<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Those sound good and are ones we don’t have. If you like a mix of cards and boards–we like Sequence. over30, I have to bribe my family to play Scrabble with me, lol.</p>
<p>Acquire. Or Puerto Rico. Or El Grande. </p>
<p>We play lots and LOTS of board games here, those are three of the family favorites over the last couple years that aren’t <em>too</em> technical to learn.</p>
<p>My teens love Risk! And Diplomacy.</p>
<p>As far as “new” games…I heard Password was going to be reissued. I mentioned it to my kids b/c we used to play it when I was young (based on the TV show, of course) but got blank stares.</p>
<p>^^^lol. I will have to ask my kids if they know what password is…bet they don’t either.</p>
<p>Mexican Train Dominoes. Get the 136 jumbo, double 15 dominoes.</p>
<p>I avoided that shopping day too! We like to play card games and visit family and friends rather than shop.</p>
<p>A fun game is Apples to Apples. Risk is another classic fun game.</p>
<p>Black Friday shopping? Ha! H went to Home Depot and bought a box of bolts - that was it. We spent today tidying up the back yard.</p>
<p>Another Buynothing-er here! I did walk to the grocery store for some cheese for my fake Turkey Tetrezzini, but that 's it.</p>
<p>Both kids were home–college senior S and college grad D, and it was just nice being around them. I read a lot (and washed a lot of dishes).</p>
<p>D is going to Ikea today–I gave her a shopping list and a lot of best wishes–better her than me!</p>
<p>Catch-Phrase and Taboo are fun word games that don’t involve too much intensity. Also, we broke out the Clue game yesterday! Always like the old favorites. I had to laugh at the references to Risk. My kids refuse to play Risk with H now (I swore off it years ago)…he’s relentless. Ditto for Monopoly. :)</p>
<p>I tried to avoid shopping - at the stores, at least. Instead, my D and I hit a few of the holiday fairs in NYC - one at Union Square Park and one at Bryant Park. D bought a gift for her bff’s birthday as well as a holiday gift for the bf. We also hit an Urban Outfitters and walked through Macy’s. Except for Macy’s, it was a lovely, though cold, day. Macy’s was wall-to-wall people, impossible to shop - but we had some time to kill while waiting for our train, so we thought we give it a shot.</p>
<p>We ate our way through a lovely Christmas market and picked up a couple of gifts. And I bought a round of gluhwein for you all:</p>
<p>Gluhwein</p>
<p>This is a traditional German/Austrian holiday drink that is often enjoyed after a chilly day of skiing. </p>
<p>6 servings 45 min 10 min prep </p>
<p>3/4 cup water (or orange juice)<br>
3/4 cup white sugar (or less to taste)<br>
1 cinnamon stick<br>
1 orange<br>
10 whole cloves<br>
1 (750 ml) bottle red wine </p>
<p>In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer.
Cut the orange in half, and squeeze the juice into the simmering water. Push the cloves into the outside of the orange peel, and place peel in the simmering water. Continue simmering for 30 minutes, until thick and syrupy.
Pour in the wine, and heat until steaming but not simmering. Remove the clove-studded orange halves.
Serve hot in mugs or glasses that have been preheated in warm water (cold glasses will break.). </p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>Recipe from [Gluehwein</a> / Gluhwein Recipe | Recipezaar](<a href=“http://www.recipezaar.com/151058]Gluehwein”>http://www.recipezaar.com/151058) and here’s the Christmas market: [Christmas</a> Market](<a href=“http://www.aachen.de/en/ts/90_festivals_events/90_30/index.html]Christmas”>http://www.aachen.de/en/ts/90_festivals_events/90_30/index.html)</p>
<p>I hate shopping and buy almost everything online. So I certainly didn’t venture into any stores on Friday. We spent the day (with my sister and her family, who were visiting from the midwest) seeing the Holiday Train Show at the NY Botanical Garden, followed by an afternoon at the Bronx Zoo. I greatly prefer the Rodent House to Macy’s.</p>
<p>The train show is spectacular, mainly for the dozens of replicas, made entirely of natural materials, of famous NY buildings:</p>
<p>[Gothamist:</a> Holiday Train Show At The New York Botanical Garden](<a href=“http://gothamist.com/2004/12/08/holiday_train_show_at_the_new_york_botanical_garden.php]Gothamist:”>Holiday Train Show At The New York Botanical Garden - Gothamist)</p>
<p>Wow, the train show does look spectacular!
Thanks for posting the link, love things like that and wish I could see it.</p>
<p>Apples to Apples is another one of our favorites!</p>
<p>Anyone else feeling kind of blue since the kids left? We had great fun–saw the movie Ratatouille and laughed so much…and the boys had fun talking shop (math & CS) to each other…but the time seemed so short.</p>
<p>Oh, ReneeV! A few years, we had one of our most magical Thanksgiving holidays—H’s sister and bil were in Heidelberg…we flew over for the long weekend—had traditional American Thanksgiving with them, then stayed in a castle for a couple of days, and then went to the Market in Heidelberg. All the years of H telling me about the markets (he lived in Germany for 8 years of growing up) couldn’t have prepared me for how magical and festive it was at night…We still drink hot chocolate out of our Gluhwein mugs! p.s. he has a (German) cousin who lives in your city–we had a great time there, too, a couple of years ago!!!</p>
<p>I don’t read this thread that often, but I just opened up astrophysicsmom’s post. Gluhwein is easy to make, but if you don’t want to we recently bought a case of “Holiday Wine” through Brotherhood Wineries in NY. We served it when we had guests over for Thanksgiving. It was a big hit. My mother asked for a bottle to take home! Oh, I did not know about heating glasses. I have been heating the wine either in a pot or in a mug in the microwave and then pouring it into wine glasses.</p>
<p>Scattergories is good because it works for all ages. Even though you don’t have elementary school kids… if they join in, it works for them too.</p>
<p>“Set” is a fun game that goes fast. It is not a verbal game - it involves patterns. It is really easy to learn and can be played by 2 or more people.</p>
<p>Another vote for Apples to Apples.</p>
<p>Didn’t plan to show Black Friday, but did. We were away and W did not bring appropriate walking shoes and got blisters. We went to a New Balance store, no crowds or big traffic hassles. Got 10% off purchase plus a free running shirt originally selling for $40.</p>
<p>Mom 'o JM,
Was in Hamden. Saw the over the top holiday light displays on 34th. Went to Rocket to Venus for dinner. Recommended.</p>
<p>Love Set. Love Balderdash - which can also be played without any equipment except paper, pens, and a dictionary and is then called Fictionary.</p>
<p>So went NOWHERE near stores on Friday:).</p>
<p>Can’t believe the world has turned red and green overnight and I even like Christmas…</p>