Bryce has been wanting a Wii since they hit the shelves. I am just not a video game gal…not really against them (okay, maybe a little) but more than that, they just don’t float my boat. So I just kept saying “No, we don’t need one of those.” Finally Christmas came around and I wanted to surprise him with a gift that he REALLY wanted and that he never thought I would get him. Then I found out just how hard it was to get your hands on one of the darn things! I quickly decided I wasn’t going to spend the holiday season sitting outside every electronics/department store with the masses hoping to be one of the first ones to the counter (and there was the fact that we agreed to not buy gifts for each other this Christmas….). So I decided I would make him a Wii rain check-redeemable when funds and the gaming system were plenty. And even though there wasn’t an actual Wii in a box under the tree he was very excited. We piled all our Christmas $$ together and started saving our quarters…and Bryce started the Wii hunt.
I won’t go into the details of phone calls, lottery drawings, pacing outside stores before opening….but finally Monday night Bryce walked in the door with the elusive Wii! After the long drawn out hunt, I will admit that I was pretty excited to see him walk in the door with that smile on his face. I sat around letting him set it up, and then, mostly to humor him, I sat by the couch and made my own “Mii” (a video game character that closely resembles me-for those of you who don’t know). Then I agreed to one round of bowling before bed. Okay, are you ready for this…?…I LOVE IT!
Yesterday after school the kids were dying to try all the games. I wasn’t sure I could figure out how to work everything, but we tried anyway. Long story short we spent all afternoon trying out our small collection of games. Lexi is a phenomenal bowler-which makes NO sense when you watch her body flail around in what is apparently “fine Wii form.” Isaac, on the other hand, is having a hard time getting his body to cooperate. He has yet to be at the top of any scoreboard, but he is still beside himself with excitement (probably that his mommy is willingly jumping around the family room playing with him). Which brings me to the point where I must admit that I am addicted…I can’t stop…I put the kids down for naps and then snuck back down to play more Wii. I am the family’s star bowler and I can hold my own at a few of the other games. Strangely the most exciting part so far might be Lexi’s High School Musical sing along game…those of you who don’t know, I am NOT a singer! I might sing when I am alone in the car with the kids or while I am cleaning or something, but other than that NO WAY! It’s not that I don’t enjoy belting out a melody, it’s just that I choose to refrain from subjecting those around me to the pain of hearing it. So when we plugged in the microphone yesterday and Lexi was reluctant to try out her new game I decided I could show her how it was done…and then she couldn’t get the mic out of my hand! The game has some way of measuring how well you sing along with the tune of the music and if you get all the lyrics. Then you get a grade rather than points that will “unlock” more songs and other parts of the game. Not that any of you will ever witness this, but I was totally into it! And I’ll have you know that a few times I got a high five from my daughter as an A+: Rockstar popped up on the screen for my score!
We have decided it is a free for all until Valentine’s Day. We will allow our kids and ourselves to waste away two weeks of life playing video games…then there will have to be some time limits! So I gotta go…. 
