Gaming boys

This weekend it became apparent that the sweet little baby in the picture below, dozing in his father's lap, can now whup his father at pretty much any computer game he chooses.

Gaming boys - November 1999

The baby is also incredulous that his father had so much hair and games consoles required wires in 1999.  That's, like, so weird.

Photos of our Christmas - part IV

Christmas Eve. A calm, quiet, peaceful, bright and anticipatory day.

rolls still fresh and warm, for lunch, with soup

the last few presents get wrapped and labelled

sunshine casts shadows though the stained glass in the door, onto our Christmas cards in the hall

even though I've cooked these dishes so many times before, I still check oven temperatures, timings and quantities

G has the lurgy, but still wants to play Magic with C

Wishing you all the very best, healthy, and happy, Christmas!

Photos of our Christmas - part II

It turns out that today was all about the games.  I listened to Chopin and sewed all morning with the promise that I would then play games with the children all afternoon.

In between ironing seams, I taught O how to play Patience.  She is the sort of child (as I was) who could quite happily sit and play Patience quietly by herself for hours - even days - on end.  It is a game that makes me think of my Grandpa, who loved it too and who taught it to me when I was about O's age. 

Then when I had finished sewing we all embarked on a raucous game of Settlers of Catan.  This is possibly my favourite board game of all time and over the years I have bought it for pretty much everyone I know, I am so in love with it.  I bought it from this fantastic games shop  which has been a great source of inspiration over the years, but I see you can also now buy it from Amazon.  You need three or more players, but it is very straightforward for anyone about seven or older, so a perfect family game.

This is Cam battling very hard, right before I beat him with one move to spare!

And then when I went off to make well earned cups of tea for everyone, the children got out Pass the Pigs.

I find it very disconcerting that my children love this game so much, becuase I first learnt to play it at university, where it was the ultimate drinking game.  Different piggy combinations resulted in different swigs of drinks being knocked back.  Am I sharing too much?  The children just think the pigs are cute and like the idea of throwing them about and filling in the scorepad.

Other favourite games around here at the moment are:

• Scrabble - C was given it for his birthday, and he and O love it as much as I love Settlers of Catan.
• Carcassonne - O's favourite and another great discovery from Green Knight Games.
• Magic The Gathering - G and I have loved this for years.  We taught C when he was about seven, and I really need to teach O as well now.  It is a staple of camping trips and long train journeys, as it is so transportable.
• Uno and Happy Families - these were hot favourites while we were in France over the summer, but I am sure they will be putting in an appearance over Christmas as well.

What are your favourite board and card games?  Do you love playing games over the holidays, or do they fill you with festive dread?