I like to play games. Matt’s ambivalent about them, so while Matt was out of town last weekend the boys and I played several games. One of our favorites is Ticket to Ride – Europe edition.
Hayden wins. Almost always. One of his tricks is to get the 8-train tunnel that gives him 21 points… he also works to make the longest train, which adds another 10 points.
He beat me the first game we played last weekend. He’s green, I’m yellow.
He also beat me the second time we played… same colors: he’s green, I’m yellow. Yes, he beat me even though I managed to snag the 21 point train at the top of the board!! 
That’s a good thing, right?!? It means I’m doing something right in regards to his education, right?!? At 13 he’s smarter than me!
And for a more physical game, ping-pong. We have had a winter here in Texas. As in, freezing rain, frost, and pretty chilly temperatures for Texas. Because the ground is so muddy the boys have mostly been trapped inside, and it turns out that Papa’s Christmas gift to Hayden has saved the day – several times!
Indoor table tennis! Even Buzz Lightyear enjoys the action. (Mom, however, hides in her room because this game can get a bit noisy.)
And no, this nothing to do with games, but it was too funny to ignore: That night as I went to bed I could hear the music basting from Parker’s room. (I’m sad to announce that he has grown out of Mountain Lake white noise and he now prefers to listen to Adventures in Odyssey or some playlist a brother has created for him.) I knew I’d never get to sleep with music that loud so I went in to turn it down and found him asleep and this playing… loudly…
He cracks me up!
thehamricks 
Love Ticket to Ride!
It’s my favorite!
We love playing it too! We have the U.S. Version but I do need to get us the Euro version since we are currently here 😉