The UNO Kids

My nephew Christian plays it cool while Mom shuffles the cards

I may have mentioned a time or two or twenty in the past how my family is a little UNO crazy.  My father and stepmom took a set of UNO cards with them to Europe back in 1978 and taught the game to everyone they met.  It was a great way to have fun with folks you had just met  - folks you might not be able to communicate very well with, due to a language barrier.

My Dad and Merlene would invite people over for dinner and then cruelly force them to play UNO before they could have dessert.  Amazingly, people seemed to enjoy this.

Dad would also give away their decks of UNO cards to people who loved playing it.  Home leave back in the States always involved shopping expeditions to restock their supply of UNO cards..

They were UNO ambassadors of goodwill!

An UNO Deck

As some - or most - of you may know, UNO is a simple card game that matches numbers and colors.  It is fast paced and simple to explain, understand and play.  No language skills are required.

Now fast forward about 20 or 30 years and you have my brother's family - yes, my brother, his wife and all five of the children - playing UNO on Saturday or Sunday nights as a family.  Anyone who happens to be visiting gets added into the mix.

Jay, looking like the Godfather

They have come up with rituals through the years, like singing silly songs to go with various cards or plays. It's all very silly.  You sorta kinda hafta be there to know what I mean.

These games are usually accompanied by cookie baking.  Chocolate Chip cookie baking.  Sometimes other flavors.

Root Beer guzzling has also been known to take place.

My nephew Nils
There's a rumor that he cheats at cards.
He protests his innocence and thinks its funny.

These are hard core UNO players and they play FAST and FURIOUS games of UNO - taking no prisoners!

Things are a bit different these days.  The two oldest children are married and living far away.  The next oldest child is serving as a missionary in Texas.  But the UNO nights continue!

Evidently this past weekend was hat night.  Everyone wore a fedora.  According to my nephew Christian they were cool beyond belief.

I even heard that they were too cool to sing, for once.

Kirsti, looking beautiful, as ever - in spite of her goofy child

So, do you have any funny family traditions?