Weekend Wrap-Up

Following an afternoon of espionage yesterday for Elinor's birthday party, we surprised Elinor and Bethany with their big birthday presents-- new bikes!

Here they are flying out the front door when they saw them on the sidewalk. 

The girls have made the best of a very sad collection of ill-sized, non-functioning bicycles for the last couple of years.  They are looking forward to a long bike ride together tomorrow.

Because their birthdays are so close (2 weeks apart), they frequently get their presents together since they often get the same thing.  Besides, it is more fun to play with something when you play together.

For a couple of years Clark has wanted to put together a Dungeons & Dragons club-- a group of friends to get together once a month and go on "adventures".   Putting aside the fact that I have never really understood why this is such fun for Abe and his brothers or Clark and his cousins, I was FULLY in support of him setting this up.  I'll explain why in a moment, but this is a picture of their first meeting this past Saturday evening.

They had pizza and played for about 4 hours.  I must admit, that in listening to these young men and hearing their enthusiasm, my mind was opened and my heart was softened.  I think that maybe, perhaps, just a little, I began to understand how the game is played and why it is so fun.  Maybe.

But here is why I was so happy for Clark to set up this club.  There was an article in the Deseret News just this morning addressing the nurturing of young men.  This article pointed to Boy Scouting as a means of meeting the needs and desires that young men have to be challenged, accomplish things, make friends, and be morally strong.
The article suggested (and I COMPLETELY agree) that young men too often spend hours upon hours playing addictive and/or violent video games that appear to provide for all those needs, but are actually counterfeits, leaving the young men with nothing.

Instead, Clark took the initiative to make a plan and contact all the boys to organize this club.  He spent hours over the last couple of weeks writing the adventure and designing the maps and such.  For four hours these young men communicated as they used their imaginations and thought through the story and setting and characters.  They were charming and polite-- talking with Abe and I and being very kind to the younger siblings.  They will rotate around to each of the boys' homes.  I think it is a perfectly suitable and enjoyable way for young men to spend an evening.  Who knew I could enjoy D&D so much!