Category Archives: Games

2026, Family, Games, Kids, Uncategorized

Gaming

22 Comments

Since my retirement in October I have been increasingly addicted to online games. Most are from the New York Times. I play them on my phone.

I play Wordle, Strands, Connections, and Spelling Bee. The other games on the NY Times are a little frustrating and I don’t care much for them. I like word puzzles better than visual puzzles.

Wouldn’t you know that the New Yorker, to which I also subscribe, has a crossword puzzle in every magazine, as well as other word puzzles online. Husband has become addicted to those, and we played the online ones every day.

Grandson loves word puzzles, and I plan to play them with him when he is here this week. He always asks me to play puzzles.

What are your favorite games?

2026, Games, Gatherings, Mysteries, sports

Fan-Girl

27 Comments

Who would have thought that at I, who has eschewed all sports for 70 years would become a fan girl?

Banana Ball caught my eye on Facebook last year.  They are similar to baseball although they have a different rule structure (games only 2 hours long, no bunting, scoring is different, trick plays are encouraged, tickets cannot be resold for a profit, if a fan catches a foul ball – that’s an out, etc) and they have lots of entertainment and silliness.  This is what I like best.

They sell out everywhere they play and you have to enter a lottery to even get tickets.  The lottery for 2026 was in October last year and by the time I entered, there was no hope.  I joined a fan group in the spring and it paid off.. I got a notice that a bunch of single tickets were going on sale.  You can’t believe how fast I got online and scooped up a ticket for this past Sunday.  You may remember that YA doesn’t care for Banana Ball so I didn’t have to feel guilty that I picked Sunday afternoon when I knew she would be out of town.

Driving downtown and paying exorbitant parking doesn’t do anything for me so I took the bus (love the $1 fee for us oldies but goodies).  Just a couple of blocks from the bus stop to Target Field.  It was a sell-out, 39,000 folks.  I was in the “nose-bleed” section – five more seats higher and I would have been in the stratosphere.  But I was right behind home plate, so a fabulous view.  And of course, these days, everything is filmed within an inch of its life so you can see all the action on the big screens as well.

From the Stratosphere

Some of the fun was the baby race.  Unfortunately most of the babies were more interested in crowd-watching than racing.  Just one baby thought heading toward mom was a good idea but still a very slow good idea.  Hilarious

Baby Race – Kinda

It was a close game and everyone was on their feet for the last two batters.  The Coconuts took the game—WOOT.  They are my favorite team although I will admit it’s only because I like their team colors the best (and their catcher)!  I had to buy a t-shirt.

The Shirt

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see another live game, but I did just discover yesterday that all their games play on Disney+.  Watched one in the afternoon – they cut out a lot of the entertainment but it was fun anyway.  I definitely won’t stop watching the FB clips!

Have you ever been a fan-girl or fan-boy?  Any fan merchandise you’ll admit to?

2026, Food, Games, gardening, Gatherings, Uncategorized

County Fair

32 Comments

The last time I was at the MN State Fair was 43 years ago on our honeymoon. It has been even more years since I attended the Rock County Fair. It was always an exciting time, and it got even more fun after I joined 4-H. I did horticulture and sewing projects. When I was in Grade 8 I got Grand Champion on my terrarium project, and that led to my first trip to the State Fair.

Last week Husband, Boommate, and I went to the Rock County Fair. It is held in Luverne. Boommate hadn’t been there for many years as well, and neither of us recognized the fairgrounds with all the new construction and exhibit buildings. There was the same collection of carnival rides and food booths. The Rock County Pork Producers had a stand selling great bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. Like the State Fair, we also have a machinery hill, but on a smaller scale.

I remember my cousins showing their Chester White pigs at the fair, dousing them with baby powder to make them pretty. It was fun to be in the animal barns and see all the livestock up close.

We also toured all the 4-H and open class exhibit building to see all the prize pickles, garden produce, tallest field corn, photography, and 4-H educational projects.

Husband spent more time at the fair than I did since he helped the county DFL group set up their stand in one of the commercial buildings and hand out brochures. . My paternal grandfather was one of the founding members of the Rock County DFL party, and I am tickled Husband is getting involved with them.

Our fair isn’t all pigs and canning. The following photos show what else went on. I thought the cannon display was interesting.

I don’t think we will make it to the State Fair this fall, but the County Fair was a delight and I am really glad we went.

What are your early fair experiences? Were you in 4 -H or similar organizations? Ever been to a tractor pull?

2026, Food, Games, Kids, Seasons

Slippery Summer Fun

33 Comments

Slippery Summer Fun

Today’s post comes to us from Krista.

I think I’ve mentioned growing up on Cannon Lake and spending most of my free time swimming. I loved swimming, loved everything about the lake.

I don’t know where Mom got the idea, but one hot summer day, she took a large watermelon and spread Vaseline all over it. Then she tossed it in the lake and told us we had to bring it in so that we could have it for a snack later.

We spent most of the afternoon trying to “catch” that thing. It slipped away with every touch. There is nothing on a watermelon to grab hold of, and a greased one in the lake is a slippery challenge! No one was injured in this game, and everyone was exhausted. I don’t remember who, but someone was finally able to get hold of it.

When we got out of the lake, we were slick with petroleum product and water. We all had to shower before supper.

What unique games did you play as a child? What fun challenges did you give your own kids?

2025, Family, Food, Games, holidays, Kids, Seasons

Christmas Eve Chaos

34 Comments

When I was growing up, there were only two holiday celebrations – both on Christmas Day.  In the morning it was just me, my sister and my folks opening gifts.  We opened one at a time, in order of age.  The next person couldn’t open anything until we had all sufficiently ooohhed and aaahhed over the current gift.  Then later in the afternoon, my mom would host Christmas dinner.  This was a potluck; Nonny did not like to cook, so hosting a dinner in which she cooked many dishes was not an option.  The attendees were different every year, depending on who was in town for the holidays.  I have 11 cousins but it was a rare Christmas when there were more than three of them joining us.  Quiet.  Christmas for me was quiet growing up.

Fast forward.  YA and I have been celebrating on Christmas Eve with some of my oldest friends (Alan and Julie) for 25+ years.  Back then there were Julie, Alan, their 3 girls, me, YA and usually a couple of Alan’s sisters and a few cousins.  As the kids got older, Alan’s sisters moved away but were replaced in number by boyfriends who then became fiancés who then became husbands.  Then the grandkids joined the fray.  14 of them.  No, not a typo.  The kids range in age from 1½ to 17.

This year Christmas Eve started out with about half of the kids snowmobiling/snowboarding; I thought it would tire them out, but I think it just revved them up.  Stockings first – Julie does those and they are low-key affairs: a mandarin orange, little pack of Kleenex, a candy cane and this year, each kid got a placement that Julie quilted for them with fabric chosen for each grandchild.   Gifts were next and that’s when it got a little wild.

We always start out going by youngest to oldest, but that breaks down pretty quickly, especially when someone chooses their Ukrainian egg box or their ornament box (I always wrap these in take-away boxes – perfect size).  Then everybody opens theirs at the same time and then the order of gift opening usually goes awry from there.  One of the sons-in-law is a bit of a neatnik so every gift that is opened, he supervises where the wrapping and ribbon and tissue went so he can scoop it up. Once we’re all opening packages willy-nilly, this gets a little stressful for him but we can’t convince him to relax about it.

A couple of the older kids started the “it’s a box” joke when taking off wrapping paper.  Then the younger kids took the joke and ran with it.  For the rest of the evening, every box was met with a chorus of “it’s a box”.  The teenagers had tired of the joke at this point so there was a lot of sighing and eye-rolling by a couple of them.

Several of the kids received stuffed animals and Howie, who is 9, got a capybara.  I guess they’re popular right now and Howie was smitten with it.  Its little legs were just the right size that it could sit right on top of Howie’s head, where it stayed for at least an hour, even when the unwrapping was done and the kids were split into various groups, playing some of the games they had received.

The noise levels are so far beyond what I either experienced as a kid, or am used to these days that I find myself just sitting back in wonder.  When YA and I carried our stuff to the car and headed home, my ears almost rang from the silence.  And when we got home, it felt so chaos-free (even with the dog excited that we were home) that I breathed a little sigh of relief.  I love them all but glad the chaos doesn’t follow me home!

Any fun/chaos/noise to report this week?

2025, animals, Games, home, pets, Uncategorized

Annoying Pet Games

32 Comments

We have owned various terriers since 1989. One thing we have learned with them is that everything in life is a series of games, dead serious games that must be played to their fullest.

Our current Cesky Terrier is no exception. If he isn’t tugging viciously with his Wubba and dashing its brains out, he is chewing vigorously on his squeaky ball and tossing it around the room at our feet. You can see it in the header photo. We used to get him squeaky yellow tennis balls, but he can eviscerate those in 10 minutes, so we got him the rubber Kong ones. Those last a couple of weeks.

The dog would tell you that our frustration with his current obsession of tossing the balls at our feet while we sit in the livingroom is entirely our fault. We should have taken him and his squeaky ball to the furniture store in Sioux Falls when we bought the new sofa. arm chair, and matching ottoman. Then we could have made sure there was enough clearance under the furniture for his ball to roll under and for it to hit the wall and roll back out, or for us or him to retrieve it easily. As it is, he tosses the ball, he tries to grab it before it rolls under the sofa, and if he misses, it is stuck and he sits and cries until we retrieve it for him. This means we can use the Swiffer floor sweeper to sweep it out, get down on our hands and knees and reach under and grab it, or move the furniture. This happens multiple times a day. It is exhausting.

I tried to solve the problem by stuffing thin throw pillows under the sofa and chair to block the ball. We haven’t enough of them for all the fronts and sides of the furniture, so I plan to buy swimming pool noodles and cut them to size and see how that works. The games must go on. The only thing worse than a gaming terrier is a bored terrier.

What are your favorite games to play? How about your pets?

2025, Family, Food, Games, holidays, Seasons

Counting the Days

41 Comments

YAs current advent calendar (yes, she still gets an advent calendar even at the age of 30) is something I put together several years ago – decorated envelopes that are clipped onto greenery with cute teeny clothes hangers across the dining room windows.  Gift cards and the kinds of sour candy that she likes.

As you know, that’s not the only advent fun we have around here – there are advent calendars of all kinds out there now, making it easy to indulge.  You know I’m not doing the wine anymore and the shortbread bit the dust, the gingerbread was awful.  The cat and the dog weren’t remotely interested in theirs.  Even a high end chocolate one a few years ago wasn’t to our taste.  But that doesn’t stop us from checking stuff out.  This year we have:

  • A small post-it sized pad of simple pictures that I can color.
  • My color-by-number app has a different advent picture each day
  • Advent jigsaw puzzle (small box of 42 pieces per day)
  • Milk chocolate
  • Cheese

Day One of Advent Jigsaw Puzzle

As if we can’t throw ourselves into this kind of thing enough on our own, we have friends who are now abetting us.  One friend sent me an online advent calendar by Jacquie Lawson (an online card creator).  It is quite elaborate and fun.  Another friend gave us a World of Chocolate (this is different from the little milk chocolate calendar I mentioned above).  Neither YA nor I are big dark chocolate fans, so we’ll have to see how this plays out.  The biggest surprise this year was a delivery from a couple we know of a Bonne Maman jams/jellies calendar.  For the first day I took a picture (the header photo) and sent it to my friends.  Wonderful.

So, yes, we’re a little crazy here but it’s a fun, low-key way to enjoy the season.  And we’re pretty good at jettisoning the non-fun stuff if needed!

Do you celebrate the season?  Tell me how!

2025, Games, Media, sports, Uncategorized

Just Bananas!

37 Comments

In the “nothing should surprise me” arena, I have discovered Banana Ball.  If you haven’t heard of Banana Ball, try to imagine the Harlem Globetrotters but with baseball instead of basket ball. Specially made banana balls, outrageous uniforms/outfits, trick plays, dancing… just a bit different:

Banana Ball started with the Savannah Bananas in 2016 and competed as a summer collegiate team for several years.  In 2018 they started playing exhibition games outside of their regular season and in 2023 they switched to all exhibition games against three partner teams:  the Party Animals, The Firefighters and The Texas Tailgaters.  Supposedly there will be two more teams added next year.

It kinda looks like baseball but there are some different rules:

  • Innings are worth one point each.
  • The team scoring the most runs in an inning wins that point.
  • In the final inning, every run counts as a point.
  • Time Limit: Games have a two-hour time limit, and no new inning can start after 1 hour and 50 minutes.
  • No Walks: Instead of walks, a “ball four sprint” occurs, where the batter sprints to first base and can advance until every fielder touches the ball.
  • No Bunting: Bunting is not allowed and results in an automatic ejection.
  • Stealing First: Batters can steal first base on any wild pitch or passed ball.
  • No Mound Visits: Mound visits are prohibited to speed up the game.
  • Fan Involvement: If a fan catches a foul ball, it counts as an out.
  • Stepping Out: If a batter steps out of the batter’s box, it’s an automatic strike.
  • Showdown Tiebreaker: If the game is tied after the time limit, a one-on-one showdown between a pitcher and a batter determines the winner.
  • Golden Batter Rule: A team can, once per game, substitute any batter into any spot in the lineup.
  • Challenges: Both teams can challenge certain umpire calls.

This appears to be pretty popular and they are playing to sell-out crowds wherever they go.  I haven’t been sucked in enough to watch whole games… and I don’t know who the various players are… yet.  But Is a lot of fun to watch all the Facebook clips – glad to see them having fun and not taking themselves too seriously.

Do you think mainstream sports should be more entertaining?

2025, Family, Food, Games, Gatherings, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather

Fear And Cold

32 Comments

We have been at our son’s home since Friday, and the cold weather has made for a great deal of family time. Son, Daughter in Law, Daughter, Husband, me, and Grandson are all here together. There has been lots of time playing Uno, putting together jigsaw puzzles, doing art projects with grandson, cooking big meals, watching the first two How To Train Your Dragon movies, playing with the Westie and the cat and sleeping late.

I have been a nervous wreck since before we drove here on Friday. The cold frightens me more than it used to. I have developed great anxiety anticipating driving in this cold weather, mainly surrounding the van breaking down in the middle of nowhere and then freezing to death.  We were supposed to go to see my 93 year old aunt yesterday in Watertown, SD, about 40 miles north of Brookings, and I was so relieved when she phoned in the morning to say she had a cough and a fever and we shouldn’t come. Husband has been going out to start the van at intervals and even drove it into town yesterday, so he is keeping the engine warm.

This cold weather is unprecedented in my experience, and I am really worried about the trip home on Tuesday. The subzero windchills aren’t supposed to let up until Wednesday, and I might try to convince Husband to stay another day and leave on Wednesday. We have lots of blankets in the event of a breakdown. The van is working well, but you never know!

What do you have in your winter survival kit in your vehicle? How are you coping with the cold? What are your favorite indoor family activities?

 

2024, 2025, Fantasy, Games, Kids, sports, Uncategorized

It’s a Hobby

40 Comments

When YA was seven, she wanted to be a “horse girl” for Halloween.  Took me a bit by surprise because she hadn’t shown any particular horsey interest up to that point.  We had fun putting the costume together.  Nonny bought the cowboy boots, I got her a hat and a stick horse.  The jeans and shirt she already had.  I still have that stick horse in a corner of my bedroom.

Imagine my surprise last week (while I was wasting time on my phone while Nonny did her morning exercises) when I stumbled on a website for Hobby Horse Championships.

This is a real thing.  It’s called “hobby horsing” and if you look it up on Wikipedia there is a note at the top, in italics, that says “Not to be confused with Hobby Horse polo”.  That made me snort coffee up my nose.  HHing was apparently born in Finland and started to make waves in 2017.  Most participants are young girls, between the age of 12-18.  Classic horse-loving demographic.  These days there are quite a few national competitions (most in Europe) and the largest gathering of 2024 was at the end of August in Finland.  The United States’ games were the beginning of August.

I doubt YA will be interested in this; her infatuation with horses ended after a couple of summer horse camps when she was in Girl Scouts.  But you never know.

YA’s stick horse needs a name.  What do you think?