting card, and from there, everyone has to place the same piece on the board to leave the least amount of spaces (or in later rounds keep certain spaces open).  Unlike tetris, where you can slide a piece into an opening...you can not do that in this game, which makes it a tad bit more challenging.

It is fun to see how everyone arranges their board. 

Game Review: Apples to Apples and Blokus

I love games.  Not mind games, but the traditional old fashioned fun kind of games.   Growing up with three sisters was fun as we got older (me in high school, older sisters in college).  We spent some nights playing scrabble or rummy 500.  We'd play games for hours.  A lot of iced tea, some snacks and a whole lotta competition.  Now ten years later we don't get to do it as often, but now that their kids are getting older, it is a bit easier.  Over the next few weeks, I will write about a game or two that we have played over the years and my favorites and maybe you'll start playing too.

The first featured game is Apples to Apples by Out of the Box Publishing but Mattel took it over.  In 1999 Mensa International awarded this game one of their 5 annual game awards.  The game is designed for more than 4 people. Everyone is dealt some red cards (depends on how many are playing).  Every round there is a reader, that reader selects a green apple card.  The green cards have a verb written on them.  The green card is read out loud and each of the other players look through the red apple cards, which are nouns, and pick one that is the best fit.  The reader then shuffles the submitted nouns and then reads them out loud.  He picks out the red card he likes the most. It is very subjective..and it is best to know things about the other people.  Once the reader selects the best card, the green apple card is given to the person that submitted it.  The goal of the game is to get x number of green cards.  

This game is also made in a junior version (it is a green box) with words/people the younger kids will know.  We have played this game so many times, and love it.  The directions say it is played for 30-60 minutes, but depending on the level of fun and the people...it can go longer if you want it to. There are also a few variations you can try too.  It is a great travel game also since you don't need a board or pieces or dice or anything, just the cards. 



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 The second game for today is Blokus.  This is my absolute favorite game.  I saw it in a special game store in 2004 and thought my Dad would love it.  I was right!  I bought the Trigon version (which in my opinion is better than the square).  So how it works...it is easily played with 3 or 4 people.  Each player gets the same shaped tiles but in a different color.  The play goes clockwise and on each turn you place a shaped piece on the board - the piece needs to touch the tip of another one of your pieces.  A tip...not a side.  The object is to get all your pieces to fit.  You accumulate points (which are bad) with how many sub-shaped piece there is (not an actual piece, but how big that piece is).   Blockus was invented by a guy named Bernard Tavitian who is highly educated.  This game won a bunch of awards including the 2003 Mensa award.  The game is fabulous, and the more you play the more strategy you develop.  Depending on who you play with, the game changes.    My nieces and nephews really like this challenging game too.  It is fun for people of all ages.

Many people I have recommended these games to have loved them, and I know you will to.  So now go out and buy these games and have fun!