Yahtzee!

When I was growing up, we had plenty of games in our game closet, and I remember playing quite a few games with siblings. But my parents just weren't/aren't game people, so they didn't play very often, if ever. And that's okay - not everyone is into games.

But it has been fun to watch them over the last many years, as they have made a concerted effort to participate in activities which wouldn't be their first choice, because they want to do what their grandkids want to do. They have rollerskated, gone to really dumb kid movies, eaten at restaurants with kid-friendly foods, and even . . . played a game.  At least one.  I know this, because when we were at the cabin in Sundance we suggested playing Yahtzee and they happily agreed.

And we had a great time! We played in teams:

 

 Apparently Dan thought that scaring Aubrey would keep her from rolling a yahtzee??

And guess who won the Yahtzee tournament?  You got it - Grandma and Grandpa! They were a little excited!  
Since they loved games SO MUCH, for Christmas we gave them a few more games for their game closet!

A cabin in the woods

This Christmas break we stayed for three days in a cabin in the mountains near Sundance Ski Resort with Grandma and Grandpa Springer.  
We took long walks to enjoy the beautiful scenery and clean mountain air,

We saw some wild turkeys,

 and were happy to play in the snow (there was no snow in the Salt Lake Valley).  We had brought a truckful of coats and winter gear to keep us warm.

The snow was icy and wouldn't pack or form into a snowball (despite our best efforts), 

 

but it was white and cold, 

 

and turned our noses and cheeks red.

 

Bailey and Aubrey explored all sorts of snow-inspired sports:

Snow ballet

Snow yoga (doing the cobra pose)

 And snow fights.


We spent lots of time playing foosball
 

and playing drums. (the cabin had a big Indian-type drum. Joseph was so enamored with it that we had to set limits on him . . . he was able to pound on it for one minute per hour. That way we all stayed relatively sane.  And did you know that Grandpa Springer has always wanted to learn to play the drums?  We think Grandma should buy him a drum set to keep in their new cabin!)

Dan bought a puzzle for Joseph, and then Dan spent hours obsessively working on the puzzle until it was completed.  Joseph was sort of interested in the puzzle but mostly cheered on his Dad.

We found a hammock outside, and Aubrey and I relaxed while drinking hot cocoa. After we figured out how to both get into the hammock without spilling to hot cocoa on ourselves!

 

Bailey had a bad cold, so she stayed inside while we relaxed in the cold hammock.

Aubrey and Joseph were brave enough to hot tub in the snow. They talked Dan into swimming with them a few times.

One day the water was so hot that Dan poured snow in to cool them off.

Great outfit, Joseph!  Hmmmm . . . what seems to be wrong with this picture?

We held a talent show on our last night in the cabin.  Joseph's talent was throwing a football back and forth with Dan. Aubrey's talent was doing a dance she had recently performed in a musical production.  Dan and I showed off our yoga skills.

And Dan and Joseph demonstrated push ups.

As we left Sundance for the valley, we were happy to see a smidgen of snow on our car. Not enough to make into a snowman, but we were happy anyway!

We have many wonderful memories of our time with Grandma and Grandpa at the cabin.  Stay tuned for the next post: "Yahtzee at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa!"