It was held at the church building. When we got there, punctually, only Ben and Cassie were there. So we set up what we brought for the potluck dinner -- salad and fried rice (2 kinds). After a while, Chris and Elaine turned up, then others came, like Tabitha with her cute baby who is almost 1 yr old. And a special group from Logan Church of Christ. They had about 6-7 in their group who joined us. I think they had to drive at least 1hr to get to us. Glad they did join us, cos they brought so many fun games along. haha.
Dinner first. I think the only filling stuff was from Chris and us. Chris brought pizza. Elaine brought yummy pumpkin bread and choc cake. The rest brought drinks or chips. Initially, I thought maybe the fried rice won't be enough then, but surprisingly, so many adults ate and were full. Good!
Then the fun part. We decided on Cranium first, cos it would involve all of us. After that we could then split up. We also decided to form groups that were mixed, ie must have some from Logan and some from Wasatch, so we can get to know each other better. This is the group pic below: My team comprised of only 3 members- myself, Elaine and Matt (Logan). The empty space you see right where the camera angle is facing, that's my seat. They decided on teams by the sides of the table, and we happened to be sitting on the short side. The long sides had 4 or 5 on the team. Tabitha said her team had 5.5 members, one inside her. I wonder if she's joking or if she's really expecting again! :-)
Dh was on the other short side of the table, so his team had 3 members too.
Initially I thought "oh dear, our group would be severely disadvantaged". What with only 3 members' talents to tap on and with me not knowing most of the American stuff (songs, singers, history and other trivia).
Guess what, we won! Thanks to Elaine's talents and Matt's super ability at throwing the die. haha.
For those who love pictionary and Taboo (as I do), you will love Cranium too. I would buy the international edition or a Singapore edition should they come up with one in the future. The USA one is a little too "out" for us, some of the trivia would be stuff we never ever heard before.
How do we play this game? In brief, there are 4 types of cards. The Word Worm ones (yellow color) include MCQs to guess definition of words, asking you to unscramble words in a phrase, filling in the blanks etc to get the answer and even to spell words backwards.
The Star Performer ones (Green color) require the selected member to mimick a famous star, hum the tune or act out the clue (like charades).
The Data Head "trivia" (red color) ones have a character or something where the chosen member has to say clues (like Taboo) without mentioning names or places. These were the mainly US-centric ones, so anyone outside of US will have some problem. I only knew a few characters out of all those we tried -- Queen Elizabeth and Louis Armstrong.
The Creative Cat (blue color) had people drawing out the clues (like pictionary), sculpting them out using playdoh/ clay (very fun!) or sensosketch (draw with eyes closed!).
Above left: that's Dh's team mate sculpting away (can't see the playdoh very well)
Above right: When a Club Cranium card is drawn, all groups get to play. This was a Club Cranium acting card.
It was super fun. I enjoyed every part of it. Hilarious moments too. Especially when there was a Club Cranium and you see others acting, humming or drawing, and then you compare, say, the drawings. Like the doodles for "clothesline". Haha, someone's doodle of a tee shirt looked like a dog to his teammates, for eg. And Chris had to sculpt "grass" on the clay, and he did a great job, pinching grass out of the clay, but no one could guess it. Over here, someone would have guessed "Durian". :-)
What were the kids up to while we were having our adult games?
Below: ds2 in one of the Sunday school classrooms, playing with the toys there.
Then, ds1 wanted to play Blokus (another strategy game the Logan group brought) and they kindly lent him. Both ds ended up playing with that for a long time. Good thing! (below)
Tabitha's baby was crawling all over the place, and for sometime, she sat on my lap too, while we were playing the game. Ahhhh, so nice to carry a baby. When she got cranky, Tabitha fed her some chips.
That was how we parents get to play our games even with the kids around. I acknowledge that I had an easier time, since my kids are older. But I tried to help out with other babies whenever I can. I carried her while Tabitha got her food, for eg. Although, her baby is really good, so it wouldn't matter if I didn't help too. She'd get by just crawling around. I recall both ds weren't like that at all. Always clingy and I had to carry them most of the time when we are out. So thankful those days are over.
In fact, I was talking to dh after the games, and we think this is the first time I've been able to spend a couple of hours just enjoying myself over a full game. Since the kids were born, that is.
I have played a couple of Taboos and pictionaries with friends, either at my place after a BBQ or at theirs, or at church. But normally the games would be interrupted by a nursing session or when the kids would cry and I just have to carry them and walk around. Now, finally, they have grown up. Ahhhh...
After the Cranium game, they split up into several groups. Some played Scrabble, some played Blokus. Ds1 played with Dh, and 2 others from Logan. Dh said he could hold his own, although he was losing the 2nd round when the adults got the hang of thinking up more complicated strategies to win. I don't care who wins, I just like the idea of ds1 playing group games, learning to take turns, and to be a good sport, even if he loses. So I am happy. (below)
I decided to clean up, cos it was getting late, so I washed up the dishes and the area. I think I was the oldest female there, so I felt responsible for the cleanliness of the church building. hehe. Didn't think I would finally have this role huh?
This finally, is a video clip of a humdinger: humming a song to the rest of the group. This was the very first part of the game, so not everyone has warmed up yet. The rest of the game was much wilder and funnier. But I didn't take any clips after the start. Got too engrossed in my game. :-)
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow ____________________________________________________________
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Above left: that's Dh's team mate sculpting away (can't see the playdoh very well)
Then, ds1 wanted to play Blokus (another strategy game the Logan group brought) and they kindly lent him. Both ds ended up playing with that for a long time. Good thing! (below)
Tabitha's baby was crawling all over the place, and for sometime, she sat on my lap too, while we were playing the game. Ahhhh, so nice to carry a baby. When she got cranky, Tabitha fed her some chips. 
I decided to clean up, cos it was getting late, so I washed up the dishes and the area. I think I was the oldest female there, so I felt responsible for the cleanliness of the church building. hehe. Didn't think I would finally have this role huh? 
