Tag: fun

January 2022 Adventure Date – The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit (Columbus)

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This week, Keith and I got the chance to attend The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Columbus, Ohio. It is a traveling exhibit which will be in a different venue each place it goes, so it will most likely vary a little bit as far as your experience. This post is our thoughts an opinions – your mileage may vary.

We both went into this expecting something that it was not. We thought we would be walking through different rooms and interacting with the different spaces. Instead, we were ushered into a very large room that was 2-3 stories high and had 2 mirrored pillars. There were benches and circles on the floor to note where people were supposed to be in order to be socially distanced. We arrived with about 7 minutes left in the continuously running program (it is about 35 minutes long and has a very brief set of credits that roll before it restarts). The last 7 minutes might have been my favorite – we stayed to watch it twice. The Starry Night, Road with Cypress and Star, and The Starry Night Over the Rhone are featured and it is a lot like watching the moon and stars rise and reflect. It was mesmerizing the way that they edited the elements of the paintings together.

The Starry Night
Transition
Road with Cypress and Star
The Starry Night Over the Rhone

I really enjoyed a lot of the paintings featured in the presentation. I did have some trouble with the way it was edited at times. There were times my vertigo kicked in and it felt like I was going to fall. There were times I could not watch because my eyes couldn’t adjust fast enough. However, most of the time it was a feast for the eyes. I loved it when paintings seemed to build in elements or when one part of the painting moved and interacted in some way. There was always something to look at, and the music seemed to work really well with the presentation. The other part of the show that we stayed to watch twice was the sunflowers part. I did not realize how many different types of sunflower paintings he had done, but I really enjoyed seeing all of the different interpretations. I did not love how jarring the editing seemed at that point, but it went with the music I guess.

Sunflowers

I am also a sucker for trees, flowers, and all things nature. Van Gogh seemed to agree because there were so many scenes with gorgeous natural settings. The trees that look like they are ablaze with Autumn color are, of course, my favorite. I also love the one that seems to be the woods with hundreds of fireflies.

Overall, it was not quite what we expected, but we walked out satisfied with our experience. We decided that it was 3.5 out of 5 stars – we were not blown away by the editing, but the beauty was overwhelming at times. I would definitely recommend the exhibit to others and we would love to go back and see the next one – we are told that there will be exhibits like this over the next 3 years. The next one appears to be Gustav Klimt starting in March, and we would definitely consider attending if our schedules are open.


Have you been to The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Love Letters and Seven Dragons – January 2022 Family Game Night

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It finally happened. We were meant to have family game night the weekend of New Years, but everyone had horrible headaches because of the weather. So we postponed it. And then got our COVID booster shots the following week, causing another weekend of not feeling so great. It was not looking good for our family game night this month, but we pivoted and had family game day instead because we were all off of school and work for MLK Day. I made fondue, we snacked and played, and a good time was had by all.

We started out by eating fondue and playing Love Letters. Keith and I had played this at a game cafe several years ago now. We remember liking the game, so we chose it as this year’s “pickle gift” (the gift received by the person that finds the pickle on the Christmas tree first). Charlotte was the quickest pickle-finder this year, so it is technically her game. We will see how that plays out in a few years.

Chocolate fondue remains and Love Letters game

Although both Keith and I remember Love Letters as a quick game, it definitely took a while to get a winner. We all enjoyed it a lot, though, and some new inside jokes were definitely created. I was the biggest loser and Charlotte came out as our glorious winner in the end, although it was a tight race amongst everyone but me…

To finish off the afternoon, we played one quick round of Seven Dragons. This is a perennial favorite of ours and is definitely a go-to if we want something quick with not much set up. I was very, very close to prevailing with my black dragon goal, but Keith managed to swoop in and win at the last second. It was a tough loss, but a very fun afternoon.

Seven Dragons with background folded laundry to add to your viewing enjoyment…

We know that family game night is going to be changing as we continue this year. It might be only 2 or 3 of us at times, but we will definitely shoot for all 4 as much as possible. We are definitely on the look out for more 2 player games – do you have any favorites we should try? Please let me know in the comments!

May Family Game Night Recap

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As I mentioned in my other May posts, this was a busy, hectic, crazy month. When we were home for a rare evening, someone was always grumpy or sleepy or had to study or needed a mental break. So, we only had one Family Game Night (FGN) in May. Which is still better than nothing, but I am disappointed that we couldn’t make it work. Most likely we will do better in June – we will have less rehearsals after Charlotte’s Web closes on the 16th, so I am hopeful.

On May 25th, we decided it was now or never. The plan was that Charlotte would study for her test and then join Keith, Micah and me, but it went a little differently. When Charlotte joined us, Micah must have felt his obligation was fulfilled and he ditched us to play online with friends. Keith and I still had a wonderful night playing with both our children, just not at the same time.

The first game we played was 5 Minute Dungeon. Keith and Micah had played this game with friends, and they enjoyed it so much that Micah gifted it to Keith for his birthday. It was not a 5 minute game as the name implies, but it was fun once I got the hang of it. We beat the first dungeon, but we ended up losing the game in the second dungeon. I chose to be a ninja character (because NINJA!!), but had I understood how the game play worked and how the characters’ powers would be used, I may have chosen a character with a more useful power. Knowing the Micah is a fan of this game, I am sure it will be in rotation for future FGNs in our household. I do have to say that just shoving all the cards to the side gave me anxiety about having to sort them out later…

The second game we tried was a Christmas gift to our family from my brother’s family. Phone Phever is a game that uses your smart phone for a lot of the the questions; sometimes it is optional, other times not. You are racing the other players to get the latest, greatest, new smart phone by answering questions. We finished the game, but I doubt that the three of us will play it again. It seems like a game that young teens will like, so we will have Charlotte and her friends try it out.

The next game Keith, Micah and I played was The Oregon Trail Hunt for Food card game. This game was pretty simple once we got through the rules. Unfortunately, we all ended up dying before we could deliver enough food back to our camp. I believe one of us died from dehydration, one died from getting lost, and one died from a snake bite. No dysentery, so I guess we had that going for us. 😉 I feel like we will most likely try this game out again.

After Oregon Trail, Charlotte joined us and we lost Micah. Keith and Charlotte found a Friends Trivia Game at a thrift store last month, so we decided to give it a go. It ended up being pretty fun, and I was pleasantly surprised how many of the questions we knew – thanks Netflix! Keith managed to beat us out at the last minute, but it was definitely neck and neck for the win. I have a feeling that Charlotte will want to play this again, but it will have to once again be without Micah because he is not a big Friends fan.

Have you ever played any of these games? Do you have any games you think we should try? Let us know in the comments!

March Family Game Night Recap

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Well, as expected, March was a super busy month. Our family involved in two different shows with two different tech weeks made for a very tight schedule. When we had time to have family game night, one or more of us was just not feeling up to it. So, we only have one game event to recap here. It’s a good thing we had extra game nights earlier this year! We also have not had any game nights involving my in laws this quarter, so we will need to figure that out for April.

On March 26th, we took Micah and 4 of his friends to Tabletop Game Cafe to celebrate his birthday – finally. The high schoolers had their own table and, as far as I know, only played two games. Betrayal in the House in the Hill and Kids Against Maturity (a more PG version of Cards Against Humanity). They seemed to have a great time with both of them.

Their game of Betrayal was the longest I have ever witnessed! The haunt started early and lasted forever!
They had a great time!

At our table, Keith, Charlotte and I played Love Letters a couple of times. This is a quick game that we really liked. Not complex and pretty fun.

Next we played Catacomb. Catacomb ended up being a lot of set up and learning, so we only played one encounter. We really liked the game play, though. Flicking disks at your enemies is strangely satisfying. We plan to watch a little gameplay on YouTube and then give it another try with all 4 of us.

No photo of the board set up – I was definitely not “on my game” that day!

The last game we played was Apples to Apples. It turned out to be a little rough for Charlotte because Keith and I have so many more years of inside jokes, but we all enjoyed this one, too.

Another easy to learn and play game – definitely less frustrating to Charlotte.

We also found a game we want to try next time we are at Tabletop – Sagrada. It is a dice game with only a couple pages of directions, so I think it could be a hit with our whole family. Charlotte is especially excited to try it.

Have you tried Sagrada or any other game you think we should check out? Let us know in the comments!

March Create Date

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We knew that March was going to be crazy busy and we were going to have to be creative when we tried to carve out time for dates. So, we scheduled a glass shamrock sculpting class for Sunday morning. At the time, we were not thinking about Daylight Savings Time being that same weekend. So, we ended up getting home late Saturday night and losing an hour before going on our date. We were sleepy, but we were happy to be together and creating!

Read for our instructions

We went to a place called Glass Axis here in Columbus. Our daughter took an ornament blowing class from them in January, so we were already a little familiar with the workshop. We did not get to blow glass, but we got to sculpt it into shamrocks in two different ways. Our instructor, Emma, gave us a quick demo and then it was our turn. In a wonderful turn of events, we were the only two people in the class, so it was super fun and we got great attention.

  • Gathering glass
  • Just gathered glass
  • Coloring the glass with sprinkles

I went first to make my shamrock. I decided to do the more rounded shamrock with color inside between the two glass gathers. I used Dark Green, Light Green, and Yellow to color my piece. Emma gathered the glass for me, but I got to roll it in the color sprinkles and heat them into it. Then I helped with tools while she kept it moving at the right speed and heated to the right temperature. It was fun to sculpt the glass and I was really excited with how it was turning out. And then, in a freak accident, my shamrock was cracked completely in two. I decided to mourn for a bit while Keith made his and then try again.

  • Rolling the glass in sprinkles
  • Heating the glass in the blast oven
  • Shaping the glass
  • Flattening the glass
  • The colors are so different when they are super hot
  • Shamrock before the stem
  • Shamrock ready for the cooling oven
  • Shamrock cracked in half… 😦

Keith made a shamrock with two glass gathers and then the color on top. He used the Dark Green and White sprinkles to color his. He also decided to do some of the shaping with scissors for a more square looking leaf. I thought he did a great job coloring and shaping his shamrock, and his arrived to the cooling oven safely the first time.

  • Picking up color sprinkles
  • Melting color into the glass
  • Shaping the glass
  • Flattening the glass
  • Cutting the leaves
  • Close up of the hot color
  • Ready for a stem
  • Headed to the cooling oven

It was time for me to redo my shamrock, and I have to tell you, it was actually a blessing to get to try again once I knew a little bit what I was doing. I think my second turned out really well, and it ended up safely in the cooling oven with Keith’s.

  • Waiting for a stem
  • Emma forming the stem

I was able to pick up our cooled and bagged shamrocks today, and let me tell you, I adore them!! We will definitely be displaying these for years to come, and I love that they remind me of our Honeymoon in Ireland. We would definitely like to go back to Glass Axis for more classes in the future, and we will highly recommend them to all of our friends

  • Autumn’s shamrock
  • Keith’s shamrock

February Mini Adventure

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Years ago, on a trip to the North Market, our family tried some Bubble Tea. At the time, we didn’t know how to order and if you know anything about me, I am a super picky drink person. I do not tolerate sweetener in my tea well. I do not like surprises when I am drinking. So, I’m sure you see where this is going, it was not a good Bubble Tea experience.

Today, we tried a new location of Bibibop that just opened in our area. When we walked in, we saw that there was also a Bibitea shop in the same space! It was finally time to have someone really take time to explain it to us, and we all walked out with Bubble Tea that we love. I cannot recommend this Bibitea shop enough! The ladies let us try various things and made sure we really liked what we were getting ready to buy. Excellent service and product. We will definitely be back!

January Adventure Date

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For our January Adventure Date, our whole family stayed in the Maple Treehouse at Hocking Hills Treehouse Cabins. Keith and I really debated about whether to get away on our own or whether to take the kids, but in the end we decided we all needed to get away. The past few months have been a little stressful as Keith’s company was bought and we were unsure whether he would have a job past the end of this month. Things have stabalized now, thankfully, so we really needed a family celebration of that.

Our treehouse cabin was cozy and had the perfect amount of space for us to spread out some but also hang out as a family. We loved all the little finishing touches and special nooks. Keith and I had a queen bed that was pretty comfy, and there was also a queen bed in the loft area and a pull out sofa. The kids alternated between their two options each night and seemed to like both okay. The kitchen was small but very workable – we definitely ate well while we were there. The bathroom was beautiful with the rain shower head and we loved the unlimited hot water supply. There was even a wood stove heated hot tub that the kids enjoyed on Saturday evening after a day of hiking. We took lots of photos of the cabin to show you, so lets start with the outside views.

  • The Maple
  • This side has the master bedroom.
  • Here you can see the hot tub.
  • Definitely in the trees – and anchored well.

The inside consisted of a kitchen/dining/lounge area with a loft, a master bedroom, and a bathroom. Every space was used really well for storage and decoration. Here are photos of the multipurpose room and loft.

  • Entreeway
  • Lounge area
  • Dining area
  • Ladder to the loft
  • Bed in loft
  • Nook in loft
  • View from loft
  • Kitchen
  • More kitchen

Next are photos of the great bathroom. Really can’t overstate the awesomeness of the unlimited hot water. We were mindful to try not to waste water, but we loved that we did not have to keep turning it up and rush through our showers.

  • Tile shower with Rain showerhead
  • Sink

Finally, the master bedroom was cozy and bright with wonderful views. It was also right up the stairs from the hot tub, so it was easy to watch the fire and the kids but also stay warm and enjoy a glass of wine.

  • Comfy bed
  • Desk with views of hot tub
  • Lovely view from bed
  • Getting the hot tub heated up
  • Enjoying a warm soak

I really loved the way the cabin was decorated. The artwork and words really spoke to me, so I took lots of photos of that, too.

  • Master bedroom
  • Lounge
  • Entreeway
  • Kitchen

My very favorite part of the cabin, however, was that it was situated so there were waterfalls that you could see and hear from the deck. This weekend there were also some very impressive icicles to admire. We spent a bit of time exploring the property around the cabin on Saturday.

  • Icicles from the deck
  • More icicles from the deck
  • Ravine from fire pit
  • Tiny waterfall
  • Double waterfall
  • You can hear waterfalls in this ravine
  • Icicles
  • Icicles
  • Icicles

On Saturday we also ventured out to a couple places in Hocking Hills State Park. The cabin is less than 10 minutes from popular places in the park, so it is really convenient as a place to stay if you also want to hike and explore. We drove past John Glenn Astronomy Park, Whispering Cave, and Old Man’s Cave every time we left or returned to our cabin. Our first stop on Saturday was Ash Cave because we wanted to see how icy things were before we headed to any other parts of the park. Since Ash Cave is so flat and usually an easy hike, it seemed to be a logical choice. There was a man finishing an ice sculpture as we pulled into the parking lot, so that was an extra bonus. We found the hiking to be a bit treacherous, but if you just took your time and were mindful of where you were putting your feet, it really wasn’t too bad. The views were worth it!

  • Kids with ice sculpture
  • Hummingbird
  • Frozen cliffs
  • Charlotte
  • Micah
  • Keith and Autumn
  • My people at Ash Cave
  • Ash Cave
  • Ash Cave
  • Ice under the falls
  • Water falling
  • The creek after the falls

Since Old Man’s Cave was on our way back to our cabin, we decided to see how well we could navigate the upper part of that hike. It was extremely slippery, but we managed pretty well. I *may* have crab crawled down some steps to make sure I didn’t slip. It probably wasn’t pretty, but it was very effective. The views on this hike were even better! The rain earlier in the week paired with the refreezing temperatures created quite a show for us.

  • Upper Upper Falls
  • Upper Falls and bridge
  • Upper Falls and bridge
  • Icicles
  • Upper Falls
  • Icicles
  • Devil’s Bathtub
  • Side Falls by Welcome Center
  • Wall of icicles

On Sunday, we decided to stop at Conkles Hollow State Nature Preserve on our way home. It is also less than 10 minutes from the cabin. It ended up being the worst hike in terms of ice, but that also made it breathtakingly beautiful. We are pretty sure that Charlotte had hiked there with us before, but it was Micah’s first time and he really loved it. I did actually fall on this hike, with lots of witnesses, but nothing was injured so it ended up being pretty funny.

  • Looking back toward the parking lot
  • Icicles
  • Kids in the Grotto
  • Grotto Selfie
  • Lots of ice
  • Peeking from ahead on the trail
  • Frozen waterfall
  • Ravine is getting deeper
  • Icicles
  • Charlotte
  • Icicles
  • So many icicles
  • Falls at the end of the ravine.
  • Frozen waterfall near the end of the ravine
  • The end of the hollow
  • Behind the frozen falls
  • Frozen waterfall selfie
  • Photobombed!

All in all, we had an incredible weekend. We will definitely be back – Keith and I are already making plans to stay in the newest treehouse cabin, The Beech, which should be opening in the next few months. The kids have requested that we make it a family tradition, which is high praise from them. You should give it a try, too!

January Family Game Night Recap

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As I stated in my first post, we have a goal of having at least 2 Family Game Nights (FGN) a month this year. We also plan to include our extended families, but that did not happen this month since we just saw everyone over the holidays. 🙂 We were total overachievers, though, and managed to have 5 nights of games and snacks this month!

We had our first FGN at Tabletop Game Cafe in Clintonville on January 2nd. It was a great day of games – we tried the games Stuffed Fables, Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate, and Kill Doctor Lucky. Stuffed Fables ended up being a lot more involved than we wanted, so we played the first adventure and moved on. Another group was playing Betrayal at House on the Hill, so we tried the D&D version of the game and enjoyed it. We would really like to try the Haunted House version still. Our last pick, Kill Doctor Lucky, was quick to learn and and we all enjoyed it. We will definitely be back to Tabletop to eat delicious samosas and try out some more games!

  • Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate

Our next FGN was January 6th because we were all home without plans. We decided to eat some of our yummy snack gifts from Japan (Thank you Kamei and Sato families!!) and we played Exploding Kittens and Smallworld. It was the first time for all of us playing Exploding Kittens, but it did promise it was for people that like kittens, explosions, laser beams and sometimes goats, so we were pretty sure we would like it. It was an instant favorite with all the kitten art! Keith, Micah, and I had all played Smallworld before, but it was Charlotte’s first time. We all enjoyed the game. We also really enjoyed the Japanese snacks.

  • Our planned Snacks and games – we did get to Oregon Trail and we did not eat all the snacks. 🙂

On January 20th, all activities outside our house were canceled due to weather. So, we took the chance to have a FGN! We played Pitt and Quarriors. Pitt is one of Micah’s favorites, so he was excited to play. It was not my night with the cards, so at one point I was trying to see how far negative I could go before someone won the game. Needless to say, I was not the winner. But it was a fun time for everyone. We had played Quarriors on New Year’s Eve Eve with Charlotte and it is now one of her favorite games to request. She has always like collecting things in bags, so I think this is just an extension of that passion. 😉 We all really do like the game, though. We tried a couple more snacks from Japan (chocolate drizzled potato chips and teriyaki rice cakes – both yum!!) and had chips and Little Debbies as well. And orange slices as you can see in the photos…

  • The plan – we did not play Forbidden Island, but we ate most of the snacks.
  • Playing Pitt
  • Playing Quarriors

This past weekend, we actually had two FGN opportunities because we were away in a treehouse cabin with no television! It was wonderful! The first night, we played an old favorite from before Keith and I had kids – Filthy Rich! It is really fun that the kids are now old enough to appreciate and enjoy games we used to play. Charlotte did not want to be Queen of the Shmoos, but it is still true that Nobody Shops at Shorty’s. The kids may have thought we were strange for the entire language we have surrounding that game, but they went along with it anyway. We also played a quick game of Tsuro. In the end, I sent Charlotte off the board, Keith sent both of us off, and Micah was victorious. We had some really great green tea (for the adults) and hot chocolate (for the kids) and some Japanese chocolate mushroom snacks, a known family favorite.

  • Filthy Rich – such a fun game!
  • Playing Tsuro

Our second night at the cabin, we had a short FGN because we had a late dinner and didn’t have a lot of time. We played Monopoly Deal, a quick version of the Monopoly game that only uses cards but still manages to break relationships and evenings. Just kidding, it is pretty fun, but you do have to be okay with hurting other people in order to win. I am not blessed with that skill, so it will probably never be my first game pick. We had jiffy pop, green tea mochi (another family favorite), and new little chocolate and green tea Japanese treats – so yummy! We have decided there is a reason we’ve never done jiffy pop as a family snack before, though. So much shaking!

  • Monopoly Deal and snacks
  • Seriously, the little chocolate and green tea trees are fantastic!

We are sure that our opportunities for FGN will be much more limited as we move forward due to theater and other commitments, so who knows what February will look like. Will we pick a new country for snacks? Will we just try new things from Japan and the US? I guess you will have to wait and see like the rest of us!