Last time I was in DC, Reese and I did some shopping at Toys R Us. We managed to make it out without buying any Sea Monkeys on this particular visit, but we did buy a whole lot of games.

We got some fun board games such as Stratego and The Game of Life, Pirates of the Caribbean Version. We also got Mille Bornes, which I loved when I was a kid, but we haven’t played it yet.

Another good purchase was Boggle, which is one of my all-time favorite games. Reese and I are fairly well matched, so every round has been a challenge.

We were looking for but didn’t find Mastermind, so when Reese came to Austin I took her to Great Hall Games. The idea was that we’d buy Mastermind and Boggle, but one of the store employees suggested Syzygy as an alternative. We bought it, but haven’t played it yet.

Turns out Reese and I both like jigsaw puzzles, so we bought this one. It’s a good thing, too, as it gave us something to do after we’d done our mad shopping expedition the day before we flew to Detroit. I’m hoping my cat didn’t make too much of a mess of the puzzle pieces while I’m gone!

The true treasure this time around, though, was recommended by the same store employee when I asked about two-player games. He suggested we try Lost Cities. It’s made by the same folks who created Settlers of Catan, and it’s wonderful. It’s totally addictive: we play for hours! It’s another game where we’re well matched, which makes it a lot more fun to play.

It’s a little bit scary that game stores are almost as dangerous as book stores for us!