The Greats

There is nothing more special than a great-grandparent. 

Over the past few weeks, Cal has been introduced to three of his "Greats". My Grandma and Grandpa Sandee ventured out to Chicago a few weeks ago to spend some time loving on their very first great-grandchild. We had such a nice weekend full of great conversation, a little puzzle and domino action, and lots of baby holding. It was so fun to introduce them to our lives here in Chicago and watch them proudly dote on the newest member of the Sandee gang. My hope for Cal is that he grows to love his family as much as these two do.

The following weekend, Calvin was introduced to another Great when we were home visiting family in Minnesota. Great-Grandma Ruhl or "GG' as the kids call her, was all smiles holding little Cal. It melt my heart to see her smiling at and singing to her youngest great-grandchild. At 87, her short term memory may frequently fail her, but listening to her sing the same songs to Cal that she once sang to me and her own children years ago reminds me of just how much she is still here with us and how young she is at heart. And while she may not be pushing him in a swing outside singing, "How would you like to go up in the sky? Up in the sky so blue... ", the girl sure can sway and rock a baby to sleep just as she has for so many years. Yes, the maternal instinct runs deep. And boy does it bring out the love in her. 

Cal is one lucky boy. He will have no shortage of Great love as he grows to know and learn about his wonderful family.

A Little Family Fun

Bowling has been a Ruhl family favorite for as long as I can remember.

With the whole family together for Easter we decided it was the perfect excuse to head out to the ole bowling alley. Check out our moves...

Sarah's back is still healing so she used this hilarious ramp.

With a little beer and a few geeky ramp jokes we had the perfect afternoon with the whole family.

Fun was had by all.

Maybe a little too much fun..

But let's be honest, how can you not have fun when you wearing shoes as sexy as these?

Mexican Train

The game obsession is in full swing at the Ondrey house these days. It started off with puzzles, then onto Yahtzee and now ... wait for it... Dominoes!!

As a kid dominoes were used for one purpose and one purpose only. You know exactly what I'm talking about. The "game" in which you would carefully line up each and every tile in the longest line possible and knock them down, and repeat. Now don't get me wrong, there is something so satisfying about creating the perfect cascade of domino tile goodness, but we have discovered an even better use for dominoes.. Mexican Train!

Mexican train, a game we learned from my sweet Grandma Sandee, has been a family favorite for some time. During Sarah's recovery we spent hours and hours sitting around the table with our little trains. The game has now caught on with Jakob's family and they are loving it too. I'm serious, it's addicting!

Now, I couldn't possibly describe how to play, it's something you just learn as you you go. If you are really curious, you can consult the wiki gods and go here for more info about the game.

Give it a whirl!

Yahtzee Baby!

Along with puzzles, Christmas break brought another old gem to the forefront of our lives again.. Yahtzee! A game I had not played for years and Jakob had not played EVER, we have now become semi-obsessed. I think when you play a dice game in bed that it qualifies as semi-obsessed.. don't ya think?! Yahtzee, in my book, is the polite version of poker. You still get to holler out phrases like "full house baby" and "take that straight" without emptying out your wallet, it's perfect. (Wow!.. my version of poker sounds pretty lame!)

Go dust off your Yahtzee game and give it a whirl.. or better yet cheat and print off the score cards online and dig out a few dice. Before you know it, you too will be sneaking in one last game before you go to bed!

Who knew 5 little dice could be so much fun?

I Have a Confession to Make

Over Christmas our lives took a turn for the nerd. At first we came up with excuses.. "I have a cold" .. "it's too chilly and snowy outside" .. "I have nothing better to do" .. "my brain could use the workout"... etc... etc. Before long the excuses went out the window and the words I thought would never leave my lips came forth "I FREAKING LOVE PUZZLES!"

It all started by digging out an old puzzle in the game closet in the hopes of killing some time one afternoon.

A simple 500 piece puzzle.. and then another... and onto 1,000 pieces.. you get the picture.

Before long the addiction took hold and we were all racing to the puzzle as soon as we got in the front door.

Sneaking in a few pieces before the Christmas Eve church service.

Late night puzzling into the wee hours of the morning.

Taking turns crawling on the floor looking for a few missing pieces.

Fighting over who got to place that one final piece.

Celebrating a puzzle well done.

Marveling at the finished product after hours of staring at hundreds of blue pieces.

This year, we chose to forgo fighting the mall crowds or seeing the latest movie. Instead, family bonding took place over a puzzle! A PUZZLE.. ridiculous? Yes! Nerdy? Oh hell yeah! Fun? Absolutely!

Whew! I've confessed. It feels good to get that off my chest!