Day of Games

Happy International National Tabletop Day! John was hosting an event at his library. I was happy to help. I packed more games than we could possibly use into my trunk.

I resisted the temptation to throw more in.

Once we were packed up, we headed to Shane's soccer game.

My plan was to let him run around and get tired before subjecting him to a car ride.

Energy was exerted. The field was a muddy mess.

Shane's continued the habit of trying to stay on defense. He's got energy in spades, but is surprisingly hesitant to spend it.

It's not like he sits still and rests on the sideline. He got in trouble for pouring out the coach's water to make a 'lake.'

Jeremiah is the other player who likes to hang back on defense. Maybe they're bonding.

Another game, another wave of high-fives and a snack for the road!

Two hours (and one Hank the Cowdog) later, we were at Tyson Regional Library. Cooley and several of Matt's JMU friends were already there. We used to play DOTA on Warcraft 3 with the guys, but Alex was the only one I'd ever met in person. It was great to reminisce ("Remember when we all made power ranger names?" "Or what about LN and how we became the Lithuanian National Team?")!

Shane inspected the fragiles,...

...but John was smart enough to bring other entertainment options for him.

With Shane on the Switch, I was able to socialize with less distraction.

John and Cooley ran through an Age of Sigmar skirmish. Alex and another guy tried Warhammer The Adventure Card Game. I talked to Nick and he started to pull out Space Hulk for a run through (Can you sense a Games Workshop Vibe?).

Nana and Pop stopped by after visiting Dad's friend, X B, at a track meet. Shane gladly gave up the switch in favor of Pokemon and grandparents.

That left me free to talk and try Space Hulk for a little bit. We actually had a pair of guys walk in who had heard about our event online. They joined John and Alex for a game of Welcome Back to the Dungeon. I hopped back and forth and did my best to be social and facilitate before settling down to finish Space Hulk.

I won as Genestealers. Cooley wanted to play a round, so I switched sides and played Marines. I'm glad I played the game if only to spend time with friends and to learn I don't want to buy it.

Nick, Alex, John, Cooley, Shane, and I met up at Noodles and Company after the library closed.

Alex was nice enough to play Love Letter: Batman with Shane after we ate. Shane dealt me in only to knock me out before I knew I was in the game!

Nick and Alex had other plans and said good-bye after dinner. The rest of us went by a friendly local gaming store to poke around.

John took Cooley home and then rendezvoused with Shane and I at Dairy Queen for ice cream. Shane spilled an entire cup of Hi-C in front of his chair. Calvin and Hobbes was a casualty.

Of course, I made Shane clean it up. I had almost thrown away his drink when we left Noodles and Co. Almost! Shane chose to prioritize his Pokemon cards over the drink. See them in his cup holders?

The cup was not in the cup holder, but on the seat.

Oops.

Lesson learned, I hope.

I got on Shane's case some, but not much. He knew he was in trouble. He worked to clean up the mess and take responsibility which is what I wanted to see.

Shane kept saying he didn't want ice cream because he messed up. I told him he'd done his penance, but he insisted. He was stubborn about it, so I switched up my approach. I told Shane he couldn't have a fancy blizzard, but he could have a small cone.

The cone was accepted.

I had an Oreo Blizzard in case anyone's interested. It's the best Blizzard out there.

Shane and I said good-bye to John and met up with Nana and Pop at Jama's apartment to spend the night. Shane was pumped to see them, but still fell asleep.

Which was great, because the adventure would continue in the morning.

Side note: Nana thought he looked filthy and needed to shower before hopping in bed. She also combed his hair for what was probably the first time in his life