Oops. We drove there again.

John was like, "Don't bother coming up for board game day. It'll probably suck." 

I replied, "Are you kidding? Shane and I are looking forward to seeing you! Get ready, because we're coming!"

The only problem was I needed somewhere to go in the morning Shane could play. John was working, Megan was out of town, Matthew and Renee were swamped, and Ken and his kids were on vacation. 

Luckily, Travis and his boys were around! I've tried to meet up with Travis a few times over the summer, but the schedules never fit. Today, it happened. It's been years since the boys have seen each other. 

There was Minecraft, so there was no shyness. A controller was handed to Shane and the kids got right to it.

Travis and I talked and watched. I was really impressed when the kids built a minecart roller coaster while my attention was turned. There was a huge ramp that went through lava, curved underground, hit speed boosts, and a ramp!

Shane did not want to leave. He started to throw a fit when I told him it was time to go. He was overstimulated to the extreme!

But leave we did. The original point of coming up was to help John with his club and bolster his spirits! Never leave a friend in need! Especially one as true as John. 

Shane got hooked up on the Switch with Shovel Knight when we arrived.

There was a much lower turnout this time. Four adults (including John) were playing a game about Disney villains called Villainous. There was a teenager, Pablo, looking at a game called Roll Player I've been curious about, so I introduced myself and said, "Let's roll!" 

We ended up playing a couple of different games. It was a good thing I showed up, or he would have had to wait for the first game to end to get into the next (assuming he stayed).

Hopefully, the low turnout was a fluke due to it being the end of summer. The hope is that the club will be self-sustaining.

John showed off some of the terrain he's been working on for Adeptus Titanicus.

I played some Mario Kart with Shane while we waited for John to get off work. I haven't lost the touch.

I would have finished 1st in the first game we played if Shane hadn't nuked me from last place with a spiked shell!

I worked it out, so that John would come with us to visit Travis on our way out. We all go way back. I want to keep bonds intact and it'd be nice if those two found ways to meet up during the week.

John promised that the quality of the quarter pounders had gone up at MacDonald's so we stopped there for dinner. "I don't know what they were making their burgers with before, but they promise it's real beef now," John said. "And it's not half bad."

I think the touch screen ordering, while a novelty, made things go slower. The light up tables were cool, though! I had to scrub it down, and noticed the lights changed colors. Shane was amazed when I pointed it out.

I was amazed at how he could zone out on the TV after having played electronics morning and afternoon.

The sound wasn't even on!

Shane became player three again the moment we hit Travis'.

And John and Travis got right back to it like days of old! We all talked a lot.

We couldn't stay too long. Travis had work to do, John was worn out, and Shane and I had a couple of hours of road ahead of us.

Shane threw a fit again when it was time to leave. He wanted to spend the night at Jama's, so he could play more in the morning with the boys. He was confused when Brayden and Noah told him that they wouldn't be there tomorrow, because they had to go to their mom's. Shane and I talked on the way out about what that meant (Travis and his ex split custody week by week). 

Besides, we had one more stop I wanted to do! Genevieve and Chris lived near Travis!

I didn't know if they were home (or doing married stuff), so we stopped outside and took some pictures before knocking. Carrie was on her computer and phone trying to gauge where they were, so we could surprise them.

Carrie sent Chris the pictures we were taking. He was surprised and popped outside! Genevieve was still driving back from work (I don't miss NOVA traffic).

Shane and I went inside to wait. Oliver, their 'special' cat, took one look at Shane and hissed.

Chris threw the cat in a room and pulled out a 'dubious gift bag.' "It should all be child appropriate," he chortled.

Shane didn't like his first gift.

"You're wearing that the whole way home!" I laughed.

It was an empty box meant as a joke, so Shane got to pull out a different gift after we were done laughing (Shane not so much!). This time he had the perfect pull: A small Mega-man toy.

Genevieve came home shortly thereafter. I loved the space stickers they put up.

Shane asked for a cup of milk. I pointed out the "his and her" swords that "Genevieve and Chris quested with."

The best line of the night came from Shane. We were looking at Gen and Chris' board games and he wanted to play.

"Sorry," I said. "You don't satisfy the age requirements."

"I can satisfy anything!" Shane replied.

He didn't know why we all thought it was so funny, but I'll quote it when he's older! Genevieve promised to tell Carrie if I didn't.

We got back later than planned, but it was a great day! I wish Carrie was built for that sort of road trip with unplanned pit stops, but at least Shane's a good traveling buddy!