We did American Swim Academy‘s Walnut Creek location and paid for private (bought out both spots – a parent or BT could use the second spot if we wanted) and later did back to back sessions – one private and one with another kid. Courtney, Jenna and Destiny were especially good. All the instructors give lots of positive feedback and work on exposure for kids who aren’t comfortable with water. Very positive experience and my kiddo now swims comfortably.

The nose possesses over 30 functions,” says Ally Maz, a guided meditation instructor for Open. Key among those are filtering, humidifying, and regulating the temperature of air as we breathe. Jessica Phillips, meditation expert and mindfulness-based life coach with P.volve, adds that there is lots of research about the benefits of breathing—and specifically breathing from the nose. “It’s how our bodies were designed and why we have a nose (we don’t eat from our nose)!” she says. “Nose breathing is scientifically proven to be the healthiest way to daily breathe. It also helps slow our breathing down which shifts us out of our ‘fight or flight’ stress response into a place of ‘rest and digest,’ known as our parasympathetic nervous system,” says Maz. “Nasal breathing helps us take fuller, deeper breaths, which stimulates a greater distribution of oxygen throughout the body and stimulates the parasympathetic receptors associated with calming the body and mind,” adds Phillips. Both recommend breathing through your nose as much as possible (Maz even recommends mouth taping to help train yourself to breathe through your nose while you sleep

Uses standard 52 + 2 jokers deck.

Shuffle and deal 5 cards each, keep them hidden from other players, you must look at yours to check for 8s.

If you have an 8, play it immediately and draw a replacement. 8s are worth -1

Play a round by taking turns playing one card at a time. After play, draw back up to 5.

Number cards – face value except 8 (-1)

Jokers are wild (can be any you want, optional hard mode they can’t be a 10)

Face cards – if you play one, draw a card from another players hand, set that card aside and allow them to draw one of yours, then you draw back up to five and your turn is over.

First one to a total of 10 or more wins the round – keep the highest value card to represent the win. The round ends immediately. Decide how to track who went first, it should rotate each round. If the winner draws an 8 as a replacement card, they keep it for the next round in hard mode.

In normal mode at the end of the round you discard all cards and draw back up. In hard mode you keep your hands between rounds.

8 rounds total in normal, hard mode goes to 10 rounds

If there’s a tie, compare hand values for your breaker. If tied again, compare highest card in hand. If that also ties, it’s a true tie, both win!

Triple mayhem

Use 3 standard decks without jokers

Deal 3 cards from each deck to each player

Place cards face up in front of you (9 total)

Flip top card from each stack to start a build pile (3 total)

Play either matching number or suit

If you play an ace you may play up to 2 more cards (1 on each of the other piles, following standard placement rules)

If you play a 3, flip the top card of all 3 draw decks.

If you can’t play, choose one deck and flip the top one onto the build pile in front of it, your turn is now over.

First one out of cards wins

Seven ate nine

Played with only 5, 6, 7, 9

When playing 7, also remove 9 (eaten) and move a 6 to another player of your choice

Win by getting rid of all your cards