games Archives - Ordinary Grandma

Vacation Time – West Yellowstone, BearWorld

Vacation time– Road trip to West Yellowstone and BearWorld. Yes, summertime is here and that means vacations. Whether you take a long road trip or a short road trip, just getting away is fun. We just returned from a fun 3 day getaway with my middle child Jared and his wife Kinlee and there cute little family of girls ages 8, 5, 2. We didn’t go far away, but where we went and what we did was so fun. We decided months ago, that we would go up to BearWorld just outside of Rexburg, ID. I have been there with my other 2 sons and their families, and it was time to take Jared and his family. We rented a large SUV that would hold the 7 of us, and we loaded up on a Thursday morning and away we went. This trip was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Jared’s home. We played several games in the car such as “I’m going on a trip and I’m going to take…?”. This is a fun game to while away the time in the car and reduce boredom. We started at the beginning of the alphabet, and each person had a turn to take something with the letter that fell on them as there turn came around. They really enjoyed it, so we went through the alphabet again, but used “I’m going on a picnic, and I’m going to take…?”. We really had fun. I had been to the “Dollar Tree” several days before the trip, and had picked up some car bingo games that came with a marker that could be erased and the game used again. The girls really enjoyed that also.

In our travels, we went to some BEAUTIFUL falls that were named “Mesa Falls”. These falls are located just outside of Ashton, ID just past Rexburg, ID. There are Upper Mesa Falls and Lower Mesa Falls. The view and scenery were breathtaking. It’s a little bit of a hike (not a hard one) to the upper falls, but well worth it. If you are into camping, there are campgrounds located close to the falls. It is a well paved road and if you follow the road on past the falls, it will eventually take you to Henry’s Fork by Island Park, ID. Coming down from the falls, in the little town of Ashton, there is a little old fashioned soda fountain, (I can’t remember the name darn it) where we ate dinner.

We also drove to West Yellowstone, and on the way, went exploring for a place called Big Springs. This is in Island Park, ID. It’s a little bit off the main highway, but a fun place to explore. The girls had fun here also. There is a little pond, where the water bubbles up from underground springs. No fishing, swimming or wading. It is so clear, that you can see tadpoles swimming around in the water. There are also campgrounds located by Big Springs. In West Yellowstone, there is a fun museum all about Yellowstone and the beginning of visitors there. They have a couple of fun games for the kids to do as they go through the museum looking for things. The girls loved this. It took us a while to find some of the things on the list.

BearWorld was the whole plan for the trip. I enjoy going to BearWorld. I think it’s a little expensive, but the girls all had fun. This is a place where you can drive through a large area where the bears roam around. As we got close to BearWorld, the youngest granddaughter with us, Berlyn, couldn’t wait to see them. She just kept saying, “I’m so cited, I’m so cited”. We had to really slow down to almost a crawl as some of the bears were crossing the road. They have a petting zoo (no bears) with goats, deer, chickens, pigs that is fun. There is one goat that knows how to turn the feeder knob with his nose, and pushes the other goats away.

On the way home from the trip, the girls were sad our fun trip was over. We really did have a fun time, and will probably go back to this little part of our world again. We stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Rexburg, ID which was really nice, and offered a hot buffet breakfast each morning.

All of the things we did on this trip can be found on the internet.

Playing Bonco and having ladies night out

I LOVE playing Bonco and having ladies night out. After working all day in a very stressful job where I communicate with people all day long, I like to relax with some fun ladies and play Bonco. Mostly the night consists of talking and laughing. I love each of my Bonco buddies as if they were my own sisters. We laugh together, cry together, give advice, take advice, plan weddings, and just enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes we even add new rules and mix things up.

If you don’t know what Bonco is, it is a game of chance. Yes, a game of chance. 3 dice, a score card, and a tally sheet and the fun begins. 4 people to a table. Picture a card table with someone sitting on each side. The person right across from you is your partner and you start rolling the dice.

Each month we rotate who’s going to host the event and we enter one of our homes for food, fun, and GREAT company. We’ve had marriages, grandchildren, we’ve listened to travel diaries, shared recipes, deaths of loved ones, surgeries, sitting in a hot tub,building new houses, reviewing books we have just read, BUT best of all, it’s the cheapest therapy you will ever find. Some nights we have laughed so hard, that our cheeks hurt. Some nights we have cried with each other. But all in all we enjoy each others company.

Each one of these friends is a VERY SPECIAL FRIEND. Each one has different talents, lifestyle, ideas, recipes, family life, work life, and yet we all become one on Bonco night. No one tries to outdo anyone else. We are all on the same level playing field.

The best part is, at the end of the night after hugs all around we all go home rejuvenated to start fresh the next day, to strive to become a better person.

This is a shoutout to my Bonco buddies. Love each and every one of you.

Stay tuned for some really good recipes from the bonco buddies.

I love playing games with my grandchildren

I LOVE playing games with my grandchildren. Sometimes it’s a challenge for everyone to play the same games, but we manage. My 8 yr old granddaughter Ady loves, loves, loves to play games, and is really good at understanding the rules. I spent a weekend not long ago tending 3 of my granddaughters while there parents had a weekend away. I took a new game up to their house with me, and taught them how to play it. We played Blokus, Headbandz and a game about the states. Ady’s pretty good with games, and enjoys beating me. We played the Headbandz game until we had exhausted ALL the game cards. A couple of weeks later, they came down to my house to stay for a couple of hours, and I got some of my games out. We played Yahtzee, Rack-o (one of my grandsons Nyxon calls it Morocco), Connect 4 and Race to the Treasure. Even the 4 & 5 year olds like to play some of these games. I treasure every minute I spend with my grandchildren, and like to listen to what they have to say. l I have learned that Ady has to be singing a song while she concentrates on playing games. I don’t even think she knows she is singing, but her perfect little voice is so cute to listen too. I have learned that Lainie plays for a few minutes, then is off doing something else. I have learned that Nyxon likes to shuffle the Rack-O cards his way (they end up every which way) and that is OK. He also plays by his rules. However, they are learning. They are learning rules, they are learning how to take turns, and they are learning how important relationships are. They are learning in life you don’t always win, or always get your way. These are all good life lessons that will help them throughout their life. I will always have time to play games, read books, or just plain talk to my grandchildren about whatever it is they need to talk about.

New Years Eve Celebration

What do you do for your New Years Eve Celebration? I have loved watching how the different countries around the world celebrate New Years Eve as it starts the evening out with some interesting celebrations.

We have some fun friends who live by us that host a New Years Eve celebration party at their home every year and invite many, many, many people. It is filled with good food (potluck style), white elephant gift exchange and a fun game that some people really don’t like to play but are good sports about it. This game brings out interesting information about your friends and neighbors. They pass out index cards and pens to everyone. You then write 3 informational things down on the index card. Two of the things are truths about you and 1 is a lie. When everyone has their 3 things written down, you take turns reading your 3 things, and everyone else decides which thing about you is the lie. We have also played this same game a little different, after everyone gets there 3 things written down, 1 person collects the index cards, shuffles them and then passes them out randomly, we then try to decide who the person is AND which thing is the lie. You can really learn a lot about your friends and neighbors. The hard part is that we have played it several years, and trying to think up new things is becoming quite challenging.

Our white elephant gift exchange is very simple. All gifts are put in the middle of the floor, and it goes by birthday month. For example, January birthdays go first, and each person with a January birthday pick a gift one at a time. The first person opens their gift, then the second person can choose a gift from the pile in the middle of the floor or steal from someone who has already opened a gift. After 3 steals the gift is safe from any future steals. We have had some funny, funny gifts and some gifts that return year after year to be regifted.

Since we are all of the “getting older” generation, we usually end the part quite early, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your New Years Eve celebration as you wish.

Family Christmas Traditions

How many of you have fun family Christmas Traditions. Traditions takes on many meanings, but I’m going to let you in on some of my family traditions, specifically family Christmas traditions. I will talk about other traditions in other blogs, but for today, I’m going to talk about our family Christmas traditions. I think we have started several traditions, but some haven’t been continued due to family getting married and moving away.

Before my boys married, we used to drive around on Christmas Eve and see what eating establishment would be opened. In the “olden days” as my boys say, restaurants used to close for Christmas Eve, they no longer do that, and stay open at least for the dinner hours. One year, it became a laughing matter, and my boys still reflect back on it, and have a good laugh. We drove to many establishments that year, but they were all closed. I honestly don’t remember if we ever found a place to eat, or if we just went home. Sometimes now, we go out on Christmas Eve, but make it an early night, so that the grandchildren that are close can go home at a decent hour. This year however, Christmas Eve was a quiet evening spent at home just me and Papa Ron.

Also one tradition that we started is a fun gift exchange that we really enjoy. Not your normal gift exchange, but one we like to do that for now just involves the adults as the kids are still a little young to understand the concept. In the beginning, we would buy a $15-$20 gift, wrap it, and then bring it to the family Christmas party and do the normal pass the gift games. However, they last couple of years, we have done “themes” for the gifts. Last years theme was “homemade”. The rules were simple, it had to be homemade and you could only spend $15 in supplies. What a creative family I have. My oldest made a clock out of a cigar box and his wife made flavored olive oil and bread. My middle son grows wonderful roses from cuttings off of the roses in my yard, and that was his gift, his wife made a wooden Christmas sign. My youngest son made a fleece blanket and his wife made a JOY sign on a wooden board. I made a step stool out of 2X4’s and my husband tied a flannel quilt. One of my daughter in laws is from Hungary and her parents are also with us on Christmas and join in the fun. Her mom made Hungarian cookies and her dad made a candy and nut mixture. We then did the normal pass around the group game. This was really fun. This year for 2016, our theme was “as seen on TV”. Your limit was $15 dollars and you had to purchase something that was advertised on TV. What fun we had. We didn’t do your normal, left, right game, but instead I wrote a game from an idea I had seen on Pinterest to pass and exchange the gifts. We wrapped each gift 3 times, so we had 3 rounds to open the gifts. I made the instructions for each round rhyme, and round 2 I personalized for all the adults that would be involved. Each person would trade their gift with several others before there turn was through. The ones that ended up with their own gifts had the choice to keep it, or trade with someone else that ended up with their own gift. I thought it was really fun. I’m not sure the kids were totally on board, but they were really good sports. We are all going to use our products for a month, then I will do a product review for each of our “as seen on TV” gifts. We haven’t come up with a theme for 2017 yet. I’ve got some good ideas though so stay tuned.

Because gifts are opened so quickly, we played games this year to incorporate the unwrapping of gifts. We also had other games with prizes to keep the grandkids occupied. They LOVED this, especially the wrapped prizes. I’m already working on next years games and prizes. Keep reading Ordinary Grandma throughout the 2017 year for our ideas and more fun things to come.