When I was much younger, I lived in a small town and went to a small school. Across the street was a little store. We'd buy burritos for lunch and play Space Invaders, Centipede, and Foosball. I'll admit it, back in the day, I was the reigning Foosball champion!

A few summers ago, at camp with out teenagers, another leader and I discovered we both liked Foosball. And Air Hockey. A lot. So we spent some time playing the teens. I'll admit it, I'm not the reigning champion anymore.

Last fall, I was at my dear friend's 40th birthday party and somehow we got to talking about things that we like to do and games that we like to play. I mentioned that I'd love to have an Air Hockey table some day. Turns out, one of them just happened to have an Air Hockey table sitting in their garage because they'd taken up Ping Pong. (Another sport I'm learning to enjoy!) Anyway, soon after, my family became the proud owners of an Air Hockey table. Yippee!

Yes, seriously!

The thing about our family and air hockey is that it's probably not quite what you imagine air hockey to be. First, we're a competitive family. Yes, it's true. We play to win. That means the adults will play against five year olds and still want to win. But we also know how to have fun, and we can laugh out loud and cheer for the others when they lose. Because we're just like that. And we make it to where the younger ones don't mind losing, because it was so much fun to play! And when certain…er…children beat someone older, well, they know it's because, frankly, they earned it!

Sometimes we have problems with our table. For some reason, when certain children/friends get excited, the plastic puck tends to leave the table. I'm not sure why. But the puck has been known to land in my Christmas tree, my hair, my forehead, behind my bookshelf, under the hockey table, and many other places as well. Sometimes the Drama Queen has to be redirected a little. She has to be reminded that while she is very excited, our ears can't take the screaming anymore and our faces can't take the plastic pucks coming at us at full speed. Really.

Oh, and that's another thing. When we play, it gets really loud. And the faces are hilarious! Because really, it's not just tossing a puck across the table, it's a family event.

Yup, it's just the way we are.

Today, we decided to have a family day. It's the first time in a long time that we've had the family home, with no school, work, appointments, or anything else. So we went bowling this morning before the crowds hit!

And we had fun! We laughed when the Smart One through his ball backwards and shared the story of when Mom did the same thing the first time she ever bowled…and how Dad laughed at her, just like we were laughing at him! And we cheered! And we begged the Drama Queen to please not scream so loudly each time she got a strike…and she got a lot of them, which was just unfair!

And some of us learned new things!

And for some, it took a bit longer…

But that's ok, because we had fun! And then we went home and hubby made amazing hamburgers while some of us painted, because painting has become a serious hobby for us! Seriously, those hamburgers were so good! And then hubby took care of..well, the bird that flew into our window while we tried to keep the dogs from attacking it, because, if there is one thing about our family, there just cannot be a day with absolutely no drama!

And then some of the kids did the Hannah Montanna Ho-down while we watched and laughed.

And then, after everyone was settled, B-boo and I, along with our good friend, watched Alias…like, three episodes…because, well, because we wanted to.

And there was nothing to interrupt us. 

Because today was a free day!