Mr. D and Mrs. M

Aboard the USS IOWA This year Mr. D and I decided to visit southern California. For the first part of the trip, we stayed with Mr. D’s sister’s family, then we saw a few of our old friends who now live in California, and for the last part we met up with my parents and a few relatives to see a game at the Rose Bowl. Some food highlights from staying with Mr. D’s sister’s family include doughnuts on the beach, homemade ribs, pizza, and breakfast smoothies. We also had the chance to go to the San Diego Safari Park. Mr. D's nephews loved seeing the animals. Reading a map at the safari park Tram ride at the safari zoo After visiting them, we drove a rental car north to see friends who recently moved to California from our neighborhood in Issaquah. Our friend happens to be our hair stylist (who we haven’t been able to replace) and she offered to cut both Mr. D's hair and my hair. While spending time with them, we took a ride in their 1966 Ford mustang convertible...

It can be difficult to find tickets, but thanks to coworkers snatching up extra tickets, Mr. D and I were able to attend PAX Prime 2015 this year. First, what is PAX? PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is a gaming convention. According to Wikipedia, “The first Penny Arcade Expo was held on August 28–29, 2004, in Bellevue, Washington, at the Meydenbauer Center, and was attended by about 3,300 people.” Now more than 70,000 people attend. The latest convention in Seattle was called PAX Prime 2015. Mr. D attended three days and I just attended one of the four. We attended a handful of panels, demoed new games coming out in the coming year, and got to experience the crowds. On one of the days Mr. D attended he entered into a tournament playing a game that got it start on Kickstarter called SuperFight, won, and got a free copy of the game. Here is a list of some of our favorite tabletop games: Monopoly Deal Settlers of Catan with the Cities and Knights expansion Ticket to Ride Splendor ...