10 Things to Do When It's Too Hot to Go Outside

This week's Ten on Tuesday should be easy. We're becoming masters at this!

Here are 10 things we do when it's too hot to go outside...

1. read
2. play computer games
3. watch movies (at home)
4. go to the cheap movies (.50 or $1 per ticket)
5. church day camp (for Caleb)
6. go to the mall play area (for Jacob)
7. visit the library
8. play with Hot Wheels, Legos, K'Nex, Lincoln Logs, etc.
9. eat popsicles
10. nap (for me)

Jacob keeps asking to go out and play, and I keep telling him it's too hot. If we had shade or a kiddie pool to play in, that would make it tolerable - at least for a little while.

The boys had two weeks of swimming lessons a few weeks ago, and it was absolutely unbearable sitting in the heat for that 35-40 minutes each day. The only shade poolside was under one tree and a big crowd of moms claimed that early each day, so I was left crisping in the sun. (My feet have nice Speedo tan lines...) I would hide under the shade trees after swimming lessons while the boys played on the playground each day, but by then the damage was done. I was totally exhausted by the heat. By the last day of lessons, I was so drained of energy I couldn't do much of anything for a few days. We've been staying inside ever since - doing all the fun things listed above.

10 Favorite Movie Characters

Here's this week's Ten on Tuesday list, in no particular order.

1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. Willie Wonka (as played by Johnny Depp)
3. Captain Jack Sparrow
4. Ouiser Boudreaux (played by Shirley McClaine in Steel Magnolias)
5. Gracie Hart (played by Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality)
6. Patrick Verona (played by Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate about You)
7. Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy in Cars)
8. Forrest Gump
9. William Wallace
10. Landon Carter (played by Shane West in A Walk to Remember)

I'm on a roll and could go on, but I won't... I'll save those for another day.

10 Favorite Sports to Play or Watch

Today's Ten on Tuesday looks to be challenging... I don't know if I can come up with 10 sports, much less ones that I like to play and/or watch.

Play:
1. volleyball
2. racquetball
3. golf
4. softball

Watch:
5. NHRA drag racing
6. NASCAR
7. football
8. baseball (in person, not on TV)
9. gymnastics
10. diving

Bonus: Spelling Bee. Hey - it airs on ESPN2, doesn't it?!?

Thankfully the upcoming Olympics gave me some ideas!

What do you like to play? To watch?

10 Things I'm Looking Forward to this Spring

Today's Ten on Tuesday:

1. SWIM Wives' Retreat
2. getaway to Hot Springs, AR
3. completing the self-study program I've been enrolled in for the last 4 1/2 years
4. warmer weather
5. trips to the park and the zoo
6. Easter (Resurrection Sunday)
7. longer daylight hours
8. getting back to wearing capris, t-shirts, and flip-flops
9. lighter meals
10. Billy's graduation
Bonus: 11. Our friend PoMonkey will be stopping by to sleep on our couch as she passes through town!

Technically, some of the things on my list will happen before spring officially arrives, but it's basically already here in Texas. (Other than the two snowfalls we had last week...)

What are you looking forward to?

10 Movies I've Intended to Watch but Haven't

This week's Ten on Tuesday looks interesting... I can just look in our DVD cabinet and find several.

1. Gladiator
2. The Rookie
3. Open Range
4. Radio
5. Citizen Kane (I know, I know...)
6. Miss Congeniality 2
7. Walk the Line
8. In Love and War
9. The Missing
10. Vertigo

Some of these I have; some I've checked out from the library but never got around to watching before having to return them. Maybe this spring and summer, when things have slowed down some (?!), I can catch up on these and more.

Do you have any recommendations? (I like everything except horror. Psychological thrillers, yes; blood and guts, a resounding NO.)

10 Best Games

Today's Ten on Tuesday list is the 10 Best Games - video, board, card, etc. Since I've already made a list of 13 computer games, I'll stick with board and card games today.

1. Apples to Apples - I love this game! I've played it with anywhere from 3 to 9 people and it's always a blast!

2. Nerts - Billy doesn't like this card game, so I have to play it with my parents and my sisters. It's like a speed version of group solitaire.

3. Balderdash- This is a hoot! You come up with crazy definitions or explanations for random initials, people, movies, etc. Always lots of laughs, but you need to have a lot of imagination!

4. Scrabble - Classic.

5. Scattergories - Another classic. Bible Scattergories is fun too, but quite a bit harder. Especially when playing against a seminary student... :o)

6. Phase 10 (and Phase 10 Dice) - I love playing this with Caleb now. He loves games as much as I do. This was his first "big person" game to learn. Once I've been playing the dice game for a while, though, it's hard to switch gears to the cards again.

7. Whoonu - Caleb got this Cranium game last Christmas and we've really enjoyed playing it. You select a card from the four in your hand that you think the "Whoozit" likes best. When all players have submitted their choices, the Whoozit ranks them from least to most favorite. You get points based on your ranking.

8. Trivial Pursuit - So many versions - and I like most of them! My head is full of random facts, so trivia games are perfect for me... I was just thinking the other day how Billy and I need to watch all the LOTR movies, then play our LOTR Trivial Pursuit. Maybe that'll be something good for our New Year's Day party...

9. Mancala - This is a great strategy game for two people. Travis and Wendy taught us to play at a game night our small group had about 6 or 7 years ago.

10. Scopa - (Italian for "sweep") Glenn and Amy taught Billy how to play this card game at that same game night. Scopa cards are hard to come by, but we finally found some. I think we got them on eBay.

Since I'm on a roll, I'll go ahead and add a few more. Then I can count it as my Thursday Thirteen, too.
Bonus:

11. Pocket Farkel - Mr. Ginger and PoMonkey gave us this for Christmas one year. It's a tiny dice game housed in a film canister. It's not like Yahtzee, and there's some strategy involved. It's addicting! I bet Caleb would like this game...

12. Rush Hour - Caleb got this game for his birthday a few years ago. You place little plastic cars on a grid, then move them up and down or back and forth to get a particular car out of the traffic jam. It's a great logic game, but can sometimes be frustrating.

13. Cranium - I can't forget this one! It's not my favorite, but I do like to play. It's been a while. Maybe that will be a good one for New Year's Day...

There are so many more that I didn't include (Imaginiff, Scene It?, Loaded Questions, Rook, Planet Hollywood, etc.), but I need to stop now. What are some of your favorite games?