Life + The Game + Potatoes = Elmo

Austin has been playing a game on his iPad for several months called Oregon Settler.  If you ask me the game looks like a snooze fest, but he seems to enjoy it.  The general idea is that you get to build your own settlement (ya know, after conquering the Oregon Trail).  Austin's one shack town is now a thriving metropolis run by a red bearded man in a Davey Crockett raccoon hat.  Austin is only interested in building his town, he isn't really interested in other gamely aspects...like keeping his citizens alive.  Every now and then the game inflicts an illness on a few of your townspeople.  You must use your hypothetical town money to buy hypothetical supplies to cure these hypothetical ailments.  Austin sees no reason to do this as the game does not penalize you for the untimely deaths of your hypothetical settlers. Therefore, in addition to having a hospital, university, hotel, winter lodge, bank, barber shop, saloon, printing press, post office, freight depot and a variety of other magical things his settlement also boasts a large and well occupied cemetery.  It's hypothetically very sad.  


Just so you get an idea as to the importance of the game l share the following:

I kept the iPad at home with me one day because I had a doctor's appointment that I was unable to get a sitter for.  I thought it would be good to have the iPad in case my appointment ran long and Calvin got bored.  Austin sent me a text during his lunch that simply said:

"Will you harvest my potatoes?"

Sure, love you too.

Calvin is obsessed with Elmo and Barney.  He wakes up every morning asking for them and he falls asleep every night in his Elmo pajamas after we have brushed his teeth with his Elmo toothbrush, sung the Barney song as many times as we can mentally handle and read his Elmo book.  We were up at my parent's for dinner a couple weekends ago and my sweet dad was snuggling Calvin.  My dad asked, "Calvin, who loves you?" and Calvin quickly and quietly replied, "Elmo.".  Hey, at least he feels loved.