Cardstock 2010

Back around Father’s day, I asked my husband what he really wanted for a gift.

A new bike?  Some sort of computer accessory?  A new obscure board game?

Well, to my surprise, and trepidation, what he asked for was that we all accompany him for one weekend in August, to a gathering of his group, Game Artisans of Canada at one of the member’s acreages, just west of Edmonton.

I moaned and whined and complained for weeks on end, but the weekend finally rolled around, and off we went;  him – eagerly, me – reluctantly.

Like most things in life, the weekend went much better than I anticipated.

Our hosts were welcoming and hospitable, opening up their brand new home (of 3 weeks), to a whole bunch of people they basically didn’t know, and a bunch of rowdy, messy kids.  (Ok, so maybe the rowdy, messy kids were the ones belonging to me.)   One of the game artisans, Rob, generously donated his camper van to us to stay in, and inspite of the 4 degree temperatures, we were very cozy indeed.  

The guys (and one gal, the brave Roberta who drove down from Terrace BC, with her 17 year old daughter, Sarah), tested their prototypes all day and night, breaking only for the necessities, like food (fantastic!), and the occasional breath of fresh air. 

We women bonded over coffees and juice boxes, attending to the kids and meals.  The kids had an incredible time, with lots of space on the acreage to run around, and more new toys than they could have ever imagined to see in one place at one time.  Malachi came home totally an expert at shooting guns and wielding swords, complete with sound effects. 

   

                                               Tom, Gavan, Matt, Orin, Dylan (top row) Rob, Mike, Paul

                                                         Christine fending off chip invaders

The talented Sarah provided the entertainment on her fiddle!

Christine and Tom

 

 

 

Our hosts, Mike and Pam (Justin, Matthew and Lily)

  

Sweet Matthew and Lily who generously shared their toys with all and let us invade their space.

 

Dylan (a Canadian diplomat stationed in Shanghai)  was home for a visit with his family, wife Tomoko, and cute munchkins Kyrie and Juno.

 

 

Juno aka Cutie-Pie, was a huge hit with my boys.  The first night, her and Malachi got cozy in the double kids camping chairs, and from then on, and even now, we hear about Juno a lot.  Mostly from Kashton, who now follows up every goodbye like this, “Goodbye Juno!”

 

 

We had a really great time, and I could even be convinced to do it again.   But sshhhh, don’t tell my husband, that will be his Father’s Day present next year too!