Our 6th Anniversary!

We got my in-laws to babysit Emma for the day after her swim class. After dropping her off, we came home to change and exchange gifts. I got a sweet game expansion and a pair of real pearl earrings (90% of my jewelry is fake/cheap stuff). 

I also gave Ian a game expansion and some dice. Sad that our signature anniversary gift bag died though. :(

Is it too much to ask that I just want one good picture of us together? :P

That's better... 

We headed to Cambridge Mill for dinner after a day of gaming at Games on Tap. 

My favorite wine plus Ian's experimental drink - Ginger-Maple Cider (Canadian Whisky, Ontario Maple, Wellington County Cider, garnished with cranberries).

Dinner was delicious (pickle soup!!!) and dessert was even better. Sour cream doughnuts served with warm kaluha and milk, plus Spiced Pumpkin Crème Brulée.

Dance Party

Emma has started to find her groove and I'm loving it! I figured out that I could get Spotify through our PS3, which could be played through the house speakers. So we usually have a dance party before and after baths. :) 

This is a longer version of the video I posted this week. Notice how she commands Dada to dance. :P 

By far my favorite video... Emma getting down to Tupac.

Not the most kid-friendly song... but Emma didn't seem to care. :) 

TableTop Fun: First Train to Nuremberg

Designer: Martin Wallace
Publisher: Z-Man Games

From BoardGameGeek:

First Train to Nuremberg is a revised edition of Last Train to Wensleydale. You take the role of a railway promoter, backed by the investments of hundreds of local landowners. Your aim is to build lines that can make a profit from the transport of passengers and goods. However, money is not the only resource you require. Many locals will oppose your schemes and only with influence in the government will you be able to build over their land.

This game was one of the first that we watched from Rahdo Runs Through and I just happened to find it in the clearance section of J&J. It starts with an interesting auction with bids to increase your influence in 4 different areas. The next phase has you laying track across the board, trying to optimize your ability to ferry goods and passengers to specific train stations. I wasn't sure if I would like this game since the rules were over my head the first round. It's been a few plays since then and I've fallen in love. The biggest complaint I have, by far, is the setup. You put out a million cubes only to pick about half of them. Ridiculous! Otherwise, an excellent classic. 

Yes, it's been awhile since our first play of it. Little Emma and fuzzy phone pictures. :) 

Musical Card

Emma received a musical card from her Aunt Kelly... She loved it... it might have been hidden during one of her naps though.... :D

Happy New Year!

Better late than never!

Are you ready for me to state the obvious? 2015 was busy. 

• We celebrated our 5th anniversary! 
• Life drastically changed when Emma started walking. Gone were the days of leaving her for a minute and being sure she would be roughly in the same area when you returned.
• We played a lot of games... in fact, we may have a teensy bit of an addiction...
• Emma turned one!
• I went back to work. Something that was filled with mixed emotions. 
• We visited G-Ma in California. :)
• All three of us got really sick... for many months.. to the point that we missed all of the spring and a good portion of the summer :(
• I recovered enough to take Emma to African Lion Safari and splash around...
• Emma got hair...  it just kept growing... and growing... and now it's like this. Crazy!
• Cooper turned 7 and we took a road trip...
• Christmas was amazing... and we were all completely spoiled! 

Last year, I said that I would like 2015 to be somewhat quiet... and truth be told it was. We were self-quarantined for almost 4 months out of the year. No major life events other than the usual anniversaries and birthdays. I think we've settled into a good routine while managing our jobs and our home life. Emma has developed by leaps and bounds since she began attending Montessori daycare. I'm grateful for everything we have right at this moment... 

In 2016, I'm ready for some changes again! I'm getting back into Brittany Upgraded. I don't think I appreciated just how much free time I had before Emma... and now I have to squeeze everything out of the very brief moments I do have. We are thinking about finishing the basement and maybe expanding our house by 2 feet (har har har...). There are other huge changes coming that I can't specifically mention but just to say.. I'm over the moon excited for them. So this year is shaping up to be the same as last... BUSY! :D

TableTop Fun: Tzolk'in

Full Title: Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar

Designers: Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini
Publisher: Czech Games Edition

From BoardGameGeek:

Tzolkin: The Mayan Calendar presents a new game mechanism: dynamic worker placement. Players representing different Mayan tribes place their workers on giant connected gears, and as the gears rotate they take the workers to different action spots.

At first glance, this game has a flashy gimmick... actual revolving gears. But after diving in, you see that it is a fantastic worker placement game. I am sucker for any game that has multiple paths to victory; this one delivers just that. I'll brag a bit and say that I've won putting all my efforts around crystal skull collection. I've won building temples/monuments.. although it was really difficult. The theme comes through strong, helped by our addition of actual corn from Meeple Source. During my maternity leave, I took some time to paint the gears and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Before:

After:

 Aww little Emma... big effort to get the soothie...

Dada you took my soothie...

Seriously guys, give me back my soothie...

Fine...

I'll find an alternate soothie... :D

Countdown Updated!

And here is a picture of a really cute kid in my opinion...