A is for Aggravation

I have been really excited to start blogging through the alphabet all week, but day after day passed this week, and I couldn't think of what to blog about starting with the letter A. I was really getting worried that I wouldn't come up with anything, and that this alphabet thing would be a bust. It was really aggravating. But, that's not the reason I chose "aggravation."

Today I was really thinking hard, trying to think about what I should do, but I also wanted to play a game with the boys. Then the light finally went on. What games do we have that start with A?! I could blog about some of our favorite games if it worked out, and it did. I scanned our game shelf, and voila, aggravation popped out (kinda like that ball on the cover).

Aggravation is a classic game for me. I remember playing this when I was a kid with my grandmother. I used to love it! Well, fast forward to a few years ago where I saw it on the game shelf at the store. It didn't look quite like I remembered it, but it looked like the same concept. I wasn't thrilled with how this board was laid out, but I really wanted to have it on my game shelf. I played it with April when she was old enough to get it. Probably about 6. Now I play it with all my boys.

I pulled it out today after church for a game with the 2 little boys. The basic idea is that you have to get your marbles from base, all the way around the board, and into home without getting aggravated. There are some short cuts you can take if you roll the right numbers, so that makes it kind of fun. We have only lost a few of the colored marbles, but you know what makes a good replacement? Gumballs! We have one piece in there that is a gumball from when April played it many years ago. It's still good. The boys always like to find which one is the gumball. If it ever gets wet though we may have to replace it.

This is the crazy very un-symmetrical version we own. It bugs me, but it has worked for us for many years.

Now they have a classic version of Aggravation available! I love that they are making some of these old games look like the classics again. This version of it is exactly the one I remember playing as a girl. My grandmother had it. I may have to trade in ours for this one. I want it. It is so symmetrical, and laid out so much nicer. Maybe our missing balls are reason enough to get it??

The classic version of Aggravation. Isn't it pretty? Photo credit: Amazon

I look forward to sharing with you some of our favorite family games, or any kind of game while I blog through the alphabet! We are definitely a family that loves to play games! I also plan to get to it earlier in the week. I'll be shooting for Tuesdays, but you never know when life will interfere with that. I'm joining with: