Family Funk

Family Game Day Reviews

The kids always get at least one new game each at Christmas, which means for the first several weeks after Christmas we’re playing new games over the weekend. And, because I’ve mentioned two in passing, in other places, I am thinking some game reviews are in order.

First, “Last Word“, the perfect game for me to WIN because I always have the last word. Or else! And sure enough, I won. But that’s not really the point of a game review is it? The players were the three little kids, me and TW. RJ, she’s 12, did not enjoy the game. At all. But then, she often doesn’t enjoy games that she’s not immediately good at or games where many other players are better (or luckier) than she is. Liz did enjoy the game but I did not enjoy playing it with her. She’s an enthusiastic, cheerful game player, which I like, but I prefer enthusiastic, cheerful game playing that is actually errr game playing, not playing around.

The way Last Word works is each player has a “topic card” – something like “animals you might see in a zoo” or “things you see in a craft store”. A “letter” card is turned over and your job is to decide if you can think if things that start with that letter and fit into your topic. If you think you can, you turn over your topic card, shout out a word that fits, start a timer and then everyone is able to shout out words that start with that letter and fit the topic. The person who had the “last word” moves a space. Sounds easy, doesn’t it. It isn’t all that easy. And it really isn’t all that easy when the letter “N” is turned over and the enthusiastic, cheerful player turns over her “Words that describe Australia” topic card, yells out “NOTHING!” and starts the timer. I’m sorry. No, I do not accept that.

Anyway, it was amusing for four of us but not anyone’s favorite game, as far as I could tell.

The next game from the new stash was “Don’t Quote Me“. Guess who won? (blushing, why yes, I did!) Guess who did not enjoy the game. At all. (Yes, that would be the 12 year old.) Guess who was the most enthusiastic, cheerful player. (Yes, that would be the 9 year old.) I think most of us liked this one better, maybe. It has the potential to be a darn good game, if you lose the sour puss who doesn’t like it when her sister gets the EASIST questions and she gets the HARDEST questions every single time.

The object of the game is to move around the board by figuring out the person or character who said the quote. If you can guess correctly without any hints, you move three spaces. If you can guess after two tiny hints, you move two spaces. If you guess correctly after hearing three choices, you move one space. Yes I’m proud of my wrestling knowledge and also proud that I know diddley squat about race car drivers. I was sorely disappointed in some people’s knowledge of Star War’s quotes and equally disappointed, though not surprised, by some people’s knowledge of Star Trek quotes.

If someone asked me to play this game again, I’d be game.

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Pigs are cool

1 Comment / Animal Issues, Daily Dose, Family Funk, Kid Talk / denise

RJ needs to do community service as part of the Lyceum program at her school. We’ve been thinking about where she might want to put in some hours and I thought – “Hey, the pig sanctuary.” Sure enough, Rooterville welcomes children volunteers and the very nice Elaine responded to my email and graciously invited us out for a visit.

We went out yesterday and wandered around the sanctuary, meeting the pigs and talking about what type of help we might be able to offer. Then, we went out again today and spent a couple of hours cleaning food and water bowls and pools, brushing pigs, and adding hay to the pens to help keep the pigs warm tonight when the temperatures are expected to drop.

If you live in the Gainesville area and are interested in helping the folks at Rooterville take care of displaced pigs, please drop Elaine a note, she can use some help.

More pig sanctuary photos here.

*Updated: You can sponsor a pig!

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Quick Question for the Masses

4 Comments / Daily Dose, Day to Day, Family Funk, Friends & Family, Holidays, Movies & Television / denise

I thought I was going to post a real blog post but Surfette didn’t text me and tell me to write so I just kept on working and I’m still working and will probably still be working two hours from now.

I do however want to take a minute to ask a very important question…

Which one of you sent TW a Slingbox?

A package arrived yesterday (or maybe it was late last week?) and I thought it was that last thing for Prince J that didn’t arrive in time for Christmas so I didn’t bother opening it. As I was talking on the phone some time this afternoon, I glanced at the box and saw “Sling” and thought “Huh. Why would that box say “Sling”?” So I hung up and opened the box.

Slingbox. Which was on TW’s wishlist but since she doesn’t watch TV, Santa did not bring it. So which one of you sent it? Who do I ~~kill~~ thank?

Now, back to work I go.

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Restaurant Reviews: Folly Beach & Beyond

2 Comments / Family Funk, Travel Log / denise

I hadn’t planned on doing restaurant reviews from our trip to Folly Beach right after Christmas but since I wanted to talk about the restaurant we didn’t manage to go to and I have some pretty decent iPhone camera photos from restaurants we did manage to go to… a restaurant review post was born.

First, the restaurant we wanted to go to put couldn’t. The Daily Dose. That’s the one that people search for and always wind up on my blog rather than on The Daily Dose website. I was really really interested in going there and we gave it a try on Saturday morning, shortly before we were supposed to be at a birthday party for my ex sil’s son. Damn it, they are closed on Saturdays. What kind of restaurant is closed on Saturdays in the greater Charleston area? Insane and it made me want to go even more than I had wanted to before. All I could do was take photos from the dirt parking in front and sigh deeply as I turned around in search of another restaurant to feed the starving beasts in the back of the van.

When we couldn’t eat at The Daily Dose (on Highland Ave sort of across from Chick-Fil-A near Camp Rd) we backtracked and stopped at the Sweet Water Cafe (on Folly, though there are locations on Market and in Summerville.) The folks in the parking lot were interesting and that is always a sign that you’re in for an experience. Luckily, it was a good experience. All of the reviews I’m seeing call this a “50’s diner” but the oldies music and black & white photos of old movie stars don’t make that a “50’s diner”. Yes, there was some diner food but there were also some pretty trendy vegetarian dishes on the menu. Between us we ordered everything from an egg & cheese sandwich, to a Reuben, to a mushroom something or other to a burger club. All were excellent. The fried green tomatoes, raspberry mocha and iced mocha were also hits around the table. They weren’t quick, diner style, but the waiter apologized several times for that so maybe they are usually a little quicker? I don’t know, didn’t matter – we had a good time and the food was good. We’ll go back.

On Folly Beach itself, I somehow got wrangled into ordering a “14” Woody” which caused quite a few jokes and laughs over the weekend with the youngest children trying to figure out why that was so funny to the rest of my crazy family. Woody’s made great pizzas, the Greek Salad was also good, their delivery was quick and the delivery driver was cute (according to Michelle). He was also pleasant and friendly.

We stopped into the Dolphin Deli for a late lunch/early dinner and were glad we did. Liz was grouchy and wasn’t interested in eating… until about 5 minutes before our orders were brought to the table. She asked for a bowl of chicken soup and it arrived with the rest of the food; it was good and she was in a good mood again. The hummus sandwich I had was good but there was a LOT of hummus on it and I had to remove some – there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Prince J had a Reuben that he enjoyed and RJ had a cheese steak sandwich that pleased her. I can’t remember what TW ordered but whatever it was, I don’t think she had any complaints. Michelle had a club and she ate pretty much the whole thing, which never happens. The waitress was super friendly in a way that beach restaurant waitstaff often are not. It was nice and completely unexpected.

The Lost Dog Cafe on Folly is hugely popular and was very busy on a Friday morning which is to be expected because the food is good and it’s pretty much the only place to get a sit down breakfast on Folly, especially a couple of days after Christmas. A couple of the kids are in search of the “perfect cinnamon roll” and they didn’t find it at Lost Dog but they all insisted it was in the running. The yogurt fruit granola thing that RJ ordered was gorgeous and apparently very good based on the noises she was making while eating it. The special was a portobello mushroom croissant sandwich and it was awesome, as was Michelle’s breakfast burrito. Those who ordered specialty coffee and tea drinks were pleased, I just had the house coffee and it was good.

So there you go – a few great food experiences in Folly Beach and James Island. Next time, we’ll give Planet Follywood a try along with the Daily Dose!