Gaming the summer away

We have been gaming a lot this summer. Many days the futon has been laid out , the basket of games strategically placed, and bare feet and cards all meet in the middle. It has been fun. Lauryn is of the age where she is much more capable of participating in games (although never to big brother's high expectations.) We generally end the evening with minimal fighting.

Owen is big on creating his own games. I wish I had taken more pictures of the creations he comes up with. They're pretty impressive.
This was one (below) of my favorites, though.
Legos + CLUE board game = hours of fun.
I must admit I never fully understood the premise. I think the rules kept changing. But it was still a lot of fun, and a very obvious display of creativity that makes a mother proud.

I'm still not sure which Lego set this guy came from. Does anybody else think it was the Terminator, in the conservatory, with his scary smile and sunglasses?

I hesitated buying the Spongebob Life game for Christmas because of the whole commercialization of the game, the product placement, the insistence on making children grow up with their favorite animated characters on their backpacks, lunch bags, T-shirts, walls, games, (seriously, what comes next, permanent Spongebob tattoos for 6 year olds?) But I must concede that the game is so much more enjoyable than regular Life. Much less complex. You can actually finish a game in less than an hour. That is necessary when you are playing with a four year old.

And honestly, we have had very little of this type of gaming:
(And no, my kids rarely wear clothes. Seriously. Underwear is their favorite outfit.) I never grew up with video games (or those of the computer variety... I had one friend who had an early Apple, and thought it was the coolest thing; when my parents finally bought a computer there were no games) so I have a hard time with the obsession so many people of my generation have with the electronic stimulation. My husband, on the other hand, is a total gamer. So, the kids have picked up a little bit of each of us. I have been quite impressed with Owen's lack of interest in video games this summer. He's been much quicker to pick up a book. Wow. Just having been able to say that makes me feel like I'm not a failure of a mom. My 9 year old loves to read. That is so (in the words of my 9 year old) totally awesome!