Upgrade 3.3

My birthday has come and gone and I'm now Version 3.3 - not 3.2 like I thought I was going to be..... We had a really good dinner out - a luxury these days with a toddler! At some point, Ian and I will go to Games on Tap for some toddler-less time.

Mud Room Improvement

A few weeks ago, we went to Anna Mae's for lunch. In the entryway, they have a bunch of knickknacks for sale. When I saw this shelf, I thought it would be perfect for the mud room. It fit the theme and we need something with hooks. I love it! Thanks to Ian and Uncle Drew for putting it up. 

[Couple notes... It's really hard to get a good picture in a space so small! Also, the space to the right of the Algonquin Park sign is empty at the moment. There is a frame that I want to create with badges from the park. More to come...]

Throwback Video

I was rummaging around some old photos in Google and found a video of Emma attempting her first steps. She was so ready to go. 

TableTop Fun: Village

Designers: Inka and Markus Brand
Publisher: eggertspiele/Pegasus Spiele/TMG

From BoardGameGeek:

Life in the village is hard – but life here also allows the inhabitants to grow and prosper as they please. One villager might want to become a friar. Another might feel ambitious and strive for a career in public office. A third one might want to seek his luck in distant lands. Each player will take the reins of a family and have them find fame and glory in many different ways. There is one thing you must not forget, however: Time will not stop for anyone and with time people will vanish. Those who will find themselves immortalized in the village chronicles will bring honor to their family and be one step closer to victory.

Set Collection. Worker Placement. Medieval Times. I love Village! I really appreciate games that have many paths to victory and Village is one of them. You can focus on getting your family deep into the church. You can make sure your family is entrenched in the council. I tend to go the farming route and fill market orders for lots of points (I currently share the most victories with Ian... that's pretty good considering Ian is crazy good at all board games.) The best part is that you control time in your family's life. You score points when your members pass away and, if applicable, get placed in the village chronicle. At a certain point, you might want to start advancing the clock in big leaps to essentially/sadly kill off your oldest members. :D It sounds worse than it actually is... but it's a ton of fun and big thumbs up from me. 

"Hi.."

Happy girl...

Uh oh... 

Don't Remind Me

I can't wait until we are past this football season. The horrible Super Bowl will fade from everyone's recent memory because I'm reminded at least weekly that the Seahawks should have run it. I even have a bunch of banned topics posted at work that include the Patriots, Cheating and Super Bowl 49. The only good thing to come out of it was this picture. 

Low Key Weekend

We mostly stayed home this weekend. But that just means we got a TON of stuff done. Lawn mowed, pantry moth infestation dealt with, garage cleaned out, fridge cleaned out, patio maintained(?), Baby 2.0 Summit attended, master bedroom deep cleaned. I think Emma had a little fun here and there. 

It started on Friday with Ian covertly tickle attacking Emma. 

We dragged her to run errands that night and she got a little tired on us... When we left the grocery store the moon was pretty big. This was her face after seeing it. I think it might have been the first time of her really seeing the moon fully at night. 

Saturday, she wore a super cute outfit made out of 3 random pieces. Score!

She was super silly with Ian.

On Sunday, I played with her hair and made a little ponytail out of her curls.

After her nap, she was still super sleepy so she laid in my arms watching Bubble Guppies.

For dinner, we had a minor Kitchen Adventure with this Spiced Pork Tenderloin and Sauteed Apples recipe. It was super delicious and Emma enjoyed it... especially the baked broccoli and garlic smashed potatoes we had with it. :)

All in all, a good fall weekend The ivy has started to change colors... I'm hoping next weekend we can get a good picture of it. 

It's Fall

Whether people like it or not.. it is fall. Yeah yeah yeah... so the weather is going to be really hot this week... still. It was freezing this last weekend and football has started. IT'S FALL! 

Ian and Em on our Sunday walk. It was low 60s with a cold wind that made us realize that Em needs new gloves!

Cooper Turned 7!

As usual, our trip to Virginia was wonderful. I can't wait until we go back for Christmas! Here are a few of my favorite pictures and a link to the Google Story. 

I'm Ready, Are You?

....FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!

Thanks Aunt Kam! Ian's having a lot of fun with it.. and Emma too!

TableTop Fun: The Front Nine

Designer: Nick Case
Publisher: Self-Published

From BoardGameGeek:

The Royal Golf Association are running their annual competition to judge the best new nine hole course of the year. Will you finish all nine holes before the judges carry out their inspection? If not will stunning scenery and design excellence be enough to beat off the opposition?

We first saw this game on Rahdo Runs Through and loved the idea of it. Right before I got pregnant with Emma, Ian and I got a little into golf. The golf course construction concept was interesting. I was lucky enough to catch a 2nd print run of the game. You are able to build your different par holes through the buying and selling of resources. The object is to build a 36 par course and make sure it loops back to your clubhouse. I'm a big of tile placement games and this hits the spot for its spatial aspect. After we got the rules down, games last about an hour. Since it is a self-published game, it is a little "rough" - pun intended. The rulebook needs a complete overhaul. It's very hard to learn the game correctly with its current state. While on maternity leave, I had some extra time and was able to trick out the game a little bit. I created a resource tracker card and mini golf ball markers. Cute! 

Emma was surprisingly calm for this photo shoot back in January. 

Spaghetti Petty Family Style

I was going through some pictures from January and found Emma's first time eating spaghetti. It was done Petty Family Style - shirts off. :) Look at those chubs! 

The Swing Incident

Last Saturday, we stopped at the park outside the pool since we were a little early. Emma pointed to the swings so Ian put her in one and started pushing her. It's hard to describe the look on her face... sheer terror? I've never seen her look that way and I never want to again! She turned bright red as Drew and I told Ian to stop. Emma then let out a very slow long breath. So sad! She's been on swings before. I'm not sure what the issue was - maybe it was just too fast? Ian slowly pushed her after that and she was fine. So strange! Here's Em after we told Ian to stop.

She relaxed though and was smiling at the end.

Point Farms Trip

It's been 2 years in a row that we've been disappointed in our beach trip. Last year it was too early in the summer and the water was cold... this year it might have been too late. It was overcast and the water was chilly once again. Booooo. It's hard to convince Emma to stay in the water and have fun when we are freezing our buns off! Maybe we will time it right next year... :|

Clock Is Ticking

44 days and counting! Whose ready for some football???

...even if the Seahawks stunk it up in the Super Bowl...... [I'm never going to live that one down...]

TableTop Fun: Last Will

Designer: Vladimír Suchý
Publisher: Czech Games Edition

From BoardGameGeek:

In his last will, your rich uncle stated that all of his millions will go to the nephew who can enjoy money the most. How to find out which nephew should be rich? You will each be given a large amount of money and whoever can spend it first will be the rightful heir. Visit the most exclusive theatres or eat in the most expensive restaurants. Buy old properties for the price of new ones and sell them as ruins. Host a huge party in your mansion or on your private boat. Spend like your life would depend on it. Spend to become rich! If you're the first to run through the money on hand, you'll receive the rest of his inheritance – oh, and win the game.

To sum up the description... life is short, have fun now! :) In most games, you're trying to gain the most money in order to win. Last Will flips that around and you need to be shoveling money out the door as fast as possible if you want any shot at winning. I found that the most challenging aspect of the game was trying to really get your engine going... I know engine building is not an officially recognized mechanic but it is such a big part of this game. You need to get some properties and friends on your tableau as soon as possible. That way every turn you're spending as much as you possibly can on maintaining those properties and relationships - a.k.a. shoveling money out the door! It is so much fun. A pretty quick play too - about an hour for 3 players. 

We first played this about 6 months ago. It was tough getting Em to smile.

There's a smile... or a slight nose crinkle. :)

Emma Likes Shoes

I would say that Emma is obsessed with shoes.. but maybe she's just obsessed with going outside. Any time she thinks there is a chance she MIGHT get to go outside, she is grabbing her shoes and our shoes. She will also grunt/cry/scream if you have your shoes on in the house and we are not immediately going outside. Here she took a joyride with my wedge sandals. :) 

Relaxed Reading Time

I don't think you could get more chill than they are. Emma didn't want to move from this spot.

The Many Faces of a Teething Emma

Father's Day Followup

Back in June, Ian forgot to move the car seat from the Edge to the Neon, so we went out to dinner that night. [Yeah, it's a long story..]. We ended up having a planned/unplanned Father's Day Dinner at Johnny Rocco's Italian Grill - delicious!

This was the best picture I could get of Pops and Emma.

It made for a funny animation though.

I'm not sure we had been to a restaurant with Em since California [plays sick card]. She had fun with the Kids Meal cup.