PAX South 2015

Zach surprised us with an awesome family date in January. He got us tickets to PAX South, a game convention.

Being large with child, I tried to take it easy while meandering through the halls. Zach found different groups to play games with and I took the girls around to explore the booths, activities, and various photo ops.

For dinner we went to a Brazilian steakhouse that was located across from the convention center. It was delicious!

Lucy had I had a great time collecting buttons from all the booths and putting them on her lanyard. She also sweet-talked herself into several photo ops with cos-players.

This picture is by far my favorite. I can't help but laugh every time I look at it.
The Warriors and Confused Baby.

Heaven! She's in heaven!

This costume was really impressive.

This girl was working it.

Lucy putting on a show while dancing to "Happy." This guy was a great sport to dance with her. They drew quite a crowd.

We had a great time at the convention. The only down side was that we were hoping to meet some local people to invite over for game nights, but unfortunately all the people we met were from out of town! Maybe next year.

Grilled Cheese Party

What do you do with all the leftovers from a cheese party?

Have a Grilled Cheese Party!

We invited our friends over for a dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup followed by an evening of games. It was the perfect use of so much leftover cheese. I love cheese, and love it even more when it is melted.

Mouth-watering.

So many delicious choices.

I enjoyed a grilled sandwich of pepper jack, swiss, mild cheddar, and ham. It was so good dipped in a warm bowl of tomato soup. Yum!

Zach's was easy to make: just ham.


What is your favorite grilled cheese combinations? Any recommendations?

Family Night: Pizza Night

We had a super fun family night with our friends a few weeks ago. They invited us to their home for homemade pizza and games.

They provided half the ingredients, and we brought the other half. Each person made their own personal pan pizza and picked out their own toppings.

The pizza was delicious! We ended up making them again the following Saturday night and inviting them over to our home for pizza and games. Double fun!

I am definitely adding homemade pizza into our regular menu after this.

This was mine: Garlic Alfredo sauce, fresh spinach, arugula, mushrooms, pineapple, Canadian bacon, grilled onions, jack cheese, and chicken. Yum!

Lucy making her pizza.

Assessing Lucy's pizza.

Making bread sticks.

Lucy and M's pizzas.

Yum!

One guess who this cheese-less pizza belongs to. 

The "use all the leftovers" pizza.

Don't Break the Ice

Don't mind me and my smoke pipe.

Don't Break the Ice was a great choice for a family game that everyone could play. It was also a great opportunity for Lucy to learn about taking turns, and following the rules of the game.

We had a great time combining with our friends for family night, and it has reignited my desire to be more faithful in having it every week.

Box O' Fun

Everyone knows that the box the present comes in is way better than the present itself. 

Zach was generous enough to share his box of packing peanuts with Lucy. She enjoyed herself immensely. 

Gift Guide

I really enjoy giving gifts and don't mind spending money on something as long as I know the person receiving it will love it, but sometimes it can be hard to know what people will love!

Personally, I love it when friends and family members have an Amazon wishlist so that you can pick something that they will definitely be happy to get. (Because they picked it out and requested it.) You can even add things from other stores/websites to your Amazon list so that all your dream items can be found on one easy list. There is also a place to add comments on each item, such as size and color preferences, and a way to itemize each item by priority so that people looking at your list can see which items you want the most. 

One last reason I love Amazon wish lists is that I can buy someone a gift spur of the moment and it will automatically be delivered to them. You can even buy e-books for people and they will be able to download them to their own e-reader. So handy. It makes gift-giving easy and stress free, and the recipient is always surprised and delighted to get something they have been wishing for. 

For some people this registry format of gift-giving spoils all the fun of giving a gift. I still think wish lists are effective in these cases as a resource to see their tastes and preferences. Wish lists are helpful either way, even if you decide to stray from their specified list. 

Here is a gift guide I've put together for the different people in your life to help get the ideas flowing.

For Couples: 

1. Movie ticket vouchers with a note attached including your services as a free babysitter for when they use them. 

2. A new board game in the same vein you already play with them, and you know they like. 

I recommend Curses and Avalon for anyone that loves to laugh. 

3. Gift card for a local restaurant. 

For Sisters:

1. Faux-fur Snood

2. Hanae Mori: My new favorite perfume

3. Fortune Cookie Box

For Moms:

1. Glitter Tart Server

2. Chocolate Fondue

3. Bringing Up Bebe by: Pamela Druckerman

For Dads:

1. Tickets to a favorite sporting event, concert, or play


2. DVD set of their favorite television show



3. Magazine subscription to Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, etc.

For Teens:

1. Teenage Beauty by Bobbi Brown

2. Comfort Chair: Great for camping, sports events, and picnics.

3. Birchbox Subscription: For her, or him.

Or an Ipsy subscription. 

For Kids:

1. Crayon Maker: Recycles leftover crayon pieces into new crayons. You can even combine colors to make new colors.

2. Sun Art Paper Kit

3. Crayon Rings

For Brothers:

1. DIY Music Box

2. Curious Lists: A Creative Journal for List Lovers

3. WeWood Watch: So many cool watches to choose from.

For Your Sweetheart:

1. Love Stories from Story Corps

2. Letter In A Bottle

3. Gift certificate for a couple's massage




What kinds of things would you gift for these categories?

What is on your wish list? I always like hearing recommendations!