playing
Playing Cards
Games
Bowling and Cards
Traveling always risks bad weather; coming to Poland, for us it seems, just about guarantees it. After several lovely days (how many? four? five?), it's supposed to rain. Every day. For the rest of K's and L's stay in Poland.
Still, we make the most of what we've got, like using leftover meat from rosol to make pierogi for lunch, or using the rainy weather to chop a little wood for Babcia.
After lunch we met with K's brother's family for some more bowling. This time, we took two lanes, and the adults played as well. That was a mistake: my long-injured finger began aching again, and I made it through two frames before I decided that it might be less painful to have my finger in a vice than roll even the lightest bowling ball available.
Afterward, we all headed back to Babcia's for games and conversation. Hearing the cousins laugh and argue and joke together is a lovely bit of chaos.
And finally, I talked the girls into the first of several photo recreations. The original image is from 2008, when L was a year and a half old and S was a year older. They barely fit into the tub together now.
Monopoly
Some of E's friends came over for the day. They ended up playing Monopoly -- at last, someone to feed the Boy's addiction. I always feel a little guilty not being willing to play that game with him, but I swear we're all so sick of it that we'll be happy if we never play it again. All except for the Boy.
Dice
For whatever reason, the Boy has become interested in dice -- as in, the game. As in the gambling game. I'm not sure where this came from. He just came back from a trip to Target with K (or some other store) with a pack of six dice.
He learned how to play by watching a video after he bought the dice.
"How do you even play?" he'd asked.
"I've no idea," I admitted.
So he's learned and been playing betting with Monopoly money.
It's been entertaining watching him celebrate when he wins and get playfully frustrated when he loses. We're glad to see he's not really taking it too seriously -- that might be problematic for all kinds of reasons.
Today, I picked up where K left off in their game and promptly lost all my stash of $500 bills I'd inherited from K. "It's not real betting: why not just go crazy?" I thought.
And then I promptly won them all back. And then all his $100s. And his $50s. And his $20s. In short, all his money. His response: "Well, happy Father's Day!" with a smile.
The Boys in the Creek
E's best friend came over for the afternoon today. At first, they did what boys these days do: play video games. However, we have no gaming console in our house at all. No Xbox, no Play Station, no Nintendo Switch. In fact, I only know those things exist because I hear students and teachers talking about them at school. And of course, E brings them up occasionally.
And it's a little surprising, to be honest, how many adults with no children or with grown children still invest time and money into gaming systems. To each his own, I suppose, but I always thought there was a time when people outgrew video games.
Not having a gaming system has several advantages, not the least of which is the simple fact that since we don't buy games for our PC either, E's gaming options are severely curtailed. Which means he and his friend grow tired of them eventually and head outside to find other things to do.
Like catching minnows in the creek behind our house.
As for the Girl today, she was out of the house for most of the day: physical therapy, volleyball strength training, and driving instruction took almost all her day.
After Dinner Play, Redux
When your kids ask if we can do the same thing after dinner as we did yesterday, and it involves laughter and the dog, of course, you say yes!
Playing Cards
K has been teaching the Boy how to play tysiąc. He’s getting the idea, but in the end, he still prefers a good game of war.
Just like he played with Babcia:
Snow Days 2022 — Day 1
Take 1
I could hear the ice striking our windows in the early morning. "It's not supposed to start until early tomorrow afternoon," I thought. Still, I got up and checked.
We had about three inches on the ground already, and it was still snowing.
The Boy had only one thing on his mind: "Daddy, when can we go out? When can we go out?" Since it hasn't really snowed since about 2018, this is the first snow he's experienced since being in kindergarten.
He certainly made the most of it during our morning session.
Take 2
In the afternoon, the girls finally joined us.
And the dog had a chance to play.
Take 3
Evening -- one must take a walk in snow in the evening.
