We Play Uno

It is raining in Oregon.  A lot. Specifically in Salem - the day before yesterday we had over six inches of rain in 48 hours.  There is flooding going on and schools are closed.  Our house is at a high elevation and we aren't having any problems with flooding at our house specifically.  But, our hearts go out to those who are being affected by all of the floods.

In the midst of the rain, the kids have had some serious cabin fever.  For a series of days like this, where playing outside isn't so appealing, I try to keep some new games, puzzles, and crafts on hand.  And, I just happened to have a brand new pack of UNO cards in our kid cupboard.  Marshall and Eliza have played Disney UNO before but it's a little different.  They felt so grown-up when I told them it was "adult UNO."  It's definitely the little things when you are 6 and 4.

The best part about playing card games with these two is that they just can't grasp the concept of hiding your cards from other players.  This is a totally foreign concept to me, since I grew up in a home with parents who were members of the American Contract Bridge League (bet you didn't know that existed!).  For years, I thought that everyone's parents played bridge multiple nights a week.  And that everyone had family vacations centered around traveling to a national bridge tournament. My dad is a crazy-smart amazing bridge player by the way - seriously.  It's awesome and one of my favorite things about him.

My first job was working as a caddy at the Salem Bridge Tournament.  It was a happenin' place - upstairs at the Black Angus restaurant.  I got paid to sit in a room with hundreds of people silently playing cards and to move boards of cards between tables.  I think the only thing my parents didn't anticipate in having me work there is that it would cause me to never want to play bridge. Their dreams of family bridge nights were destroyed. As a kiddo I had very little (no) appreciation for the insane intelligence of people who could play bridge at this level and I just thought they were weird.

All that to say, I don't play bridge. But, by Marshall's age I was very adept at the imperative life skill of shuffling a deck of cards and holding a fan of cards that was sorted by suit and number. My kids are clueless.  It makes it super easy for me to either win, or let them win, depending on the day!

Of course, Jameson doesn't play with us :)  So, he's left to entertain himself.