The Big Reveal

It's finally ready! My crokinole board is ready! Here she is:


The playing surface is 26" in diameter, with a base of 30". The playing surface and base are made of birch, the rails are made of poplar, and the 'buttons' and posts are maple. If you click on the image to get a closer look, you'll see that there are decorative inlays around the posts. These inlays and the center hole (called the 20 hole) are made of mother of pearl - much like you'd find on a guitar fretboard. As the pearl inlays are the most unique feature of the board, I've named the board "Pearly Gates". Cheesy, I know.

Soon it will be hanging on our wall, right above our fireplace. That wall is still bare after a year in this apartment.

Hurry and make your reservations to come over and try it out! Be warned though, that it's probably the most addicting game ever.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

One of my favorite sections of this blog is the running collection of quotes we keep from the boys. Those quotes crack me up no matter how old they are. However, it's starting to get a little large, so I'm going to archive the oldest 10 here (leaving the most recent two quotes) and repeat this process whenever there are more than 10 quotes in the sidebar.

The sad part of this though, is that Jordan hasn't been saying a whole lot of crazy/weird things lately. 4 year old kindergarten refined him just a little too much. But our ears will definitely be waiting for any zingers that come along. Also, I wish we started this blog 3 years ago to have a place to record the funny things our kids said. I'm sure we'll one day regret not writing these down sooner.

Enough mushy stuff...here's the first archival of quotes.


Carter- "Mommy! Today the sunny is going to stay up FOREVER!"
Carter regularly refers to the sun as 'the sunny' and is obsessed with 'pushing the sunny button' to make the sun go up and down each day. Go figure.


Carter - "Where's my unca-munca-monica?" (harmonica)
We got a cheap plastic harmonica for the boys several months ago, and Carter just can't seem to say the name correctly. He does play pretty well, though! The boy has an ear!


Jordan - "Babies only drink milk...and mac & cheese."
As mac & cheese is his favorite meal, I'm sure he regards it as manna from heaven.


Carter - "Darth Mater is his mommy."
The boys love playing Lego Star Wars and Jordan enjoys watching the movies...but Carter is just a tad confused about the storyline.


Carter pulling out a 2-quart pitcher of chicken stock - "I want juice!". Daddy - "That's not juice, it's chicken-flavored water". Carter - "......I want chicken-flavored water!"
Carter is a very demanding little boy. I was shocked when he was taking out the chicken stock (which was quite heavy) and demanded to drink it even after hearing about the contents.


Jordan - "Well hello, Pop Tarts! Nice to see you again!"
We purchased one box of pop tarts. Jordan liked it and requested more. A week later we purchased another box; he polished it off and soon requested another. When he awoke to the sight of pop tarts, this is the reply we got.


Jordan - "Happiness is the love of happiness"
We were having a simple talk in the car about what brings happiness. Then Socrates, aka Jordan, surprised us with this comment. Very deep, at any age of thought.


Carter with ear infection - "I have touchin's in my ears"
Well, how else would you describe an ear infection with a 3-year old's vocabulary?


Jordan to Mommy - "I wonder how many days are left until spring. I'll ask Daddy...he's the smart one." Mommy - "I'm smart too." Jordan - "But I thought you were cute..."
Tee hee!


Carter- "My eyes are playing hide and seek."
Carter discovering the power of eyelids.

Weekend Roundup

Another insane week. I've got to stop these weekend updates before they become a habit. Though, if you hear me out about this week, you may understand why.

Monday - I get into work at 6:30 to get a ton of work done. By 7:30 I hear murmurs about a new guy on our team. I wonder if I'm getting fired. At 8:00 I get a meeting request from my boss' boss. Now I'm more worried. At 8:30, I'm told that I have officially been transferred to a new department. Phew! Still employed. At 9:00, my new boss finds out I'm now her direct report. Noone knew...it was all very sudden. So most of my week was spent training 'the new guy' to fill my role and still produce tons of work. Quite a few extra hours this week.

Thursday - Company picnic. These are never as stress-free as a typical picnic, but this year was pretty enjoyable. It helped that the boys are old enough now that they can play some games and we can still maintain some decent conversations.

Saturday - Got Cynthia off to the temple. I was scheduled to go with her, but I had to stay and write my talk.

Sunday - Spent all morning writing my talk. Finished just 20 minutes before church. It went very well. Then, I was released from my calling! I'm out of the Elder's Quorum! In fact...I'm completely without a calling right now. I'm sure that will last all of 7 days. After church we went over to the Thompson's house for a lovely dinner and conversation.

I didn't get a moment in to call my Dad. So, Happy Father's Day, Dad. Hope it was a good one.

Cynthia and the boys made a delightful card and bookmark for me and gave me chocolate, Cinnabons, a strawberry shortcake, and a new electric toothbrush! That combo is beyond compare!

Better Board Games

In case you haven't noticed from our blog, I love board games.

It hasn't always been like this though.For 20+ years, I was a serious computer gamer. I have a great affinity for the old-school games (that I’ll probably blog about some day), but my all-time favorites involve large-scale economies like the Civilization series and the SimCity series - lots of time required and no social interaction.

If you’ve ever known a serious computer gamer, you’ve already realized that computer games and raising families just don’t mix. I was introduced to three European board games (Settlers, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne) through friends and family a few years ago and I found the cure to my computer game withdrawals – it’s gaming, it allows me to game in a social setting instead of solitaire, and it’s wife approved!

It’s really hard explaining the board game hobby to the uninitiated. Due to many unfortunate circumstances (which I won’t expound here), most people in the USA think of Monopoly and Life when I mention board games…and those ‘games’ just aren’t fun…at all.

So what makes a better board game? Here are the most important characteristics:

1. Most important, it has to be FUN.
2. It should be EYE-CATCHING. Just like great cuisine, the gaming experience is increased if it's pleasing to look at.
3. It should require players to make CHOICES. This is what draws people into games.
4. It should be EASY TO TEACH in less than 5 minutes. Any longer, and most people will shut off their ears. True story.
5. It must be SOCIAL. In board games, you're meant to have fun with other people. The best games promote conversation among those playing.

There are many good games with exceptions to these rules and I own quite a few; and that's ok. After all, there’s no such thing as ‘The One Perfect Board Game’^TM. Here then are five examples that we own of better board games.

Diamant

Thanks to Erik Gibbons for use of the image

In this press-your-luck game, players risk horrible obstacles to grab more treasure. It's a bit of gambling, a bit of bluffing, and very addictive. And just look at those cute li'l jewels!

Polarity

It's hard to imagine a more natural game than this; the only things working against you are gravity and magnetism. It's an edge-of-your-seat 2-player strategy game where you balance leaning magnets on existing magnetic fields.

Galaxy Trucker

Thanks to Gary James for use of the image

In this game, you play a galaxy trucker shipping radioactive goods across space in ships made out of prefabricated sewer parts. Yes, you read that correctly! It's a mad dash to grab ship parts as quickly as possible, fit them into the puzzle of your ship and then race your opponents through dangerous cosmos. There's no other game quite like it.

Hive

Thanks to Daniel666 for use of the image

Hive is a two-player strategy game in which each player tries to capture their opponent's queen bee. Each of the five types of insects has a different movement pattern. For these reasons, Hive is often referred to as "Bug Chess". Don't let that turn you off - even though it's a deep strategy game, it's very simple to learn.

There isn't a board and the pieces are made of near-indestructable bakelite, so you can play it ANYWHERE. I took this to the Father and Son's campout and played 3 different opponents for about three hours total.

Carcassonne

Thanks to Dustin Miller for use of the 3D rendering

I love this game. No board, 2-6+ people can play, it can be cutthroat or relaxing, and the "board" is absolutely beautiful by the time you finish the game. Players build up the French city of Carcassonne and use the cute li'l wooden guys (known as Meeples) to score points. The essence of this game is hard to describe - you've just got to experience it.



So there you have it. These aren't the most played games in our house and may not be our best, but they are GREAT games. If you (yes, YOU!) come over on a weekend or for dinner sometime, I'd be happy to introduce you to some others. But be warned: Cynthia does NOT like losing. :)

Weekend Rundown

We had a pretty full week. And yet, I have no pictures of it.

Last Sunday - I single-handedly taught the worst Elder's Quorum lesson ever. I left half of my material at home and an open fight almost erupted. Sheesh. I actually considered not going back today and apparently I wasn't the only one, because only half of last week's attendees showed up.

Later, we had the Maynes over for dinner and then a planning session for a joint vacation to the Dells. Though the evening was productive, Marty and I basically just watched videos online and talked about open-source software while our wives filled out the schedule.

Monday - Joint family home evening with the Thomas family. Emily did a fine job teaching an effective lesson in a very short time so we could have time for the REAL reason for the get-together...we played Rock Band for at least an hour. It was my first time playing - super fun.

Tuesday - Exhausted from work, I fell asleep for most of the evening. Then I forced Cynthia to watch Star Trek II with me. KHAAAAAANNN!!!!

Wednesday - For the first time in my nearly 7 years of marriage, I left both my wife and kids at home to just have fun. And that was a record that was really hard to break. I felt very guilty for spending any money on myself and leaving the fam behind, but I guess it had to happen sometime. I went to a Brewers game with Tyce and friends. Brewers lost, I left early because I was tired, but it was still fun.

Thursday - Jordan finished his last day of 4K! I'm pretty sure it was just a few days ago that the school year started...

Cynthia went to Madison with 'the ladies' to see The Lucas Cates Band. If you have no idea what that is, you can read about it here or here. I fully support these band outings with the hopes that someday a band I'm interested in (sorry, TLCB) will show up in Madison and I'll be able to go see them.

Friday - Date night! Mini golf and Potbelly. Someday I may have to write an ode to the Potbelly pizza sandwich. Potbelly is my favorite sandwich shop (though Panera is the best sandwich around) - I could just sit inside Potbelly and talk or read for hours.

Saturday - Super Why day at Toys 'R Us! They launched a new line of Super Why toys and had a 'play date' to celebrate. It wasn't as long or fabulous as we would have liked, but there was storytime, free masks, stickers, coloring pages, tattoos, etc. We bought a Super Why action figure for Jordan and an Alpha Pig action figure for Carter...and they're actually well-made and really cute! Bonzer!


The rest of the day was spent cleaning up our filthy apartment for Faith/Tyce. They came over to eat some Chinese and get in a few games of Crokinole. (Very soon I'll be totally finished with my board and I'll post a picture of it.) Then the gals watched and discussed the (de)merits of Persuasion and Tyce and I played Agricola.

Sunday - Smoked steak and shrimp for dinner. Turned out fabulous. And I was asked to speak in church again. That's the second time in 3 months and this time I only have one week to prepare. I guess I'll get off now and start reading materials. Ho hum.

First Father and Sons' Campout

The boys and I went to our first Father and Sons' Campout over the weekend in Menomonee Park. What a great time it was. It was also the first time Carter had ever been camping. We played games, ate tons of junk food, broke the tent we just got as a hand-me-down, went fishing, and got very little sleep due to the cold and the loud noise of high winds rustling the aspen trees right behind our tent.

Still, it was a great time. I hope the boys are excited to campout in future years because I absolutely loved the 'bonding time' I was able to spend with them.

I don't have to look presentable on a campout at 6 am after 4 hours of sleep, right?

Cynthia also enjoyed her alone time. She went shopping at Kohl's super-mega-extravaganza sale and then watched movies at Faith's house until 4:30 in the freakin' morning. That's one hour before I woke up for the day, folks.

Talent Show

Our Primary had their annual talent show last week. Jordan really wanted to participate, but we really couldn't think of anything for him to do. I imagined a bunch of the kids playing violin and perhaps a piano performance or two. Luckily, our primary has a loose view of what is considered 'talent'.

One counselor recommended that Jordan show off his hissing goose book and teach everyone yoga. Yes! Yoga! A perfect opportunity to expose everyone to Yoga for Kids, By Kids^TM.

Here then, is the brave little Jordan doing his yoga instruction at the primary talent show.

What a funny kid! He was SOOO excited to do yoga for everyone. We practiced the whole routine a little before the event, but it was a long wait and he went a little 'mavericky' on us. It was two parts cute, one part hilarious, and one large dosage of confusion.

I was surprised at the variety in some of the other acts. Kids wrote their own poems and songs, did comedy skits, demonstrated origami and balloon animals, and one gal did gymnastics.



Oh, and those kids playing violins? Yeah...they've improved their act a bit...

WARNING: Do not attempt this at home!

Annual Brewers Game

I went to one single Major League Baseball game before adulthood. Cleveland at Anaheim (I long for the glory days before they called themselves Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). I'm not exactly sure how old I was...probably around 8. But I remember it really well and always wished that I could go to more games.

Now that I'm in charge, we go to one baseball game every year. Unfortunately, this year wasn't as good as last year. The Brewers lost, The seats were terrible, the noise was unbearable, the Brewers lost, traffic was horrific, I was so busy running around buying food that I couldn't enjoy the game, and did I mention that the Brewers tragically lost?

However, the true value of going to the ballpark with the boys is how well they respond to it. Just look at the picture below - those are two enthralled boys. When we left, Jordan even said "I want to be a baseball player when I grow up". And we've played baseball outside everyday since...

That's success.

I'm happy to report that my favorite racing sausage, Chorizo, won by a very substantial margin. He completed the race in 19.21 seconds.

Edit: Despite what the by-line states, this post was created by Bushchicken. We discovered the error after it was too late to fix without deleting the comments we received.

Pike Lake

For Memorial Day, we went to Pike Lake State Park in Kettle Moraine. What a great place. I'm sure we'll be headed there again. Thanks to the Beckers for the invitation (and the Van Blarcums and Stewarts). It was just a really enjoyable holiday.

We had a little barbecue, waded in the lake, went fishing, did a little hiking, and played a game of wiffle ball. You know, good ol' american stuff.

Cynthia's family probably won't be surprised to hear that Cynthia got lost while on the hike. Luckily it was only 15 minutes that she was lost because her trusty hiking survival backpack was tucked safely in the trunk of our car.

Jordan had the biggest mound of chips on his plate that I've ever seen at a barbecue.

Carter's favorite activity was digging the beach up with a trowel we got for him the Saturday before.

Honestly. Could a barbecue and fishing trip possibly be complete without a ukulele?

Feed the ducks

Last week we went to Oakwood Park to cure a case of the blues. The best part of Oakwood Park? Feeding the ducks. Quite possibly the best thing ever.

But this time was a little more difficult than usual. As we got down to the lake and started passing out our pieces of bread, a mother goose (followed by 5 goslings) came onto the bank and started hissing at us! We tried backing away; she kept hissing. We tried walking up the hill to a safe distance; crazy momma goose followed us, hissing all the way. We tried going to another part of the lake to feed other ducks; the murderous goose continued hunting us, hissing like a snake. It was all very disturbing. I tried making the best of it - I'd run up the hill like a maniac waving my arms and mock-screaming and the boys did likewise. And Cynthia threw bread at a blindingly fast pace towards anything that had a mouth.

We then played on the swings and drove home. Jordan asked in the car if we were going to read a story before bed. We declined, as it was already past bedtime. He was saddened by this fact of life, so I said something like "it's ok...tonight we made our own story! The family went to feed the ducks. The mother goose hissed at us. Jordan ran away. We drove home. The end." He bought it. He was happy again, the day was saved, and bedtime went smoothly.

The next day (which happened to be my birthday) Jordan gave me a present - his latest book. He drew the pictures, had Cyn write down his verbatim storyline, and then he stapled it. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is Jordan's wonderful book.

Wow! That actually looks like a goose!

I asked Jordan what that weird thing on the leg was. He said "Oh...I messed up". Yeah, I was a bit relieved by that statement. And just look at the expression on that face!

That's how we roll.

Should it bother me that it looks like he's being electrocuted in that bed?

Thank you, Jordan. You make me a very proud father.