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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