February 15, 2009. Canyon Lake, Tx. Pictionary.

I am terrible at playing Pictionary. In fact, until last evening when I played with the whole Family, I had successfully avoided playing the game, because I have absolutely no talent for the game. Even at the Merrill Lynch Realty Master's Conferences when the game was played every evening with great gusto, I refused to play. I know my limitations. I can not draw. I can not make quick or free associations. So I happily avoided the game. But last night the two older girls wanted to play, so Suzanne and Allison were on one team, with Sarah and Abigail on the other. It did not last, because Allison was upset with her drawing skills, so I agreed to play, with Sarah as my partner, and Suzanne playing with Abigail. I should have chosen Abigail, because Sarah and I are just alike, with very little imagination and no artistic ability. But we had so much fun playing the game that eventually both the twins and David joined the game, Allison as the timekeeper and Samantha rolling the dice. David helped out with both teams. The rules were relaxed and we played until ten o'clock. The girls normal bedtime is eight o'clock. We were all so bad at the game it was hilarious, with both Allison and Samantha joining in the games to try to come up with the answer. Only Ken stayed out of the fray. The three adults all lack a certain artistic talent, and a lot of the topics are unknown to the kids, so the game could have been difficult, but it wasn't because we changed the rules. Much laughter and hooting and shrieks occurred before Suzanne called it quits and the girls went to bed. Then David and Suzanne and Ken and I talked until 12:30. After Ken and I had our hot tub, It was almost 1:30 when I went to bed.

An interesting thing happened today. The Family went out on the boat while Ken and I were trying to track down some hiking trails. They came home ready to play Pictionary and by golly, all four girls were as good as the adults at the game. I was just a helper, to try to tell the twins what the topics really mean, but it was such a step ahead of the expertise of last night for both adults and children that one would think they were different people. Even Allison and Samantha got their share of winners as both the one drawing and the one guessing. They played for three hours, and only stopped for dinner at 6:30. No tears, no stress, no fighting, just lots and lots of laughter. I tried to figure out the difference in the level of success, and figured out that the timing was one thing, in that no one was tired. And the children observed the adults lack of success so they were comfortable to just try out ideas even if it seemed silly. Sometimes the silly answers worked, so they got free with their attempts. So everyone got better at the game. Last thing tonight, before David and Suzanne were heading down to bed, he commented to Suzanne that her gorilla looked very much like a teddy bear!!