Sir Monkeypants’ sister was visiting from Toronto for the long weekend, along with my two adorable nephews, 10-year-old AvidReader and 6-year-old ChitChat. The two boys are really into Nintendo games now, and I think Sir Monkeypants seriously considered going out and buying a Gamecube just to make their weekend in Ottawa that much more complete, and also because the thought of spending a whole weekend playing Nintendo games with two worthy opponents was pretty much his dream come true.

I talked him out of it, but we did get out our old N64 to try to amuse them. We used to play it all the time before we had kids, with Mario Party and Goldeneye being our two favourite games. After an argument, we’d get out Goldeneye and play it in one-on-one mode, in which you stalk each other through a building and try to shoot each other in the head. A few rounds of splattered brains were usually enough for us to get past the fight and make up. Mario Party is a silly but totally addictive board game suitable for the whole family, and we used to play it for hours and hours; just as bedtime would be rolling around, Sir Monkeypants would offer, “A little Mario Party? Quick game?” and I’d sigh and say yes, and next thing you knew, midnight was rolling around while you screamed at the screen, “EAT MARIO, EAT, YOU BASTARD!!” while pounding on the A key. Good times.

We bought the N64 after a visit to BarkyShark and TheRarGuy, maybe six or seven years ago, I think. We haven’t had a chance to play it much since the kids were born, and in fact, it has never been out of the box we moved it in during the 2 1/2 years we’ve lived in this house. But now that it’s out, I hope it stays out. I’ve never gotten into the more complex, violent, adult games that the XBox seems to feature, but I always loved the childish fun of the Nintendo stuff. This past weekend was totally trippy and also a roaring good time. Even CJB and GS loved to watch us play the various mini-games, and we eventually let the Captain give Eatsa Pizza a try, although in the end I think he was content to just be a bystander to the action. I believe I have found a way to pass away the summer months, now that the TV season is over. Eat, Mario, eat!