A Weekend That Was

God smiles upon those who forgo all medical treatments.

When we had a ski weekend planned for early February we thought we'd get at least a little bit of the snow up in the Pennsylvania hinterlands. That wasn't true, but it did mean we had the entire place to ourselves. And of course by place I mean Christian Science summer camp that rents itself out as a cross-country ski center in the winter. Not a ski resort. Obviously. We did have the run of the main lodge/camp office for the weekend at least. It comes complete with sun rays, two fireplaces, seven bedrooms, and a ban on alcohol of every kind.

There's also a lake. And although we couldn't get any official confirmation on its frozenness, they were fine with us deciding for ourselves; the healing nature of god and all. We still sent Evan out first.

Broomball (with hockey sticks) proved both successful and non-leathal. The ice-skating slightly less so since there were only 3 functional skates. Like they say—thems the skates.

Other highlites? The gaming selections, including a hectic round of couch-based Trivial Pursuit, a spirited  Pictogram session, card games galore, and Bibleopoly—A Biblical Game of Fun and Faith.

With Bibleopoly, you can enjoy the fun of a property trading game while learning about the remarkable cities of the Bible! Start "In the Beginning", and travel through biblical cites of Meditation, Community Celebration, and occasionally the Abyss! You can earn a Cornerstone by helping a fellow player [like handing over a property that completes a monopoly], or by doing community service [sitting out 5 turns, hopefully making more coffee], and make offerings in order to earn the bricks and steeple you need to build a church. Watch out for the "Go Meditate" spot on the board [i.e. jail], though--you'll lose three turns! Also, though good deeds are rewarded, sometimes "Faith Cards" intervene.

It's not as much fun as it sounds. Or, actually it's exactly as much fun as it sounds.

Then there was the ropes course, complete with Leaps of Faith, moon-lit zip lines, and Darcy's judgements.

Leaping Sweater, Hidden Sweater

T. Trudeau up to bat.

Darcy never forgets ... her hipster accessories.

Then there were the illicit activities. Like the hot chocolate wine & whisky outside by the fire pit, and the wine we hid in the oven, and the pitchers of wine drank over The Pursuit, and the bottle of rum we drank over cards, and the beer cans Evan & I left on the end of the dock, and the wearing of the bearskin rug, and the late-night Sevens, Elevens, Doubles games that broke out around 2 AM each night.

Seven.

And of course the anti-religious rant the younger Barnebey's went on Friday night. It's unlikely god appreciated that. At least we got a couple of pretty nice sunsets out of him.

In an unrelated note, proving once and for all that tofu is the scrapple of the soy world, see if you can spot the difference between the two:

The Fireside Shot

The Jump Shot.

The Video

St. Patrick in the Kitchen

St. Patrick—celebrated with 4 shot glass, 3 ramekins, & a spice jar. Here's to you 21 Seasoning Salute.