Halloween Adventure

For the first time we went trick-or-treating in our own neighbourhood. Last year Minoo & Rumi were at a party, so we trick-or-treated in another neighbourhood.

The first part of the adventure was choosing the pumpkin.





Next was a visit to the graveyard. It just so happened that they were giving away free pumpkins, so we visited the graveyard. This is not a Halloween ritual for us.



Someone was very tired on the way home.



Once we chose our pumpkin we carved it into a Jack-o-Lantern.



Rumi dressed up as tigger.


We went trick or treating with our neighbours Anakin and the lion.



The first house we went to was the Travers's.



We got to see the duckies.




We got to choose candies.



Rumi looked adorable.



After we got home Rumi dumped all of his candies on the table and sorted out his favourite type. Rumi is very generous, running downstairs to make sure Daddy takes some of his candies to work, but there is one candy he won't part with...

Our First Sunday Morning Devotional

This morning we have had our monthly children's devotional meeting.



We had lots of fun!



Playing with toys.



Having brunch.





Playing on the computer.



After all that Rumi was very tired :)

Gordon's Visit

It has been quite a while since I have contributed to our blog. My friend Gordon has been visiting Victoria from Russia, so we got together with Peter to play some games.



We started with Leonardo Da Vinci that I hadn't played since the days in Haifa. In Leonardo Da Vinci one plays inventors vying for the acclaims of Leonardo Da Vinci. It was Peter's and Gordon's first game and since I hadn't played in a long time it was like a first time for me. I just read the rules to them to teach them and refresh my memory. They learned fast, because Peter won with 52 points, Gordon came second with 51 and I came last with 48. It was a very close game. I am happy that I achieved my goal of making an invention of each type, but I didn't have enough Florins at the end to win.



After Leonardo Da Vinci, we played three quick games of No Thanks!, which is a very fast, but very good number card game with chips. The idea is to get stuck with as few points as possible. Gordon won two of the three games with Peter winning the other. I came in dead last in all three games, but I redeemed myself by winning our final game of For Sale, a game where you bid on "houses" and the sell them later. It is also a very fast and fun game!

Last Regular Games Night for a While

Sadly it is true: we are suspending our regular games night for the summer, but don't worry, I'll never stop gaming.

Our last games night was a small affair, with just Minoo, Omid and I. We played Shadows over Camelot and had a really exciting game that went down to the wire, but we won in the end!

Games Night Revisited!!!

We had a quiet games night tonight with only Janine and Peter showing up. This was good, because I have a lot of 3 - 4 player games that don't hit the table very often. We started with Tikal, which I taught them both. I had been dying to play this game again, because I had only played it once, but I had really liked it.



I must have taught them well, because Peter beat Janine by only two points and I came last. All three of us enjoyed this game.




The night was still young, so we played a game of For Sale. It was the first time for both of them.




Peter won the first game and we all enjoyed it, so we played another one. Janine beat me by two points!

Another Successful Games Night!!!

We had a smaller crowd last night, which was just fine. Richard, Josie, Janine and Peter came, so we played a single game of Caylus.



It took a long time, because it was a new game for everyone except me, but everyone seemed to like it and it was fairly close especially for second place, with two points separating three people. I managed to win in the end, being able to build two blue buildings, Richard built the one that had the most points though.

Games Night II - Marathon Games Night

We had an excellent games night this week. Peter, Janine, Richard and Josie came and we played a game of Saboteur and everyone got their character right this time ;). Unfortunately I was too engrossed with the games and hosting to remember to take pictures (I have to remember the blog!), except right at the end. Janine and I were the Saboteurs in the first round and we successfully thwarted the dwarves. In the Second round it was Josie and I as Saboteurs and the Saboteurs again won, so I ended up winning the game, as we cut it after two rounds when Omid, Farid and Trista came.



After much consultation, negotiating and bargaining (a game in itself) Railroad Tycoon and Kremlin won out.

I really enjoy playing Railroad Tycoon and am glad I bought it as others also seem to enjoy it too. It is a mammoth game and almost takes up the whole table. Trista, Josie, Farid and I played Railroad Tycoon. This was a tight one. I was two points behind Farid at the end, but because I had achieved my goal and he didn't I edged him out by 4 points. That was my best game yet. I think I am getting the hang of it!



Meanwhile Omid and Peter taught Richard and Janine Kremlin. The original Party Chief managed to stay for five rounds and then Janine got power, but was not able to get a single wave, but she hung on and won in the 11th round. The longest game possible. Way to go Janine for you first game.



The hunger for Kremlin was not satiated, so we ordered a pizza and played another game. This time it was Josie, Richard, Omid and I. This game was quite different: the Party Chief died in the first round and Viktor Wasolin, the youngest character, replaced him with Richard in control. He waved in the first three rounds and Richard won the shortest possible game.

To round out a long night Josie, Richard, Omid and I played For Sale with Omid taking it quite handily.

Restarting the blogging after more than a year

A lot has happened in the past year and we have neglected our blog. Just to bring everyone up to speed: Since our last post we had an excellent month in India and then moved to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where we have been living for almost a year now. In keeping with tradition my return to blogging will be about a games night.

We had a games night on Friday and it went very well. Peter, Janine, Farid and Trista showed up and we had a rousing game of Puerto Rico with the expansion. Everyone had played before except Janine. The game was very close with Peter ahead of Trista by one point and Janine in third by another point. It was a good showing for Janine's first game. Farid was three points back in fourth, while I was in last by quite a bit. I realized after my first turn that I had played badly, but thought that I was coming back. Next time I'll be more competitive. I hope to make this a weekly event every Friday.