Game-a-thon

It's no secret that our family loves games. In fact, the Schleichers, Walquists, and Vaudts all grew up playing games from a young age and still enjoy game-playing at every family event. So, when Jason and I suggested that we implement a regular family gathering exclusively for playing games, everyone readily agreed. You might even say that they were all game. (ha ha!)

Jason and I hosted the first event at our home. The first thing we did was have dessert and then vote on our event name. Game Fest and Contest-a-palooza were close in the running, but Game-a-thon came out on top. Then, Jason insisted that we have an opening ceremonies. Our boys started the "torch" passing...

and the torch was then passed to every family member around the room.

Even the littlest Game-a-thon participants handed off the torch.

A few more hand-offs...

...and then, thanks to Ian, the torch was "lit!"

Our first series of games were designed just for the kids. You'll notice that Ian and Ryan excitedly wore their new ninja costumes for the first-ever Game-a-thon event. The first contest was a sort of relay. Two at a time, the boys scooped a cupful of water from this bowl...

and then dumped it into the blue bowl at the opposite end of the lawn.

Obviously, speed was important, but the boys soon learned that the faster they ran, the more likely they were to spill. Needless to say, all 4 boys were fairly soaked by the end of this little game! :)

The next game was similar-- a cooperative game transferring ice from one bowl to another using only plastic spoons.

The boys each had their own strategy for balancing the ice-filled spoons.

We had to hurry before the ice all melted in the Texas heat!

 After that, we did a brief game of hide-and-seek around the yard with tennis balls.

Then the boys had to toss wiffle balls into these tennis-ball targets.

After a few tosses by hand, the boys could use other objects to guide the wiffle balls into the correct place.

The last game we played was Shark Attack tag. The adults took turns being the shark...

...as they tried to tag the "fish" running back and forth across the yard.

Eventually, the kids took turns being the shark,

and then it turned into just a full-out game of tag. The boys LOVED this!

We cooled off with some homemade Jell-O popsicles. Yum!

Once all the kids (or at least the older ones) had gone to bed, we adults played a few games of our own. We each selected a game, assigned it a number, and then rolled a die to determine which ones to play first. Stone Age was the first game-of-choice. LOVE this game!

We ended our night with Guesstures (a perfect game for a laugh!) but didn't get a picture of that one. We love living close to family and having the opportunity to plan get-togethers like this one. Our hope is that the Game-a-thon event continues for years to come!