Family Time

Tonight we had some high quality family time playing "Hungry Hippos" and "Candy Land." When we came home from church the children asked if we could play a game after I opened the coat closet to put my coat away. My response was that we could after naps, and this time I actually remembered. After Benjamin and Bekah finished their dinner, we went to the game closet and pulled out a game. We each picked which color of hippo we wanted to be and set up the board accordingly. Bekah wanted to be pink, of course, and Benjamin picked orange, like a tiger. Then we dumped the marbles on the board and started "eating."

Bekah was very innovated at getting the marbles when her hippo wouldn't grab the marbles fast enough. She simply reached into the middle of the game and grabbed a handful of marbles or she held the mouth of her hippo open and dumped the marbles down its throat to the storage tray. When all of the marbles were gone from the middle of the board we filled up the launch trays and announced "shoot 'em" and enthusiastically shot all of our marbles into the middle of the board, laughing when the marbles bounced off the board because of the force with which they were launched. Then it was time to "eat" the marbles, to which we furiously pounded our hippos to see who could get the most marbles and the last marble. Benjamin usually won the most marbles, and he and Dad would be head to head on getting the last marble.

Upon on completing a good 10 rounds of "Hungry Hippos," Benjamin announces that he wants to play Candy Land. Bekah latches onto that idea with a gleeful, "Candy Lan! Candy Lan!" while running in place excitedly. So we put the one game away and got the other one out. We made it through one whole game with the attention of all family members remaining constant in order to have Bekah make it to the end first with Benjamin a close second. Bekah loved turning over the cards, but didn't quite grasp the concept of moving her piece around the board. Benjamin did a great job of identifying colors, counting spaces, and making sure that everyone's pieces were facing in the direction they were suppose to be traveling.

It was a wonderful way to spend part of our evening. I can't believe how fast our kids are growing up! I love being able to play board games and card games with my children. I love spending time as a family and doing things that we all enjoy. I love being able to laugh with our children and watch as they learn new things. Watching how their minds work is the best magic I have ever experienced.