Simple games

Halloween is upon us. I am a bit of a Halloween scrooge. Not a German thing. But of course it is a USA thing and we didn't want to spoil it for our children or the grandchildren. 

I like the art though. Can't help it. When I visited our friend Julie at Manor House (on October 26) I had to admire the decorated pumpkins. This was my favorite So clever how they used the stem to make a very special nose.

Friday the 28. we helped out with the grandchildren across the river. The school was letting out early. Before we left to get them we set up a treasure hunt in the house and took the boys to our house.

It was a lot of fun for us all. I had found the game on the internet and printed the 2 pages with 12 clues. All we had to do cut them apart and hide them accordingly.

The last clue led to the freezer for treats. Little individual ice creams! We know they love those.

Omi and Papa have lots of other games too. The big box of dominoes is sometimes used to set up a domino chain. 

Caleb decided to do this ...

... while his brothers played with the magnetic darts upstairs.

Caleb laid down next to his chain to find out that it was twice as long as he was tall.

Oh yes, the old train tracks were "schlepped" down too. They had not played with those for a long time but had fun this afternoon. 

They didn't even have to clean it up because they were coming back the next day to stay the night and wanted to play more with it. 

On Friday in the car they kept asking whether they could visit Ms Julie. So yes, I set it up for the next day. Ms Julie expected them when we stopped after we had picked them up. We went into one of the community rooms and she asked them to make some bookmarks for her friends. She had just started a new book club where she lived. I had also brought a choco-pumpkin cupcake for each. 

Yes, this was a fun weekend for all.

William Day 2

He must have been really tired because he fell asleep very fast and we did not hear a peep last night. But at 6 am he came into our bedroom. The night was over.

All the typical things. We stayed in bed for a little while, got dressed and had breakfast.  William asked very often about the day ... specifically when he might see his cousins. We invited Sarah to drop her kids off and go with her husband for brunch or so but she said they would all come. 

Oh, was William waiting. Finally at 10 am he saw the car pull in. He was on the front porch and raced to the front door. OMG, I have never seen excitement like that before. The cousins were the same. They ran in and gave hugs.

For the next two hours they were in the living room, the back porch, in front of the entry door. They knew where Omi has some of the toys. 

I asked whether the three VA boys could show William how to play the Left-Right-Center game and they all got excited. Owen said: "We can't because we didn't bring it". But Omi had a second one because I told them that they can keep the one I had given them earlier. It really is a good game for any age.We were 8 and it was fun.

What is next? Omi found the colored chalk. Combined with the pull-back cars it might make good intertainment. 

Lunchtime. The 4 adults on the regular table. The kids on a children's table but since the right table with the chairs was still at Sarah's house, cushions had to be ok.

Ice cream for dessert and then they had to leave. The three of us chilled. But Papa decided to hose off the evidence. Boys just like to play with water.

The chilling included doing things in the loft. There hangs Omi's new magnetic dart game which William likes as much as his cousins who always run up to "practice" a little when they are visiting. 

We also found the old bagatelle game. Oh, the memories. Ever since I visited my father-in-law in Windsor, England, there was this game on the table in the room which was called "the nursery". When our girls visited too they always loved playing it. It is now in our guest room. I can't quite remember how the game made it over the ocean. It is quite large as you can see. But it will be played with a lot here. The boys are all old enough now. The board is by now a little fragile.

After dinner we met up with the cousins (and their parents, ha-ha) again. Sarah had arranged to rent a (free) spot for the fireworks at Libbie Mill Midtown. It was incredibly well organized which made it a lot of fun. Each square was for a group of about 10 people. There were two more squares adjacent her friends had "claimed" but didn't need so Sarah had invited friends she had not seen in quite a while. And not all squares were occupied anyway. Since you knew where to go you could arrive anytime. Then Fireworks happened shorty after 9 pm.

You were not supposed to bring food or drinks but of course there was the opportunity to buy some. The three men took the children to get a treat of shaved ice each and something for the ladies too.

Do I have a blue tongue? Do I have a red tongue?

Sarah initiated playing the game of 20 questions. Everybody had fun.

Finally!

Sorry, I don't have a better photo and my video didn't upload, but it probably would not be very interesting to you anyway. 

Leaving the parking lot was as easy as the arrival and all together a pleasant and fun experience/day.

Happy Independance Day!