May 6, 2020
Monopoly Crazy
Yes, my family is crazy. Maybe.
We love board games – especially if it involves everyone. This is difficult as most games like battleships, mancala, and chess are two player or maybe four player like labyrinth, the mall game, trouble, spelldown, scrabble, and Lord of the Rings Risk. Even the regular Risk is just six players, along with all the trivial pursuits and Settlers of Catan with the 5-6 player expansion set. Yes, we alter it by adding extra pieces to trivial pursuit (we have four different card sets and ten player pieces with the total amount of wedges) and by using two yahtzee sheets instead of one, but a game where we don’t have to alter?
Yippee!
Monopoly here we come!
Granted, our monopoly set has been victim to a few mishaps; added to from two quarter yard-sale finds with a few pieces here or there, but we maintain the exact number of applicable hotels, houses, and chance and community chest cards. Unfortunately Lucas demolished the Cinderella castle board from a Disney set – but we have the tokens and a few ones and hundreds have Disney characters on them. (Actually, most of our ones are Disney, and due to Barbie Bake Shop and Restaurant Store drafts over 13 years, there is a shortage of one dollar bills insomuch as we have to “borrow” 10 white ones from the poker chip collection to play.)
Today, Aunt Becca took Becky off to babysitting land and Jillian had cleaned the table and set up piles of Monopoly money around the board – “Who wants to play Monopoly?”
“Wait?” Daddy says, taking a second glance at the table with five eager (okay, four eager and one required teenager) faces grinning at him, “everyone is at the table?”
“All except Becky,” pipes Jillian.
“She’s not here,” I added, “so everyone who is here.”
“Not Thea!” someone quips, “but she can’t play yet.”
To answer this, Thea squeals with joy – as Louis says, “roll the dice to see who goes first then I’ll sit down.”
Yippee! They all get excited about playing with Daddy and Mommy… Daddy is the cannon, Mommy is Walt & Mickey (statue from the Disney version), shoe, candlestick (from Clue), Miss Scarlett (from Clue)… someone was Mr. Thimble Moneybags (the thimble with the moneybags inside and the hat on top) – Yes, we collect old tokens from games bought at yard sales for extra pieces! Thea demands Mommy pick her up. Mommy smiles and sits by Lucas. Lucas, Jaquline, and Kimberly all rolled 6s so they roll again. Mom goes to change Thea. Lucas rolls highest! He goes first!
“I’m taking Mommy’s spot by Lucas!” Daddy announces. “I go second!”
Mommy does a mental facepalm… luck my foot.
We sit back at the table in the remaining chair between Jillian (#3) and Kimberly (#5) as Louis pops two doubles and lands three properties – 2 of a 3 group already.
At one point, we have Kim roll onto Louis’ hotel, die. #6, Christina, roll onto same hotel, DIE, and #7, Jaquline, roll onto Jillian’s hotel – DIE! Three out of seven down in one turn… with Mommy out the next and Lucas following. We ask Jillian (no hotels by this time) if she’s ready to concede that Daddy wins…
NO WAY! “I don’t quit a game – if I lose, I lose, but I don’t quit!” (Where does that come from? Remember Risk games during Daddy and Mommy’s dating days, brothers and sisters? One lone dude in Australia against the entire red world… “I’ll never surrender!”) Mommy has to laugh.
One thing for sure, out of the government shutdown garbage, Lucas knows how to break a twenty and what change to get back from a $10 or $20 on the $6, $8, and $14 properties (…almost typed the names… I’m too nerdy!)
What board game does your family love to play?
Thank you for Reading!
Type at you Next Time!
~Nancy Tart