Disclaimer: I love DDO, I just don’t really want to play it with my kids.  Hence the game I talk about below! 

A special post about Minecraft

This summer was great!  Yeah, I played a lot of DDO, but I also got into playing Minecraft with my kids.  Minecraft is like playing with very large 3 dimensional blocks, but you get to create and destroy things as you need to.  You are really only limited to your imagination.  We actually set up our own Minecraft Server so that I could play in the same world with my entire family! 

The result?  Well… see for your self! 

 Welcome to Zoeland!  I am guessing it is in Texas!   

 The view is even more amazing at night!

My daughter decided that she needed to build a subdivision in the middle of what we dubbed “Winter Wonderland,” due to all the snow.  The result was: Shanono Heights Adjacent, because after this subdivision was built, she decided that a more expensive gated community needed to go up next door.  (No joke, she built it from diamonds and iron!) There goes our property value!

 
 The sud-division comes complete with a playground and a community pool!

Watch out for Zombies and Creepers poolside though. Plus…I hope this pool is heated! We should add that my daughter did ALL of this work by herself.  (So she says)

 All that sand and no sand castle?  Filthy Lies! Zoe built a sand castle with her dad, but no one lives there.  The castle is really just a hang out for all the super models before and after the shows on the runway!  Yes… we built a runway and had a fashion show!

  If I thought my daughter (12), was overdoing it in the creative department, I had NO IDEA what I was in for with my son (16).  The first thing he did was build a house right next to my modest but cozy “boathouse.” If I had known he was going to turn all “evil overlord” on me, I would have had my neighborhood coalition kick him out.  Alas… behold “Skull Island” below. 

He soon bored of that though and decided that a REAL evil overlord needed a bungalow in the sky.  Word to the wise, when kids are too quiet, they are usually up to something sinister!   I turn my back for five seconds and the next thing I know, the kid has made his own “Hollywood” sign, taken over an entire section of the map, built an evil empire, and named it after himself.  Kids these days!

Here is what “Evil Overlord Adam’s Evil Lair of Evil” (we call it the “The Bungalow”) looks like from a distance. One guy needs this much room? Seriously?

 Inside the Bungalow where Adam, Evil Overlord and shameless American gigolo goes to relax.  I wonder if the other evil overlords will laugh when they hear he doesn’t even have fem-bots.  I am not sure what my son is thinking or who he intends to entertain, but this place screams “freewheeling bachelor.”  Slow your role Hugh Hefner. 

Welcome to GEU!  A griefing college!  Here is the main campus, complete with library.  Frat house is under construction!  My daughter did most of this work.  

 Inside the GEU Library! 

 The lower courtyard has a proper homage to our school’s mascot!  “Home of the Creepers!”  Wooo hooo!!!

An aerial view of the University, it has three floors and includes a cafeteria, a basement, and a swimming pool.  All this was built by my daughter!

 College Life!  Inside GEU!  Here is one our faculty members getting ready to teach a crafting class!

 Yes.. you CAN get a degree in griefing!

Our mascot is the Creeper!  Seen here in our student courtyard on the upper tier of the college where students go to play music, talk about life, and figure out who they are!

We built a very looooooong and intricate railway system, complete with a “Sky-shelter” network in case the train has to stop for the night.  We started small with the railway system, but it really took on a life of its own after a while.  I think the whole railway ride around the world takes about 5+ minutes and there is some car-switching and an “intracoastal waterway.”

I guess that is about it, for now, the kids say they are not done and since they have learned how to use lava and water and trap doors in truly sinister ways, I think the future is going to be very interesting (and dangerous).  We built other stuff, but the projects that were the most fun were the ones we did together, like the college, the housing, and the railway system.  I don’t even want to think about the hours I will not get back this summer, but the important thing is, I got to spend some fun time with the kids doing something they really enjoyed, and I didn’t have to spend too much money or go anywhere!  WIN WIN!

If you want to learn more about Minecraft, all the information you need is on ther Website and their Wiki page! 

Cheers and thanks for reading!