Playing Chess

I could post some pictures and do a quick write-up of Joe teaching Xander to play chess yesterday (or, as Xander calls it, chest), but since I've already scrapped it I'll just post my page!

Family Game Night & Carlyn's Birthday

Whew, glad this is working today! I know you've all been on the edge of your seats, waiting to see what I was going to post. LOL!

Saturday was Family Game Night at Eli & Krissy's house, although it started earlier in the day with scrapbooking and the big boys playing Texas Hold'em. (Sad to have to report here that Eli's head is not nice for rubbing, but stubbly like sandpaper. Sigh.)

Krissy made chicken and dumplings for dinner, which is always delicious, and then the grown-ups got down to the serious business of playing Pirate Dice while the kids ran around outside until after dark.

As always, we are very serious and mature when we play games together. Ha!

In between rounds of dice, we had cake and ice cream to celebrate Carlyn's 11th birthday.

We finished up around 9pm. I sure do like Family Game Night! Next time we might bust out Yahtzee, or play more Harry Potter Clue. You just never know. Everyone had a good time and there was a minimum of fighting between the kids. Can't ask for more than that!

Solitaire, Anyone?

Xander loves to play games. Pretty much any kind of game, any time! He's even been playing computer Solitaire, after having watched me do it. He's getting better - now he knows you have to alternate colors, at least. He still has trouble seeing when he can move cards around.

His favorite computer game is probably still Heroes (he plays this better than me, I'm sad to say), though Pajama Sam had a good run as well. I'm always glad when Xander finds new ways to engage his brain in solving problems, be they computer puzzles or card games.

Family Game Night - HP Style

It has been a good long while since the Brunos and the Steigmeiers got together for Family Game Night, and we made that happen this past Friday. Krissy made some awesome chicken and dumplings for dinner, and then we busted out Harry Potter Clue.

This was such a fun game to play! We did two rounds of it and laughed all the while. Eli won the first game, and no-one won the second because everyone who guessed was wrong. I was the last one standing, though, if that counts for anything!

For the second game we invited Carlyn to join us, which was possibly a mistake. By the time we'd finished the first game we were getting awfully silly and there were some inappropriate comments flying around the table. Yikes!

We left around 10pm, because Joe was feeling very much under the weather on Friday. We'd have probably called it a night about then anyway, because only Carlyn and Xander were still awake, and Xander was getting cranky.

It was such a fun time, I hope we have another game night soon!

Blind and Find

Xander is a big fan of hide and seek, even though there aren't too many good hiding places in our apartment. Plus, Xander can't stop making noise or giving hints, so he's pretty easy to find. That's why Joe devised a new game, called Blind and Find.

Essentially, we all take turns wearing the blindfold (actually a sleeve cut off one of Joe's sweatshirts) and then have to find the other two wherever they may be in the house. Again, you don't want to be dodging the finder when Xander is running loose, because his mouth never stops running and he'll be wherever you are. Makes for an easy find!

I think this will be better as a warm-weather outdoors game. We'll have to wait and see...our next batch of warm weather probably won't be here until June. :)

Playin' Games

Xander got some new games for Christmas, which was good because there's only so many times I can play the Power Rangers board game! This year he snagged Trouble, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Yahtzee Jr., and Guess Who? Marvel Edition. He hasn't much liked playing Trouble, but that's because we're still learning it. His fave is definitely Guess Who.

If you don't know the game play of Guess Who, it's pretty easy. You and your opponent have the same field of superheroes and villains. You each pick a random superhero or villain card, and the other person has to guess who you have using yes and no questions.

This works out pretty well, except that Xander is always ready to give you way more information than you asked for. I try to ignore that as much as possible, so the game isn't over in like five seconds. LOL! And it's a game that Joe doesn't mind playing, so that's fun too. I think we might have to look into still more game diversity for the Bruno house. I wonder if Xander is too young for Life?

It's A DS World!

We had Andy, Angie & Josh over for dinner and visiting this week. When they heard that Xander and Joe had each gotten a DS, they all brought theirs over (plus an extra for me to use!). They gave Xander a couple of games for a belated birthday present, and Angie let me try out her Price is Right game on her lime green DS. (It was fun!) And then Andy, Angie and Joe linked up to play eachother in Call of Duty 4.


Too funny! Xander and Josh were also playing games together, or Josh would show Xander how to play one of his new games. In between gaming, they played with toys and played outside.

Before they left for the evening, all six of us linked up to play Mario Kart. Xander and I always came in last, and I had to call it quits after awhile (I'm embarrassed to say that I got motion sick playing that game!). What did we ever do for fun before the DS?? (That's a rhetorical question, Mom!)

Playin' Ball with Dad

Never mind that the weather had turned wicked cold, Xander was intent on playing a quick game of baseball. I declined - too cold for my blood! So Joe and Xander played, the first time for Xander using a wooden bat and real baseball.

It's always fun to watch these guys play together, so I managed to brave the cold to take a couple of pictures.

I missed Xander's line drive, though. Joe said it almost took off his head! Can't wait to see how he does once T-Ball starts in May!

Family Game Night

Okay, so I have to talk a bit about our recent family game night, mostly so I can post this picture of my dorky brother Eli doing a pirate face...aargh, matey! Hee hee!

The idea originated with my sister-in-law, Krissy. She thought it would be fun to start having a regular family game night, and I agreed. When I was a kid we were always playing board games and card games and dice games, and I missed that. So last Friday we packed up our BBQ and headed over to my brother's house for dinner.

Joe made some fancy Food Network burgers, and we had a nice dinner together while the kids all screamed and played in the living room/play room. Then game night started with some homemade strawberry shortcake, and Tribond. Some of those categories were hard!! But thanks to luck and a really simple category, I managed to pull out a last-minute win. Woo hoo!

The real fun didn't get started until Joe brought out the Pirate Dice. Suddenly we were all talking like pirates and laughing like loons. We played that one three times (I won two of those games, just sayin') and had a blast! I highly recommend it.

So now we're planning to do this once a month. And honestly, I can't wait for the next one! If you don't have family game night, you should start one!