Weekly Recap

Trips to the pool: 5

Hours spent playing the “Money Game” (see below if you’re interested): at least 1000

Number of toys/random objects displaced by the “Money Game”: more than 50

Number of hot dogs consumed: 16 (and counting)

Boxes of White Cheddar Cheeze-its eaten at the pool: 2

Movies rented from Redbox: 3

Movies rented from Blockbuster (only because that movie wasn’t available at the Redbox): 1

Date nights: 2 (me and Ernie on Monday night; Kitty and Ernie on Thursday night)

Girls Night Out: 1 (me and Kitty- rocking the chips and salsa at Chili’s last night)

Pool Items in the beach bags:

• 2 sets of floaties
• 4 kick boards
• 3 bottles of sunscreen
• fluctuating number of goggles (we seem to be constantly losing and finding goggles)

Trips to Sonic for drinks: who knows but it’s been at least twice a day for the last 5 days :)

And just in case you’re wondering about the Money Game, here’s how you play:

Get all the toys, books, random objects you can find. Now, go and dig out the game Monopoly and swipe the play cash. Next, set up a “shop” in your bedroom. This is best done by removing every toy off of the shelves and out of the closet. Then set all the toys/books/etc. on the ground so that they cover every square inch of floor in your bedroom. Every room upstairs should have at least one shop owner. Distribute the Monopoly cash to each player. Now comes the best part- especially if it’s 6 o’clock in the morning. Start shouting at the top of your lungs: “OPEN!!” and then start running back and forth from shop to shop (bedroom to bedroom) and begin ferocious bargaining over prices and items for sale. After the first 15 minutes it’s a great idea to put everything in your shop on sale, so go ahead and start shouting: “SALE!!!”. The more players/shop owners the better. It creates a delightfully chaotic and stimulating environment.

Thank you Cannon Family for introducing our Smith Family to the wonders of the Money Game. I’m not sure how we survived without it.