Games, etc.

We've instituted Game Night at our house on Sundays anytime after 3pm. That's when Clara, my godchild, wakes up from her nap at her house about 5 miles away. Really, anyone is welcome, but we have talked with her parents about needing to get together to play games, and now we will just have a standing date (like piano lessons, basketball practice, or regular massage appointments). So if you are nearby on a Sunday, please join in.

(Being 2, Clara doesn't play games like this yet, but she provides entertainment in her own ways).

This time we played Bananagrams, which is a game of speed and patience. You might get the letters you need, or you might not. You can choose to dump a letter that's not working for you, but in exchange you must take 3 letters back. You are working against yourself in terms of getting your letters into interconnecting words, but you're also working against the rest of the players because when one person uses us all their letters and picks a new one, everyone else has to pick a letter too. That might mean you have to change things to make it fit, or just be patient and see what the next new letter brings. It's addictive and can also cause a bit of silliness, as you might be able to tell from the picture above (that hand was NOT a winner).

We also played a game of VisualEyes, which is an awesome game. There are about 20 blocks with pictures of very simple things (a sun, tree, person, cap, dog, fish, etc.) and each player has to make words by joining two blocks together (ie: sunfish). They are not always that straightforward and that's where the fun comes in because you see how differently people's thought processes are. If other players get the same word you do, it doesn't count for anyone. Scoring is easy--just one point per valid word, and judging is informal. Inside jokes even count as long as the other person is there to vouch for it and tell the story behind the joke.

Another really fun game we played at Christmastime with my sister's family was Bafflegab. It involves five cards laid on the table, each with a different word. Then the beginning of a sentence is read aloud and every player has to finish the sentence, including all 5 words on the table in a way that makes some kind of sense. We were marveling at how creative and funny the answers were. There's some kind of scoring system, but this game is just fun on its own.

Even by just writing about this I feel happy and better about my life. It's been a long winter, and a long stretch since life's felt good. This is a nice reminder that we don't have to be so serious.