For those of you who don't know, Jenny has spent the past two weeks (though it feels more like two months) in Scotland at a theater contest where one of her plays was being performed. Well, I must say, I am ready for her to get back, like, yesterday! Not that I haven't been having fun with the kids mind you. Actually the opposite problem. I've been spending so much time with the kids that I haven't gotten very much of anything else done.
But buddy, have been having a good time! Me and the boys especially have been nerding it up! I played Age of Empires II with William once, and now he and Michael ask to play it with me all the time. They still are trying to master things like... well... the entire game, but they have a blast doing it! I also finally bought another board game that I've been wanting to get for a long time. One of the new Dungeons and Dragons stand alone 4th Edition board games: The Wrath of Ashardalon. The recommended youngest age for players is 12, but Michael and William both love it! This is only the fourth board game I've gotten where the kids have asked me to play it with them on a regular basis. (The others are: Heroica, HeroQuest, and Munchkin. All of which are table-top role playing games.) But they especially love The Wrath of Ashardalon because of the highly detailed miniatures and the level of freedom of action within the game. We've already played through the first five adventures and we just got it a week or so ago! William's favorite character is the half-orc rogue, and Michael's is the dragonborn wizard. I usually play the elf paladin so that we have at least a little healing magic. Even if the boys make fun of me for playing a girl. :P
All three of the kids have also really enjoyed the time they/we've been spending with others. We had some new neighbors move in right next door about a week and a half ago. They have just arrived to the US from South Korea and were very eager to get to know us and have William come over to play with their eight-year-old son so that he could start being exposed to English. William had a blast! Of course, it probably didn't hurt that they're son is also a big fan of Minecraft and Legos... Well, since that first fateful day all three of our kids have gone over almost every day from lunch to dinner. I'm not complaining, since it gives me a little down time, which is nice. I'm just constantly paranoid that they might be wearing out their welcome. I mean, when I'm taking a nap and my kids who are next door wake me up, I figure they're probably being a little rowdy.
We also went swimming with another family that we've hung out with several times, and the kids had a blast doing that as well! Especially Carly! She and Michael (but especially Carly) finally got up the nerve to jump into the pool if I caught them. I had to remind them to not run along the pool after each jump when they were coming back to jump again. William, on the other hand, tried to drown the son of the other family by playing shark with him. :{
I also went and hung out with some of my friends at a game night. The kids played with some of the other kids while five of us guys played Scotland Yard. It's an older board game that has just recently been re-released. It involves all but one of the players trying to hunt down the remaining player before the game ends. We lost. But we had a great time and enjoyed a healthy helping of unhealthy junk food. :) I also went to a birthday party for one of my professors. I've been to their (very nice) house a few times before, and they have been to my apartment a few times when the kids were here, so I was hopeful that there wouldn't be any complications. Well, they had a lot of friends, colleagues and neighbors there, and I was the only one with kids. The kids did reasonably well for their first foray into the world of boring adult "parties". Though Carly did scream bloody murder when their dog jumped on her, and it took constant reminders to keep William from exploring their house in the guise of a monster spy. <sigh> They had an amazing array of wonderful horderves as well! Everything from goat cheese and salami on special bread to mushroom-filled little quesadilla-looking things. All very delicious! William ate salami and Michael and Carly cleaned out the fruit bowl. <siiiiiiigh>
In other news, during the past two weeks I did find out that Angelo State University had given the instructorship that I had applied for to another applicant. Oh well, it is actually kind of nice not to have to worry about moving again for another year or so. I also finished collecting the summer data for my dissertation. I had a pretty good response rate, so I'm very hopeful that I will not have to run my experiment a third time in the Fall. Now if I could just force myself to sit down and work. Well, maybe after Jenny gets back...
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