"It was a Butler... in Pain... in a Trunk... in Cement..."

I'm fresh from a game of In A Pickle, and oh, boy, my sides ache from laughing!!

The Husbandly One and I love playing games of In A Pickle with the kids, because not only do we get into hilariously silly word strings, but... our kids learn to think on their feet, they learn to use their skills of persuasion and argument, and they learn to think creatively while justifying their choices.

It's a win-win, because while THO and I are demonstrating the skills we want our kids to learn, we're also getting a glimpse into the way they think. And, disturbingly enough, they're getting a glimpse into how we think!

So, while we started with a cheeseburger eating moose in a bedroom, the Impossible Son added that it was all in fear, and he had to justify that all of that would fit in a fear, and we had a lively (and somewhat hysterical) discussion about irrational fears, and THO wasn't quite convinced that fear of a cheeseburger eating moose was the same as the fear of being watched by a duck. However, the Impertinent Daughter chimed in that she was sure there were many Americans who were afraid of having a moose in their bedroom, and that she, herself, would be very disturbed by a moose in her bedroom, and if it were eating cheeseburgers, that would definitely cause mental scarring for life.

I had pretty much laid my head down on the table at this point, in helpless tears of laughter.

So, once Mr. Impossible, with the help of his sister, had won his case, I decided that all of this was in the mind of a girl, and I got the pickle.

We've had a great deal of fun with this game, probably more than we're supposed to, because with our geeky brains, we probably get a whole hell of a lot more mileage out of the words than most people would. Come on, seriously, how many people would look at the words, "Venus Fly Trap," in their hand and think, "OMG, I know just how to use this!!" and go on a word string that has a Reflection of a Venus Fly Trap in a Mirror on a Submarine in a Parade? Or starts cackling with glee when they see, "Nun," and end up with Ants in a Nun in a Marriage (we didn't say she was a good nun) in a Warehouse in Paris?

Whenever someone goes a little too weird or too far, the rest of us make that game show buzzer noise, "EEEHHHHHH!!!" and "No, no, no, sorry, can't have a blimp in a cat, even if the cat is as big as a house, or a toilet in an elephant, because even if an elephant is bigger than a toilet, how would it get in there? An elephant is big, but has a small mouth!"

I won't even go into the arguments to justify how a toilet can get into an elephant!!

Of course, as the game goes on, we all get more desperate to not lose a turn, and it just gets crazier and wilder until we're all laughing so hard that we can't breathe, and I just ... can't help but find it so awesome that we can all do this, that we all get to do this together. To be as nerdy and silly and just plain goofy and... life is good.

Yeah. Life is good.

When Mom Plays Kingdom Hearts...

Thought y'all would get a kick of my daughter's point of view when I'm playing games on my DSLite. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days in particular.



See, my main character, Roxas, doesn't always do what I want him to do, and... for some reason, he seems to spontaneously burst into flames... even when there is no fire even remotely around. I mean, I've used no fire spells, none of the Heartless he is fighting are using fire spells, he just... bursts into flame.

Personally, I think he's depressed because he has such an inept player controlling him, but I could be wrong.

However, I am getting better, though right now I'm stuck trying to kill the ... er... Leech Grave or Leach Grave, I'm not sure which, but it's a nasty one that... well, it'll probably take me about four or five weeks to figure out how to kill it. *sigh*

However, I am vastly entertained whenever I switch to Mission Mode to have Donald Duck as my character, and watch him waddle/hop through Twilight Town to whack Heartless with his magical staff with a "Waaa-Whoa!!" and then watch him throw a temper tantrum of epic proportions when he gets hit back!!

It's a good thing I play solo in Mission mode, because I spend most of my time snickering and giggling and putting poor Donald in dangerous situations just to watch the mad hopping up and down and the furious Donald Duck cursing he does!!

Hee!!