Games Night

I grew up in a family that played games. We played cribbage, Scrabble, Monopoly, Aggrivation, Balderdash and Trivial Pursuit, as well as all kinds of card games. I now own a lot of board games, but I don't get to play them that often. Mr. Freeze doesn't like to play any kind of game, board or card, the boys are too young and I'm a bit shy to ask my friends if they'd like to come over to play in case they think I'm even more nerdier than they already know I am.

A few days ago, of my band friends mentioned that she likes playing board games and that she and a couple other women in the band had been talking about getting together for a night of game fun. We decided that we'd get together Sunday and after emails and phone calls, I ended up hosting. (Damn cat allergies! ;-))

There ended up being 5 of us and we all had at least 2 games to contribute. We had Apples to Apples, Pictionary, Balderdash, Taboo, Cranium, Scrabble and two editions of Trivial Pursuit. there was one other game but I can't remember what it is called.

We started off with Balderdash. That game went pretty fast. I loved it when I was younger, but now, not so much. Most of us were able to pick out the right definition, and more than once, one of us gave a definition that was pretty close to the right one.

Then we switched to Taboo. But first we ate. Someone brought a cake, someone else brought chips and salsa, and I had a crab dip I'd bought plus I made my famous bean dip. We also finished the first bottle of wine and started the second. Weirdest wine name prize goes to "Cat Piss on a Gooseberry Bush".

Taboo was the most fun. We know each other well enough that we could often use our shared experiences to get around the taboo words. We'll play Taboo again.

Then we played Trivial Pursuit. We threw out the rules after a couple rounds. We gave hints and if someone else knew the answer, they could steal the pie, except it's not stealing when the rest of the players insist you take it.

We ended off the evening with Scrabble. Scrabble champs we are not! I got stuck with the Q. I think the highest word scored was worth 28 points, and that used a double word score, as well as forming a word across and down.

By that time it was pretty late (for us) so Mr. Freeze drove everyone home, so nobody drank and drove. I hope this becomes a semi-regular event!