Eve turns 3!

Eve turned 3 today and we had a very, very, kitty day.  Well, mostly the party.  And the cake.

She was not a fan of the candles, however.

Each balloon had a kitty made of felt with pixie sticks for whiskers.  They were a hit.

So was the Siamese kitty to add to her collection.

Sandi made this sweet mat for Eve and did a pretty good job, if I say so myself.

And here's Claire!

Claire Bear-ito Hits the Big 6 MO!

Where did time go?  Can't believe this sweet thing has been part of our lives for a half year already!  Love her!!!

Gameapalooza 14: MarioKart Wii (or Gameapalooza Redeemed!)

After the last game, thankfully the GameRandomizer (tm) gave us something enjoyable (Sorry Jeff!), MarioKart Wii.  We hadn't played this game in a while, maybe in even over a year, but after a practice race,we got back into the swing of things.  Despite my extensive Nintendo gaming resume, this is the first MarioKart that I've owned; and let's be honest, the N64 was meant for GoldenEye and nothing else.  Even though it is included, I would not recommend using the actual wheel, but the controller/nunchuck combo, as it is more precise and accurate.

Mike: 8

Sandi: 8

Gameapalooza 13: Word Mastermind. What fresh hell is this?

One of my 4 least favorite brothers gave this game to us.  And, despite the title, this is much better than the color version.  The box claims it was once "Game of the Year" and from the people that brought you the "world's best selling game." I feel sorry for those in 1975 if either of those statements is true.

I actually think that we spent more time dividing out all the stupid letters (and it is international for those that are fluent in Danish, or other Nordic languages because it didn't seem to have ANY characters for Portuguese or Spanish. JEFF) than we spent playing the game.  So, that has something going in its favor, it is actually faster than the regular Mastermind.  And even if you can't guess it correctly, you have far fewer opportunities to guess, so the pain is over quicker.  That's what I call a win-win-win.  And even though I'm writing this post, Sandi actually won, but I really wanted to let you know how stupid I thought this game was.  There are much better letter/word games out there that far surpass this "game of the year."

Mike: 4.5

Sandi:  8

Gameapalooza Game 12: Big Boggle

Big Boggle is way better than the 4x4 Boggle because the smallest size word you can write down is a 4 letter word.  It's pretty fun although I don't think I ever got serious about Boggle until I met Mike's fam.  We had a pretty fun game tonight.  Also, Eve asked us if we were going to play "her" game since I let her play with this sometimes. 

Ratings:

Sandi - 7.5

Mike - 6

Mike's note:  I don't think I've ever won a game of Boggle; though I've abstained from plenty, probably because the competition in the Archibald home was pretty fierce from all parties.  I mean, it was the first game that we actually had a trophy that the winner got to put their name on.

Gameapalooza Game 11: Qwirkle

Qwirkle is a pretty fun game.  It involves forming rows of all the same shape but different colors, or all the same color but different shapes.  Whoever lays the final tile in the row gets a "Qwirkle" and scores 12 points.  If you add a tile that isn't the last (6th) tile then you just score one point per tile in the row you have added to.  Anyhow, it's kinda cool cause every game ends up looking different and it does actually take a little strategy which I always appreciate.  I would recommend this game and I give it a rating of 8, Mike's rating: 8