The Chicago Toy and Game Fair 2015

I think we have a budding board game geek in our family.  His name is Henry.  And, we couldn't be more pleased because we love board games!

So, when Henry learned that there was a Young Inventor Challenge where kids could invent their own games and enter them at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he was all over that.  (Bonus: it counted for a major Cub Scout requirement as well!)  And when I say, "all over that," I mean it.  I'm not sure I've seen Henry work this hard on anything in his life.  He just loves to create and dream, and he's detail-oriented enough to really think through the process well.

I won't give you all of the details, but the game he came up with is a multi-player strategy game called "Cursed Pyramids."  The basic idea is that during the building phase you build pyramids, using workers and carts and hopefully avoiding sandstorms along the way.  Then, in the next phase of the game you try to take over other player's pyramids while not getting cursed.  It's actually a super fun game, and Henry came up with the whole thing himself.  You may not be able to tell, but I was kind of a proud dad at seeing this all come together (with a lot of help from Jenn, of course!).  Here are some pictures:

Carts and blocks

Constructed pyramid

The board

The quarry.

The actual Toy and Game Fair was super fun.  Henry had to stick to his booth for the morning while the judges and other random people walked through the displays.  With over 100 entrants, there were all sorts of games and toys there.

Henry did a great job of latching on to anyone who was nearby and giving them the blow-by-blow of how Cursed Pyramids works.

He didn't win the competition, but just putting the game together was tons of fun and I think he learned a lot in the process.

Meanwhile, Sam and Ellis wandered the fair with me, trying out game after game after game.  It was a total blast!

Catan Van!

And custom-made Catan tables!

One of the coolest parts of the fair was the Star Wars booth.  There were about 10 different people in full Star Wars costumes like this clone trooper, and they had all sorts of light sabers, Jedi training tools, and even a mind-reading game.  Our Star-Wars-obsessed boys ate it up.

I loved this game of blow-up soccer, where running into the other players full-force is encouraged!  Super fun.

We ended up being at the fair the entire day and we loved it!  Well, except for Archer, because somehow his parents forgot to pack a binkie for him, which was a MAJOR oversight.  We found a store nearby that sold them, but it was the wrong brand and so he just cried and cried until he finally fell asleep.  Poor kid.  That's what happens when you're the youngest!  But the rest of us totally had a blast.  

And Henry?  Well, he's already scheming up his game for next year!

Sam's Art and Gymnastics Class

This fall, Sam needed something to do besides just pre-school and play dates.  He has insisted for a while now that he is going to be an artist when he grows up, and he is by far our most active and sporty kid, so when Jenn found an Art & Gymnastics class for 3-5-year-olds it seemed like the perfect fit.

It totally was.  Each week, Sam couldn't wait for Tuesday to roll around so he could go do art for the first hour and then gymnastics for the second hour.  When he was finished, he literally skipped out the door with Jenn, so full of excitement at what he had learned an done.  For the rest of the day he would keep practicing his "jumps" that he learned, or come up with his own art creations.  It all made him so happy.

They really have a full gymnasium that the kids got to play in, complete with rings, balance beam, and, most importantly, a foam pit!

His snowman painting.  He was super proud that it turned out to look a bit like a Jackson Pollock.

colorful snowman

Some of his other art projects, including an odd pilgrim clay concoction that is half creepy and half cute.  But mostly I love the classic Sam face with the half-smile and hat.  Even though Art and Gymnastics has been over for a while now, he still dreams of it wistfully.  We'll need to find another of those classes soon!

Fall Splendor 2015

We just have to post some pictures of the beautiful fall we were treated to this year.  With Archer around, we had to make a bit more of an effort to get out, but boy was it worth it.

The scooter brigade!

This tree is across the street from our house, and has leaves that range from bright yellow to almost crimson.  We love looking at it.  This year, it lost essentially all of its leaves in one giant gust of wind, and Jenn happened to be there to snap a picture of fall literally happening.

Jenn's jogging path

Sometimes, in order to convince the boys that we need to get out to see the leaves AGAIN, we have to bribe them with Potbelly's sandwiches and shakes.  Worth it.

The Chicago Botanic Garden

One of the many giant pumpkins they grow at the Botanic Garden.  When Ellis climbed on we hurriedly told him he had to get off, but then a worker nearby was like, "Oh no, let him climb, that's what it's for."  We couldn't agree more, actually.

Halloween 2015

Halloween just keeps getting better as our kids get older and we have more of them.  And we live in the the best neighborhood for trick-or-treating, with lots of leaves and lots of generous neighbors all close by!  Here is what it looked like:

First, of course, we had to carve pumpkins.  Jenn thought it would be a great idea to print out really tricky designs from the internet, thinking that our boys have the (a) attention span and (b) talent to do intricate jack-o-lantern carvings.  Turns out, she was wrong on both accounts.  So we did most of the carving, and I ended up getting out the drill to remove the finer portions.  It worked, pretty well. 

Grumpy Cat

Pig from Angry Birds

Ron, Harry, and Draco

Real wizard pictures move!

Mischievous Draco 

"Eat slugs, Malfoy!"

Ron Weasley, sans tooth

Harry and Hedwig

Errol the owl

Hermione and Errol

That's one good-looking Hermione, eh?

And the whole family!  Whoa, who is that crazy guy in the back?  Oh, Dumbledore, of course. (Why do I always get stuck with the insane-looking costumes??)

Our "serious" pose...except it looks like Draco saw a dementor. 

Look at how many trick-or-treaters we get!

The wizards in search of loot. 

This is the look of success after a hard night's work of asking for candy.  Ellis' face just kills me in this picture.  And that pile of candy?  It took us at least, like, three days to plow through it.

Grandparents to the Rescue!

We cannot say enough how much we love having our parents come save the day when our babies are born.  We had so much help after Archer was born, it was unbelievable.  Not only did my mom and Jenn's mom come for unscheduled trips when Archer came early, but then Jenn's parents came for nearly two full weeks and basically made Ellis' birthday party happen for us, on top of making dinner, doing the dishes, holding the baby, and getting the boys to school.  (see previous posts for those pictures!)

My parents came to visit again when Archer was about a month old.  They pretty much had to come, because I had to travel to Boston for a conference, and there was just no way that I could feel good about leaving Jenn with a newborn and three rambunctious boys all to herself.  While they were here we:

Made autumn-leaf cookies

Henry managed to pile a full inch of frosting on top of this one.

Had Archer's baby blessing.  Apparently, the even was so boring that Jenn fell asleep...

But she woke up for this family picture.  :)

Here's the man of the hour looking pretty dapper.

Archer also learned to smile while Grandma and Grandpa were here.

Extra hands made it possible for us to get out and enjoy the fall colors, which really can be spectacular here.

Even Archer couldn't stop staring at the leaves!

My dad just went to town on the yard.  This is the pile of weeds and trees that I had neglected that he removed for me.  It took me like 3 weeks to fit them all in to our lawn clippings recycling can!

And my mom?  She did a whole lot of holding this guy when he wasn't at his happiest.  Not to mention packing lunches, making dinner, walking the boys to school, doing the dishes, and on and on.  Aren't grandparents the best?