The art of board gaming

I have always been a fan of board games. They're just fun! I could play for hours with anyone willing to give their time to me as a kid. As an adult- I still enjoy them, but its harder to find the time- or the right age group...

Alyson for the past couple of days has been asking to play a board game. The trouble is- I sent all our games packed to our storage unit since no one has asked to play them in years... but there has been a couple that escaped the box and are still lying around. One is Rummikub. Jared and I love this game. We used to play it every Sunday with his parents (or Scrabble) but it has been just sitting around for the past Nine years because we haven't found time or energy to play- and no one has been old enough to play. FINALLY- Alyson is old enough- 8! The problem: One missing tile. So- yesterday I told her we couldn't play. I looked and looked for places I thought I had seen the lone tile, but to no avail. Today when she came asking to play a game- I thought- oh why not? its missing a tile... I'll just make up the missing tile in case we need it... it's still a fun game! And she took to liking it fast! We played 3 rounds!! I finished preparing dinner, we ate, and she played with her friends. But- seeing how its not very late yet, maybe we'll get in another game tonight! Quite possibly, board gaming has once again bloomed in the Brewer household!

Skype- fabulous!

My dad is leaving to Iraq on Sunday. He is going to be an electrician contractor- or something like that. He's not in the Military- but it feels like he might as well be... at any rate- he asked all of us kids if we'd download skype so we would have a cheap (it's free computer to computer calling) and a way to still see eachother- if we have a web cam. So- I downloaded it- and had my first conversation on it with my dad. It was very cool. Unfortunately, we hadn't bought our web cam yet, so he couldn't see us- but the girls were giddy with excitement that they could see Papa on the computer screen, and hear him talking. So- I went to wal-mart and bought a cheap-o model web cam, and had a conversation with him again today. He could see us this time, which was nice, but since I decided on the cheap-o model- the results weren't great. So- I might take it back and fork out the extra cash... I also found out you can have conference calling on skype- which I think is a cool feature- you can have family that can't be at family get-togethers- there- I'm thinking Christmas here. So- I'm excited to be able to talk to my dad while he's in Iraq- although hopefully the time difference won't be too big of a deal... :)

so- I found out how to put these "reactions" tabs on my posts. I'm wondering if there are people out there who read my blog, but don't comment, would at least say what they thought about the post. It's just to see...sometimes I read other people's blogs and don't comment- so I can't be too worried about my lack of visitors- although I do have a few- and I appreciate the comments! Thanks Shara and Lisa!

My friend Lynette was so nice to e-mail me a "flour-less" cake recipe she found online. I'm new to the gluten-free thing for Jacie- and I'm always looking for cake recipes that aren't hard to do- and "flour-less" was perfect. They taste a lot like brownies- and I probably need to make this a few times for it to come out just right....but I'm sure Jacie and the rest of the family won't mind!

Here is a picture of how long Ben's hair was in the back...

Ben FINALLY got his hair cut last night! I must say, he does look better. The long hair in the back just had to go.


Even though it was sad to cut the long curls on the sides, he looks so much better! So much more like a boy, too.

Here is the trail from our campsite to the water.
Easy fishing access!


Alyson enjoying her food by the fire.

Jacie taking it easy by the fire.

Where's Rachel? Everytime she got too cranky, I would send her to the next campsite over. It was pretty quiet at the campground on the days we went, so the picnic bench was a perfect place to send her when she wouldn't stop whining. Maybe next year she'll learn to love sleeping on the dirt under the stars! (We did have a tent, and an air mattress to sleep on)

We decided to go camping. Since we like to try and stay 2 nights, we left Sunday afternoon. It of course was raining- with thunder and lightning. We decided to brave it anyway. We went to our favorite campground, and set up camp. It looked overcast, but we thought we would escape the worst of it. We were wrong. It rained ALL Sunday night, and Rachel decided to let us know how much she hated camping by screaming all night. We were close to packing up and going home. As I layed there listening to her cry- and wishing I could sleep as well as Alyson, Jacie and Ben. They didn't hear her! How could that be? I think I may have gotten an hour or two after she became so exhausted she HAD to fall asleep. But I didn't get much. We also need to get a bigger tent. The sleeping arrangement was Ben, Jared and me on one queen bed, and the 3 girls on another queen bed. There isn't much room to put clothes and things either.

On Monday morning it was still overcast, but the rain had stopped. As the day went on, the sun came out, and we really had a good time. My dad, brother, sister in law, and their son, friend they were babysitting and their dog also showed up Monday evening. We ended up having a really good time. Jared had his boat there, so taking the girls on a boat ride was a lot of fun for them! I'm hoping that maybe next year when Rachel is a bit older- she'll learn to enjoy camping a little more. Ben will walking around by then- it should be interesting! We might be very brave and go camping over Labor Day Holiday... but I'm in no hurry to plan that one!

Alyson also got baptized because she turned 8. I'm short on the photos for this day, because there was so much going on and I thought I had forgotten my camera. There was also another ward there having their baptism service, and I didn't realize they had scheduled them so close to eachother, so I moved my stuff in the primary room in the middle of their baptism not knowing why they were there- I just wasn't thinking. So- my mom, dad, Ben and Jacie were stuck in their for the last half of the other baptism, and I was trying to help get Aly ready- and, well- it was a mess for me. Some other people did get pictures, so I might try and find them and post them. She got a new set of scriptures and her Grandma made her the scripture case, although it was more work than I had anticipated, so I wish I had just bought her one! But, we got through it, and I'm glad she had a memorable day.

Alyson's 8th Birthday

Alyson turned 8 this year, and as you can see- she clearly loves Littlest Pet Shop stuff. She also took the money she earned plus the money she received as gifts and bought another pet shop house. I'll have to get a picture of that later... We went to Papa's Pizza, and I think the kids had a good time playing together.

This is Alyson's Birthday cake. She designed it herself! I wrote the word spy- but she did the rest of the decorating!! When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted this year- she made it pretty easy for me- and I like easy! She likes spy type stuff right now- so this will be a good memory of her 8th birthday party

I had to post this pic of Benjamin in his camo shorts. We bought these when he was a baby and dad was so disappointed that he had to wait 6 months to use them! Luckily- Ben has been growing at a pace that he could wear them at 5 months.

Alyson in the pool

Alyson is not a fan of slides or diving boards, so for her last day of lessons she just practiced everything she learned and dove for rings. Here's her showing off one of her skills!

Swimming lessons

Today was the last day of swimming lessons. So- they had a play day- and Jacie was SO excited to go on the slide. She in fact, wanted to go down the small shooter slide- she is fearless! So here is a fun shot of her coming down into her teachers arms!