Who said you can't play sports when it's wet outside?

After the incident a few days ago with the rain and the mud (see earlier post) I wasn't in the mood to let the boys play outside today. Plus it is really cold. They had an amazing amount of energy, but then again when don't they, so I had to find something constructive for them to do. We started coloring, which ended up in tears because they both couldn't have the same crayon. Then Tyler was playing soccer, and totally accidentally knocked over mom's special candle that was on the coffee table. So much for that game. After trying a few other things and on the verge of a melt down a brilliant thought came to mind. What about sports inside! Enter our Nintendo Wii. This thing is so awesome. The boys don't play it ofter, it's more for Eric and I when friends are over, or boys night, but considering the circumstances, I thought it would be the perfect time to pull it out.

I put in the Wii sports, because Tanner can play it too. Baseball was the first game we played and the boys had a great time pitching and batting with eachother. And there weren't any tears!
Tanner pooped out sooner than Ty, it was getting close to nap time. Tyler then decised he wanted to pratice his golf skills. Yep, still a pro!


The Wii saved my afternoon and allowed my kids to play some sports even with the nasty weather. For any of you who haven't tried the Wii, I highly recommend it. I am not a "gamer" at all, in fact, I almost dislike them. Especially for families. I think it is too easy for anyone one person, children or adults to get sucked into those games, plus so many now days are inappropriate with violence and stuff. That's just my opinion though. Anyway... off my soap box now. This Wii has a ton of family friendly games and you get to get up and move for many of the games. That's a fun twist too. The way we got the Wii is a fun little story too.

Many of you might remember the craziness that surrounded the Wii's release back in 2006. It was near impossible to get your hands on one of these suckers. From what I've heard, sometimes it can still be a challenge today. Anyway, about 2 months before Christmas '06 I decided it would be fun to try to get one for Eric for Christmas. The process began. Most major game stores received limited shipments about every 3 weeks, and when I say limited, I mean 2-9 per store! And they didn't know when they were getting a shipment until a day or two before. Wal-Marts and Targets would randomly receive a few, but they could come at any time on any day. I stared calling around a dozen stores in the area about 3-5 times a day to see if any had come in. Nothing. After a few weeks of no success a rumor was made that Nintendo was going to do a nation wide whip to all stores on Sat. With the amount per shipment being limited again, I know this was my only choice. I also knew I would have to do something I never thought I'd do in my entire life... sleep out over night.

I had a hard time figuring out how I was going to not sleep at home without Eric noticing. So, I lied (sorry Eric) and told him I was going to help my mom with a project and I'd be there all night. He didn't even think twice and said okay. Some how I convinced my sister to be in on this with me too and I sent her out to the game stop by 8pm to get our spot in line, and there was already a line. The people in line said the store had 4 Wii's to give out tomorrow, and Danica was 4th in line. I thought about trying somewhere else, just in case the store was short one, but the others assured us they were told 4 and we'd get one, so we stayed. That night the temperature went from the average 45 degrees at night to 32! Figures. We froze. Dee and I tried to sleep on a double wide camping chair, and if you know anything about my sister's sleeping habits, that was dumb. She is what my family likes to call, an 'active sleeper'. I'll just leave it at that. By about 3am, I was numb and sooo tired, and offered to Dani to stick it out the rest of the night and she could go home, but being the loving sister she was, she stayed instead. I recieved a call that morning around 8 from her, telling me that there was now a huge line behind her, because no one believed there was just 4 in the store. Sorry if you where someone in that line, but all I wanted to say was SUCKERS! I know that's not nice, but after weeks of calling and a night of cold and everything else, I deserved one. Yes, we got one. The stories we heard from our friends that night about other locations giving out the Wii were crazy. People got trampled at the Mall and at Target. Other Game Stop raffled off the Wii's and other crazy stories. We were pleased that all we had to endure was the weather mainly.

So I kept the secret for a full month, only playing the Wii while Eric was at work so I could be really good before Eric got ahold of it. Christmas day at my parents house, after all the presents had been opened, Eric was asked to help with something in other room. My dad and I quickly set up the Wii and began to play. Minutes later Eric walked in a sat down not even realizing what was going on. Then, a look of shock came across his face as he jumped up and yelled... "DID YOU GET ME A WII?" Pure joy! We all laughed and told him the story. It was one of the best Christmas surprises I've pulled off yet. He had no idea.