A grand monster mash

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A grand monster mash

Hooray for Halloween! And for Halloween fun courtesy JibJab!

Do you make JibJab videos featuring your grandkiddos? I made a fun one for Halloween and hoped to embed it here for all to see. Alas, JibJab no longer allows users to download their videos for embedding (boo!), so here are a few screenshots of my creation.

I'd love for ya'll to see the silliness in full, though, so if you have a sec, click on over to my grand monster mash mixup for ghoulishly goofy Happy Halloween wishes from...

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Retro '90s games your '80s and '90s kids will get a kick out of

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retro 90s games from Pressman Toy

Long, long ago, in what now seems an alternate universe, I had three daughters living at home, three daughters attending elementary school. Computers in the classroom were new, our home computer even newer. Games on both were DOS-based. And they. were. awesome. Especially in the pixel-dazzled eyes of my daughters.

At school, my girls and their friends clamored for computer time. Oregon Trail time, in particular. They so enjoyed attempting to survive the oft-deadly challenges of the trail west at school that we purchased the game — on 3.5-inch disk... or perhaps it was a 5.25-inch floppy — to play at home.

My girls (and my husband) spent hours at the screen hunting, scavenging, escaping bears, and crossing rivers as they traversed the seemingly never-ending Oregon Trail. Sometimes successfully, sometimes...

Continue reading the review in Grandma's Back Room...

Summer's simple pleasures: When did you last...

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summer simple pleasures

Summer is the season of simple pleasures. A time for sweet, spontaneous — often spectacularly serendipitous — silliness such as those moments we remember from childhood. Our own childhood, possibly the childhoods of our children.

Simple pleasures we've set aside — perhaps even forgotten — in our ongoing pursuit of grand adventures, grand outings, grand activities to share with our grand kids. Simple stuff we've likely not done in far too long.

When did you last...

• jump rope?

• skip down the sidewalk?

• play freeze tag?

• sip root beer floats from a frosty mug?

• run through the sprinkler?

• have a water fight — with the garden hose, buckets...

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Denver must-do: Water World water park

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Water World Denver

Last week when middle daughter Megan and I discussed the fun my husband, Brianna, Patrick, James and I had at Water World in Denver the day before — courtesy free passes from the park to experience "unlimited fun in the sun" — desert-dwelling Megan told me how much she loves Water World. Her pronouncement was based on our (limited) family visits to the massive water park near downtown Denver when she was a kid and visits she made with friends as a teen.

"Preston loves it, too," she said. Which surprised me. Because Preston never lived near Denver and Water World as Megan did growing up. He grew up in another state, in fact.

"Oh, yeah," Megan said. "Preston and his family used to go to Water World all the time when he was a kid. They loved it."

The Water World love from out-of-staters confirmed for me that Water World is indeed a must-see Denver attraction not only for folks who live in Colorado but for visitors from afar, as well.

And how could the massive outdoor play area — a Denver icon since 1979 — not be...

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Kids and games: 18 fun ways to choose who goes first (a Friday flashback feature)

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Summer time is game time, and whether you're hosting an all-out Grandma Camp or a simple gathering of grands of another sort, the fun can't begin until the gang figures out who goes first.

Here from the Grandma's Briefs archives is my popular post on various ways to choose who goes first — some of them offbeat ideas that can serve as minigames on their own.

KIDS AND GAMES: 18 FUN WAYS TO CHOOSE WHO GOES FIRST
Originally published May 13, 2014

When playing games with kids — or directing getting the ball rolling — choosing who gets to go first can sometimes take longer than the actual gameplay.

That no longer need be the case thanks to the following fun methods I've gathered for grandmothers and others.

ways to choose who goes first 

Creative Eeny Meeny
When I was a Girl Scout leader eons ago, I taught my Daisies...

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Pool time with PawDad

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My grandsons have a swimming pool in the back yard of their home in the desert. Though I've had the pleasure of splishing and splashing with them in it a time or two, Jim — who due to job demands hasn't been able to visit the boys as often as I — last saw the pool when it was in progress and merely a big ol' hole in the ground.

Jim's perspective on the pool changed this past Sunday.

My husband and I took a quick trip south to see the boys and their parents over the weekend, and Jim, er, PawDad finally got to join the boys in their pool. And in their hot tub, too.

pool time with PawDad

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Puzzles for grandmothers and others: Sudoku & Crossword puzzles on Grandma's Briefs

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Sometimes grandmothers and others need to take a break from playing games with the grands and play a few on their own. Games for grownups. Games such as sudoku and crosswords.

Now you can right here, right now, right on Grandma's Briefs. Without installing an app, creating an account, or selling your soul personal information to advertisers.

sudoku and crossword puzzles

Grandma's Briefs now has a Puzzles page featuring regularly updated sudoku and crossword puzzles for you to play on your computer, your phone, your device of most any sort. For free. For fun.

The Puzzles tab is at...

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A grand St. Patrick's Day performance: Get Your Green On!

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st. patrick's day jibjab

In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, my grandsons, Jim, and I have been putting in long hours of practice on a special performance for our Grandma's Briefs friends.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Bubby, Mac, Jak, PawDad and Gramma in Get Your Green...

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Dublin over: 16 St. Patrick's Day jokes for kids

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Dublin over: 16 St. Patrick's Day jokes for kids

Time for another round of seasonal silly stuff for kids and their keepers, be they grandmothers or others. This go-round the subject is St. Patrick and his special day.

st. patrick's day jokes for kids 

What do you call a big Irish spider?

A Paddy long legs

 

What does Ireland have more than any other country?...

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