Morning always comes ... really really soon in El Paso. It hardly seems I've closed my eyes when it's morning already. The scorching sun comes up way before six o'clock and there is no way to lessen the brightness of it. It's been really hot here ~ the kind of hot that keeps you inside for most of the day just because it's completely unbearable to be outside in it for very long. And I am a person who loves to be in the heat and the sunshine whenever possible. So trust me when I tell you that it is HOT here!
While Emma was at school this morning, the boys and I studied a little bit about sharks. Mostly because I brought along a Scholastic book about sharks and then we decided to see some videos of great whites and other kinds of sharks too. Both Chris and Matthew drew lots and lots of pictures of sharks ~ look at Chris's beautiful drawing!
When Emma came home from school, we all decided to play some new games. Actually, these were not new games for me at all. I brought a book of games that I've had for over 25 years. I bought this when my boys were little, but I can't remember the exact year. I just know that we were traveling somewhere and this book of games was purchased to take along with us on our trip. Anyway, it has games from all over the world that are famous and some of them are very ancient ones.
The one we played today was called "Dalmatian Pirates and the Volga Bulgars" ~ what??? I know that's a very odd name for a game, but this game was actually a favorite of Queen Victorias (in the 1800's) but it was already hundreds of years old at that time ... it's similar to our Fox and Geese game that we play on a checker board. It takes quite a bit of strategy, no matter if you are the pirates or the city folk. I'd try to explain the game to you, but I'm afraid it's a bit complicated. The kids took to it right away, though, and we played several rounds of it (Chris and Matthew are playing it in the picture below). Emma, however, is playing a game of Solitaire that was invented by a French nobleman (who was in solitary confinement at the time). Tomorrow, we're going to try to play a game called "Hex" and another one called, "Hasami Shogi."
We had a really nice day together, ate some yummy pizza for dinner, read Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" and then settled in to watch an old movie favorite, "An American Tale" together before bedtime. I'd forgotten how cute that movie was! Everyone enjoyed it and then ... bedtime! But right after tucking the boys into bed, we girls did some serious meal planning and then snuck out and went over to Walmart to grocery shop. I'll try to post some more pictures tomorrow ...
1 comment:
Sounds like good activities for hot days. Are the swimming pools open?
Interesting games. Glad the kids got into them and were challenged. It was a teeny bit cooler here yesterday. Take care.
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