GAMENIGHT!!!
**This one is dedicated to my Mom and all the wonderful Mothers I know who have taught me something or brought someone into this world who means something to me. Thank you for being such fantastic Moms!! We couldn’t do it without you & we appreciate everything you do for us (even though we probably don’t say it enough). Happy Mother’s Day! Love you Mom!!!!**
My first group date! Oh boy was this different…. I decided to make this a group date because I wanted to include my little sister, Abby, in my blog and she lives in Dallas, Texas! So when my mom surprised me with a plane ticket to go see her I was so stoked and I knew I had to make my date work with my trip!
My mom (Kathy), and I got to stay in Texas for 4 days and 3 nights and made sure to make the most of every minute! From the moment we got to Dallas we did our best to absorb all the culture by going to different landmarks and museums to taking in a few musical performances (that were AMAZING!!) and trying out the many different cuisines that are unique to Texas and even met up with an old friend! In between all of that I got the chance to bond with my mom, my sister and Ryan (my sister’s long term boyfriend) on our group date where we had a game night!
I’m not sure how many of you have ever had a game night before but they can go one of two ways… very boring or incredibly hilarious, there is really is no middle ground. We have family game night a lot so I wanted to have it as one of my dates but originally (when it was a couples date) it was going to be just a head to head video game & board game competition kind of thing but I love how this went so much more!! The games we played include Madden NHL and some kind of racing game for XBOX 1, Draw What?! and Partini board games.
So have you ever had to explain something that made you feel awkward or uncomfortable? Well I’d like to check explaining what a butt plug is to my little sister and my mother off that list, thank you (Never did I ever think I would say that)! Ryan and I were laughing as they made some funny guesses as to what this game piece might be. Some of the guesses included a teardrop, rain, a ball, a smiley face, the tip of a penis…at that point Ryan looked at me and said “I’m not telling them what it is, you have to.” When I told them I wish I had a picture of the look on their faces it was priceless… because I didn’t just say it’s a butt plug I went on and told them about a meme I had recently seen that explained that they put butt plugs in dead people to stop anal leakage. (Sry Ryan. Good man for putting up with all us...sometimes I don’t know when to shut up lol).
The Draw What?! is more inappropriate then cards against humanity (which is why I love it) but more like Pictionary plus a few spaces that you have to mime with a shape of candy land (it’s fantastic). My mom is kind of traditional when it comes to family values. Mom doesn’t often talk about sex or drugs but agreed to give it a try and keep an open mind (She has always taught us to be open minded). Ryan I don’t know all that well but I feel like I know him a little better after my trip! He is pretty quiet but once he starts talking he doesn’t stop…. and the boy is so funny (I wish he talked more)! Ryan is from Rhode Island so he has that accent when he talks, which is the best when he says “wicked”! It has now become one of my favorite words! Abby is a little on the innocent side and she hold a lot of those traditional family values as well. Abby doesn’t get offend easily she doesn’t like to be weirded out either. A game with references to things like Cleveland steamer and Pony play is lost in translation for Mom and Abby (but they gave it their best shot…lol) we only played that board game for about 10 minutes before it was to awkward to continue…(… Go team! Good effort).
I officially love madden NHL! I might suck at video games but I don’t care… hockey is a blast and the game looks so life like it is fantastic! Racing cars on the other hand is not a strong suit for any of us expect Ryan. Actually Ryan excelled at every game we played… we kept switching partners just to try working with different everyone and whoever was on Ryan’s team always won. He has a lot of patients, is a great team player (I’m kinda pushy and straight forward…so sometimes not the best partner unless I get to be in charge. I’m working on it) and is fantastic at helping his team (and the other team too sometimes…*cough, cough* lol). Abby, Mom and I suck at racing… we all crashed a lot, drove backwards, wrecked the car without really knowing how and took out a lot of grass (the track didn’t like us)… lol.
In honor of Mother’s day I asked my sister what one of her favorite memories or moments with mom has been? She said it was when she came down to Texas to visit Ryan & her alone and they went to a beer festival together and they had a blast! Another memory Abby said she loved was when Mom facetimed her after a lot of Fireball had been consumed with our Aunt Robin and Aunt Cindy, “that was hysterical” Abby stated. My favorite moment with my mom (other than the fireball night b/c that was epic) was probably the day Killian (my son), was born. Sometimes you don’t realize how much your mom has taught you or how much you need them until you do.
The other game we played was Partini! I bought my sister that game before she went off to college (so 2011ish). This game is pretty great for everyone. Lots of different choices it can be played with small or large groups (and it’s not dirty like the other game). You do have to have some skills in mime, humming, play doh, tongue twisters and knowing your teammates if you want to win! It was funny as shit to watch Abby mime (we were all laughing pretty hard… one of the videos is up on my vimeo). This game also test out your beer bong skills (yeah… a reason to win at putting balls in cups). Definitely a game that will help you learn more about working with others and your teammate(s).
I also asked Abby what do you think is the most important thing mom has taught you? She said, how be to a woman. Abby went on to tell me that mom has shown her what true and honest love looks like, taught her to trust and how to do all the “adults” things she often fail at. Abby continued to tell me that mom taught her how to be a good, honest person but also a tough as hell no bullshit woman when need be (I totally don’t want to follow that…should have wrote mine before I asked her lol). The most important thing my mom has taught me is to be accepting of myself, never give up and to go with the flow (which sometimes I think she forgets to do now). My dad got hurt and all of our lives changed but my mom didn’t blink at those challenges, she just kept fighting for her family. She married a doctor who became a farmer I’d say that is definitely going with the flow. I've never been “normal”. My mom has told me I’m beautiful even when I didn’t believe her she would say it. I realize now not all moms accept their children’s unique beauty (if one person should think you are beautiful inside and out it’s your mom). Everyone is beautiful in their own way never forget that (she doesn’t let me forget). Thanks for everything mom!
What we learned!
1-Don’t assume everyone has the same comfort level…. because they don’t.
2- Try new things! You could find something you love. Worst case you don’t do it again.
3- Team work is so important. This is a vital skill to winning at work and at life!
4- Everyone is beautiful in their own way! You are a mind-blowing beautiful badass & don’t forget it!
5- Appreciate your MOM! They gave you life! Don’t forget to say thanks or you love them!
