Palmer's World

My plan for January was to focus on learning an entirely new musical instrument…a synthesizer.

But it’s on backorder until February so I was trying to figure out what else to to occupy my time.

Enter: board games!  Specifically, I wanted to try some board games that I could play solo which is a new concept to me.

Monday a giant box arrived from 401 Games and I cracked it open to find some monstrous sized boxes.  The first I tried was Dune Imperium which is highly rated for its solo game playing ability.

It’s wild how time flies when you’re having fun or learning a game for the first time.  After watching a few videos and reading the manual a few times I managed to squeeze in two rounds and said “I’ll take a break” and found it to be already 10:30pm!  I’m sure it will move faster in the future.

So far I am enjoying the game.  You can read actual reviews online about it from seasoned veterans.  But for now, I enjoy the mechanics of it and I (of course) love that it’s in the Dune universe which is a favourite of mine.

Playing solo is fun as you don’t have other players hounding you to ‘move along already”!

First off, let’s start out with some photos of Ezra.  Typically he closes his eyes when he smiles for a photo.  I asked him not to and we had a good laugh at the results.  Also, I love how we have a memory of Ezra’s love of putting shirts either inside out or backwards.  He is currently wearing a firetruck shirt inside out and I keep saying “I want to see the firetruck.” and he replies “But I like it next to my belly!”

The past few weeks in Ottawa were miserable in the sense that we had freezing rain and then it was a little tough navigating streets and having a fun time outside.  Even the sledding hill in the front yard was caked in ice which made it very hard.

But then Thursday dumped 20cm (if not more?  I had to snowblow the driveway twice that day) which took the ice away and left us with the winter wonderland we always hope for.

Saturday was pretty cold so I stayed inside and cleaned a bit and made a warm lunch for the family while they enjoyed some sledding outside in the yard.  But it was -20 so that didn’t last long.

Later in the afternoon after Ezra and I had a nap, we ventured outside to try out our snowshoes around the yard.  Ezra was quite good in his bigfoot type snowshoes!  Pretty stable overall.

Do you want me to do a smiley face or a silly face Daddy?

For a few weeks Sierra had a loose tooth and she would put the drain stopper down in the sink in fear of losing her tooth.  Sure enough after brushing her teeth she spit and out came her tooth!  I believe this is her third tooth she lost and the tooth fairy brought her three coins.

Ezra is really enjoying this fish game and he’s getting pretty good at it!

On Sunday morning Vero decided to go snowboarding on her own at Mont Rigaud so we decided to try out our snowshoes at the Larose Forest.  Again, it was -20 out so I knew we wouldn’t stay long but it’s nice to hop in the car and go outside for a bit.

We didn’t make it too long along the trail before Sierra wanted to trek through the woods and blaze her own trail.  Ezra wasn’t having too much fun tripping as you can see by his facial expression here.

We didn’t make it too far away from the parking lot before the kids were getting cold and wanted to head back.  Luckily I had some hot chocolate on hand so we sat on a snowbank and enjoyed that.  Poor Ezra burnt his tongue on the first sip so we learned how to cool our drinks in the snowbank.  Sierra was surprised at how fast hot chocolate becomes cold chocolate when in the snow.

Winter in Ottawa is a hit and miss sometimes…you never know when next week will bring tropical temperatures and take away all the snow so we like venturing out fast to have fun in the snow before it’s gone.

Ezra: “What is Pearl Jam?” (Ezra always mixes up who and what)

Me: “A great rock band.  I will put on a song for you.  It’s called Even Flow.”

Ezra starts stomping his foot liking the music.

Ezra: “Dad! This song is great but you know what we need to make it more rocking?  We need, we need…”

Me: (in my head) “a guitar?”

Ezra: “My flute!”

 

Last night there was a sprinkling of snow on the ground.  This morning I’m looking at a foot of it and there’s no end in sight.  Well, maybe after lunch.

I secretly love days like these days for one reason.  I feel like I’m on an Arctic expedition when I load up the kids into the sled with our supplies (backpacks) and blankets.  It’s an adventure.

When I reach the halfway point between our house and the school my legs are ready to give out and my heart is about to re-enact the chestburster scene from Alien.  But man, it makes me feel alive!

It’s ridiculous.  The kids are heavy, they are tipping all over the place as I try to navigate a narrow path where a car tried to go down the road and we follow their tracks.  There is laughter, there is singing, there is me collapsing for a few minutes and convincing Sierra to get out and walk the rest of the way.

It’s a fun time.  Plus all this snow gets rid of all that ice that I hate so much.

No, I’m not talking about everyone’s favourite topic from the past three years, I’m talking about the tabletop game called Pandemic from 2008.

I’m a die-hard fan of boardgames.  The more strategic, the better.  For years lunch hours were spent in an empty boardroom with Benoit bringing in new games to try out every couple of weeks.

Vero isn’t the biggest fan of games, but she’s not opposed to them either.  So with that knowledge, I realized that maybe the best way to approach games is to find one where we weren’t playing against each other, but we were playing TOGETHER against the game itself.

Look up any list of ‘best co-operative games’ and Pandemic is generally at the top of the list.

Two games in, we can see why.  The game changes drastically every time you play it.  The mechanics of moving to a city, treating disease and trying to find a cure always stays the same but every time you start a game different cities are infected and you have to figure out which ones to tackle first.

Our first game a few weeks ago was pretty brutal.  We were focussed on treating diseases that we never really found time to find cures which is the only way to win the game.

This time around, Vero and I lucked into some great cards from the beginning and we just went from there to eventually win the game.  It wasn’t easy.  It also took two hours!

I think over time we will figure out different strategies (hard to eradicate a disease on your own!) and maybe the game will speed up a bit each time we play.  I laugh at the suggested time to play being 45 minutes but I suppose it could happen if we were seasoned veterans.

Either way, it’s a fun game to play and I think we both enjoy the co-operative mechanics of trying to defeat the actual game and not each other.

I’ve been thinking of trying some non-alcoholic beers for awhile now but I felt that there really weren’t fun options out there.  Part of the reason I like to drink beer is to try out all the different flavours that are available.

When I was at CityFolk last fall I noticed a tent sent up for Harmon’s Craft Beer from Toronto.  I kept that name tucked in the back of my head and last week I decided to order an assortment to see if I would enjoy them or not.

I cracked open a hazy IPA last night while in the hot tub listening to some Rebel Force Radio (best podcast ever!) and it was quite tasty!  Hopefully the trend continues with the other beverages I ordered from them.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with reducing a person’s alcohol consumption and if this is the way to do so, I’m in good hands so far.

Update: I’m updating this post a few weeks after drinking some non-alcoholic beer.  I have to say that this has been a game changer for me.  Hopefully it keeps up.  I would say that I enjoy all the Harmon beer so far but I’m not a big fan of the Partake beer that I also ordered later in the month.  I just find the taste pretty bland overall with the Partake beer.  MAYBE the Octoberfest beer is worthy of another purchase in the future but that’s it.

But the Harmon stuff is great overall.  They even have a ‘buy three, get the fourth six pack free’ deal on this month so hop on that.

Last night I brought Sierra to her gymnastics class.  This would be her fourth class of the year.

So far she is really enjoying it.  I asked her afterwards what is the one thing she really likes doing and the one thing she doesn’t like doing.  She replied: “Dad, there isn’t anything I do not like!”

Her group had eight girls in it last night and the instructor starts off with 30 minutes of stretches and running around and then they get to go on the fun things; trampoline, bars, and whatever is on the other side of that wall in the gymnasium that is hidden from my view.

I always get a kick out of watching her have fun running around.  As a novice in gymnastics she has trouble doing things like lifting herself up on a bar but like everything in this world, it just takes practice.  It doesn’t seem to get her discouraged though.  She has a fierce spirit.

As for me, I haven’t grown tired of the 1.5 hour sessions yet.  It was only my second time and I enjoy watching Sierra do things and also watch what other gymnasts are capable up.  Those folks that can climb a rope are pretty impressive to a man with spaghetti noodles for arms!  I’m not sure if I will grow tired of the same old routine in the future and resort to reading a book but for now I am entertained.  The only time I snuck onto my phone was to take a look at buying some gymnastic bars for the house so Sierra can build her strength!  When I got home that evening I figured out that as a first step, if I sit on a kitchen chair, she can run to it and try and hold herself off the back of it.  That will help build some much needed muscles.

Today we got to spend some time with Marty, Véro and Melody or as we affectionately call her, Baby Melody.  I will have to explain to the kids that once a kid can toddle around, they aren’t much of a baby any longer!

If you look closely, you can see me in behind the log as I was holding Melody up!

We went to the Dewberry Trail off of Anderson Road which is a fun trek through the woods.  This particular trail has a lot of bird feeders at the entrance so folks bring bird feed and chickadees come and eat from their hands.  These chickadees have no fear of humans to the point that one flew into my fur hat!  That was the second time in the past year that one of these birds went for my head.  I’m not sure if they are just really bad fliers or if my head is an easy target.

Sierra wanted to take care of Melody at all times so she would walk near her and try and hold her hand.  Ezra wasn’t a fan of the walk at all and I would leave him behind a few times and he would walk on his knees.  I’m sure the kids are not a fan of my speech on how some folks don’t have the luxury of having feet that work and they should be happy they can use them!

It was a good time to chat with Marty about guitar stuff and it wasn’t too long of a walk on a mild morning.

We haven’t done a lot of visiting folks for the past few years but we decided to venture out and see Lynn and Sue in Perth for an afternoon of fun.

They weren’t kidding when they said there wasn’t any snow up there!  We arrived to a light dust left by some snowfall the day before.  Back in Ottawa we still have snow on the lawn after some freezing rain the other day, but now it’s rock hard and a pain to play in.

Crossing their pond, we looked at a tree that was near ready to come down due to some beavers in the area.  Lynn said he sees them around quite a bit which is a nuisance as they are taking down some good trees.

Checking out the camper trailer.

After some lunch of turkey soup (where Ezra thought the sight of a knife with a banana carved into the top was hilarious…”A BANANA KNIFE?!  HAHAHAHA”) we went outside to do a treasure hunt.

When I mentioned that the kids enjoy going looking for geocaches once in awhile, Sue went above and beyond and set out clues and created a treasure map out of an old LCBO bag.  It was fabulous.  The kids were excited to run around the property looking for new clues.  Each clue had a picture of what to look for next (e.g. a bench in the woods).

Looking at the first clue

X marks the spot!

After the treasure hunt and a walk around the property, we settled in for a bonfire which was quite stubborn in getting started.  But eventually it got going and we enjoyed some marshmallows and Sierra sang us some Christmas songs.  Lynn also tempted me with tales of the wagyu beef he was going to eat that evening as he received it as a gift from his son!

Vero always gets ideas of moving out to Perth and living on the river like Lynn and Sue have done.  Every time I go I have to admit that it’s a beautiful spot that soothes the soul.

Update: Sierra must have really loved her trip to Lynn and Sue’s place.  She had to draw four images about her Christmas vacation and two of those images were from her time spent there!

Sierra told me that Lynn is really tall

Sierra and Ezra around the campfire

 

The scene: In bed, reading a book about the making of The National’s Boxer album out loud to Ezra Saturday morning…

Ezra: ”Dad your nipple smells good and your nipple feels good!”

I’ll take any compliment I get!