Actually, that can't be what this post is about because I'm not really sure how it happened. No I wasn't playing seriously cut throat or anything, but it's not like I let him win, either. I think the real key is that at five you don't have a strong sense of risk/benefit analysis so caution tends not to get in the way when luck is there to help you out. In any case, I ended up with a total of $63 to my name, all properties mortgaged, and I owed him $1,150 for the rent on Illinois Ave with hotel. If nothing else I'm finding that Monopoly is a great way to use math, especially creative math and math in your head, and it's also a great way to stretch patience, memory, and attention—we'd been playing this game on and off for two days.
It's been great to have a couple of days just at home. Math, monopoly, making dinner. A little piano, a lot of coloring and art. Calvin made a model T-Rex (which he affectionately dubbed "Model T"), and he's got a dinosaur diorama in the making (he's still on the background painting phase). He wrote a book on matters, as in the states of matter. We're making our way into the Cenozoic era finally so we re-watched Walking with Prehistoric Beasts and we'll do the same with Walking with Cave Men. No video is perfect, but we've been happy with this series in general and of course Calvin loves them.
