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. 

Magic Trick

Splashing Around

I took a much needed vacation last week. On Monday, we headed to African Lion Safari with our neighbors, Jenn and Brynn. It was such an awesome morning. I'm super glad Jenn mentioned the Season Pass - it is so worth it! I was happy with this one visit.. but we can go back any time until September. Emma seemed to like the animals and I know she loved the water park. Here's a link to the pictures... Google Story.

Emma and Brynn argued over who could drive... It was a toss up. :P

Next time we go, I have a feeling Emma will be exploring this section more. She was a little hesitant to play with the spray.

TableTop Fun: Rockwell

Designer: Bruno Crepeault
Publisher: Sit Down! Games

From BoardGameGeek:

Each player represents a mining company drilling the Earth to get resources. But drilling often requires the help of other players (forced or not). Each one therefore moves four drills on the arcs stratum of the planet to successfully implement his mines and extract maximum resources. The Fame points are acquired by spending materials, filling objectives and having majorities of material and money at the end of the game.

This game stands out to me for its awesome circular game board that represents the earth. The deeper you mine the more rewards you reap... but the more resources you'll need to get down there. The first time we played this we read a rule wrong and HATED it. Somehow we mixed up the selling minerals portion and money was extremely tight. It wasn't until the game was over that we realized we were playing it wrong. The next few plays were fantastic! 

During the mining phase the game becomes a little bit semi co-op in that you can move your miners onto another play's tiles to trigger the drilling action. This is all fine and dandy, unless you are left out. Such was the case when I played with a certain husband and a certain brother-in-law of mine. They stayed on one side of the earth triggering many tile flips, and I stayed on my side slowly gathering enough miners to flip one tile each round. I could have taken moves to get to their side, but by the time I realized what was happening it would have taken me a few turns to even get over there! Overall, I really like this worker placement game... great art, great gameplay, great theme. :D

It's been awhile since I've been able to sit down and write one of these.... Emma's a little older since we first played this game.................... :) [sad scuffed nose and everything]

Weekend Update: Beaver Edition

We had an "ok" weekend. Just "ok" because Ian and I are still sick. I have a cough and my ears remain blocked. Ian is almost constantly coughing. But he is trying to get in with his doctor today and I have an ENT appointment on Friday. Emma is good... finishing up her antibiotic and she seems much better. 

On Saturday, Emma did her usual check of the front yard... 

We went to get asparagus and briefly stopped to see the piggies. 

We also barbecued on Saturday and Emma felt the need to relocate the barbecue cover.

She's obsessed with shoes. She'll desperately try to put on her own shoes.. Ian has found her standing in his shoes.. and this weekend she tried on my flip flops.

On Sunday morning, we were hanging out in bed with Emma. I walked into the bathroom and heard Ian start screaming "There's a beaver!!! There's a beaver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Sure enough.. there was a beaver walking down the sidewalk. He looked pretty wet, like he had just stepped out of his pond. He walked up the sidewalk, across our neighbor's lawn, back down the sidewalk, crossed the street and headed back towards the big pond in our area. Oh Canada.

We've added numerous games to our collection over the last month due to Ian's birthday and Mother's/Father's Day. We did some reorganizing and Emma helped. [She's actually playing with a bunch of "her games". They are empty boxes that we've filled with punched cardboard. Very entertaining for her.]