For the Win

Hannah and I played Settlers of Catan tonight. We were well into our first game when it became clear to me that I was going to win and win big. Hannah hadn’t realized that when you roll two dice, some numbers come up more often than others, leading her to make some poor strategic decisions. After I explained the probability thing to her, I asked her if she wanted to start over. She jumped at the chance, so we did just that. This meant her staying up past her bedtime, but I figured, hey, it was the weekend.

She did a little better in the second game, but not good enough to beat me. As we were nearing the end of the game, she grabbed a pillow and lay down next to the coffee table where we were playing, just out of my view from the other side of the table. We had a big day today and by this time it was half an hour after her bedtime, so I asked, “Hannah, are you tired?” Without sitting up, she poked her hand up where I could see it and used it like a puppet to say, “Yeah. Tired of losing!”

She cracks me up.

The three of us had a great day today. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel with my college roommate, who was in town for the weekend. I got to introduce Hannah and Lily to a friend of mine, who just happened to be at Cracker Barrel, too. I’ve known her for almost two years, and I’ve met her kids, but she hadn’t met mine. After breakfast, I took the girls shopping at the Vanderbilt bookstore to get some gear for tomorrow’s women’s basketball game, which hopefully will be more exciting than the 81-36 blowout the three of us attended back in December. Later in the day, we went to see The Secret World of Arrietty, which was another beautiful Studio Ghibli film. (The girls loved Ponyo, too.) And after that we spent a little time browsing in Barnes & Noble before heading home for dinner.

Like I said, a big day.

After the last few very, very busy weeks at work, I was grateful for the chance to have fun with my girls this weekend. They’re smart and funny and creative, and I love spending time with them. I’ve said here on the blog in the past that quality time with the girls is one of the best ways to keep their love tanks full. It keeps my tank full, too.

Image: “No More Wheat,” me, Flickr (CC)