Nacht der spiele.

Ben likes board games. And by "Ben likes board games," what I actually mean is that Ben owns over 250 board games. I think the actual number may be closer to 300, but in cases such as these, a little ignorance is a good thing. 

I actually don't mind Ben's board game addiction hobby. I always figure that there could be a lot worse and even some more expensive things he could be into. For example, he could be a train guy and could have some sort of elaborate train thing in our garage. He could be painting little tiny trees in his office under bright lights with weird glasses on. Yes, I've given this some thought. He could also be into astronomy or something and be forever buying (or wanting to buy) $1,000 telescopes. 

Furthermore, Ben's fellow board game friends are, for the most part, pretty cool guys. And yes, buy "cool" I mean total and complete nerds who enjoy spending their Friday evenings circled around our kitchen table, talking shop, giving each other grief, and discussing the latest German war game that they all want to play. 

Although there are days that I walk into Ben's office, see his wall of games, and think "wowza, that's a lot of board games", there are a lot of days when it is really cool. Like tonight. 

After Sophia went to bed tonight, Connor, Ben, and I played some board games as a family. The coolest part about these nights is two fold. First, Connor loves to play games with us, he giggles, does some occasional excited screaming, and has a total blast. Second, Connor learns a little bit of German because many of Ben's games are German games. It's a win win. 

Tonight we played the following:

 Night of the Magicians - Ben won...twice. It is a glow in the dark game that you play with all the lights out. What six year old in the world doesn't think that is awesome?

 Spot It - Connor won and we didn't intentionally let him. He is so good at this game it is crazy. Ben doesn't take it easy on him and he almost always wins by a landslide. 

Jungle Treasure - I won (which is why I always agree to play this game)

So, if you are ever bored on a Saturday or Sunday, come on over to the Ockrees and play some board games. The hardest part will be picking out which of the 250 - 300 games you want to play.