Game On!
The fuel that makes the Lawrence Fun Machine run is the board game. If there is even an informal gathering on Hillandale it’s not uncommon for a game of Apples to Apples or Times Up to break out. They must have a Bat Signal-type Spot Light that shines through the Midlothian night because people know and they show up in masses at all hours of the night hoping to get a seat at that kitchen table to show off their clay molding skills in Cranium. Weiner typically makes sure everyone is playing by the rules and even makes the rules 'better' as needed. This is known as Weinerizing and has been a common practice in our family since the early seventies. I don't know what the game closet looks like at the Lawrence House, but there is a lot of Milton Bradley in there...in fact, I was convinced that Milton Bradley used a likeness of Mugger for their last cover of Twister.
In the daylight, it’s badminton, bean bags or bocce. A tradition at my folks place for many years is to play Bocce with wool winter hats. This dates back to when they bought the last Bocce kit, it had a picture on the box of a group of old European men playing Bocce and all of them wearing some type of Eastern European or Italian Hat Wear. So every summer my Mom has to dig out the winter hats so we could play Bocce in the most authentic way possible.
When considering the history of games with Mugger it’s worth mentioning our few attempts at poker. There hasn’t been a lot of play, but the few times we have, it’s usually ended in a tailspin. It's also ended with what could be our finest photo. (See Above) There's also the time we played at his apartment in San Diego. The cards were so hot it was uncanny the first couple hands. Kristen started with 3 of a kind. Then my full-house beat Mugger’s Full House. Then I went all in with 4 Queens only to fall to Mugger’s 4 Aces. It was about this time when we realized we were playing with a Pinochle deck.
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