Day 3: Beat Saber Shoulder Slaughter (It's for the Kids!)

 Hey all!

Still no time for fancy website stuff – gotta keep those donations rolling in! Brett's back to the grind, but the kids CRUSHED their 24 hours! Super proud of those little champions.

Speaking of champions... I decided to jump into some Beat Saber this morning. Seriously, if you haven't tried it, you are MISSING OUT. Best. Game. Ever. (Though my shoulder might disagree...)

Turns out a month off makes Expert+ feel like trying to fight off a horde of goblins with a wet noodle. Ouch. Sticking to Expert for now, but I managed to S rank Linkin Park's "A New Divide".

A New Divide

Gonna climb back up that leaderboard and reclaim my spot in the top 1000!

Happy Day 3 of Extra Life, everyone! Gaiscioch has a whole lineup of awesomeness planned, including Throne and Liberty, Guild Wars 2, and the epic raffle! Stay tuned!

And as always, THANK YOU for supporting Extra Life. Saving kids is the ultimate quest, and we couldn't do it without you!

Feast over Famine part 2: Quest Complete!

 Quest Name: Feast over Famine part 2

Type: Side Quest

Location: IRL

Description: Tier 2 hunger abatement.

Alas! We all must eat or surely we will perish. Granted I was a long way from perishing but I hadn't eaten much today. Besides, it is always good to engage with the family amirite? Tonight was a make your own sandwich night! The kiddos love that. We had pretzels to go with the sammies. We all watched a couple episodes of BNHA with Elcee (who has watched it in its entirety twice now) and decided what we were going to do for the rest of the evening. Next up is Conquerors Blade with Gaiscioch. Some bandit raids and more of the super fun Halloween village defense! See you there!

To DAoC or not to DAoC?

 Quest Name: To DAoC or not to DAoC

Type: Main Quest

Location: Dark Age of Camelot

Description: Survive Darkness Falls

I wanted so badly to jump into DAoC and just mess around with my Theurgist but the UI was wonky and I wasn't able to make it happen. Instead, I figured I'd play around in Throne and Liberty with Gaiscioch. I am not a huge fan of the game but since it was on the roster for the community I figured I'd jump in. I leveled my character up to 31 from 27 and completed a couple of chapters in the story. I now have access to the dungeon finder and I have increased my gear score from 400ish to 900ish. Pretty impressive for a two hour stint. I think its time to hit up another side quest though.

Son of a... Hades?

 Quest Name: Son of a.. Hades?

Type: Main Quest

Location: Hades (PS5)

Description: Escape the underworld from your father Hades.

Did a little side quest of Sleep before I dove into the underworld as Zagreus the son of Hades. In an attempt to escape the underworld I graciously accepted the gifts of the Olympians who would love to see their nephew escape and enter Olympus. I am a huge fan of this game. The roguelike aspects with the witty banter between the denizens of the underworld and the prince is a wonderful experience. Im on to the next quest of surviving Darkness Falls in the Dark Age of Camelot private server; Uthgard. Wish me luck!

Passing the Controller (and Crushing Some Numbers!)

 Time to pass the PC over to Brett so he can start his day! I didn't get many awesome Vampire Survivors screenshots because I was having too much fun playing, but here's one! (Insert awesome screenshot here)

Unfortunately, (Sorry) I didn't save the screenshot, so here is this one for you:

While Brett is doing his video game thing, I'll try to figure out how many hours we're at and how many more we need to go. So far this has been a really fun Extra Life, and we've raised $81 so far!

Thank you everyone for stopping by to read this, watching Twitch.tv/Gaiscioch, playing with us, and donating! You guys rock! 🤘

It's Extra Life Time! (And Early Morning Wake-Up Calls, Apparently!)

Good morning everyone! 

 

So, I woke up at 2 AM and the kids were STILL awake! I have no idea when they'll actually get up today. They may have already gotten their 24 hours for Extra Life in! 😂 

 I've actually been up for about an hour, but needed to run some errands. But, remember how I'm awesome at multitasking? I did some Pokémon Go while I was out and about!

So, I'm back at home with some wake-up fuel and breakfast and ready to go on my next adventure: Vampire Survivors! This is one of my all-time favorite games! I'll make sure to post some screenshots because, who needs a reason?! 

 Remember, please donate! But just being here and reading this helps, so thanks for being a hero! ❤️

Return to Albion!

 Quest Name: Return to Albion!

Type: Main Quest

Location: Albion Online

Description: Return to Albion Online and share the experience with your family.

It has been awhile since I stepped foot in Albion. Nostalgia was a plenty wandering the areas outside of Martlock. The intent was to wind down for the night and spend the last couple of hours with Fen on a game we enjoy together, buuuuuut, Fen got bored fairly quickly and I ended up soloing the Halloween event solo dungeon which took, FOREVER. Tons of ghoulish mobs; ghosts, skeletons, undead mages, undead rats, undead bats, werewolves, and Bob, the pumpkin headed skeleton with an axe that forced me to dance. In the end it was worth it though. Decent enough rewards for Bob, and an enjoyable time within a game that doesn't get the credit it deserves. That's all for me tonight though folks. I shall see you in the morrow.

Colonize EVERYTHING!

 Quest Name: Colonize EVERYTHING!

Type: Main Quest

Location: Stellaris

Description: Survey new star systems and colonize them.

H O L Y!!!!!! Stellaris is probably the most in depth RTS I've ever played. There is SO much going on in the game it's hard to keep track of it all. It has the learning curve of EVE online in a lobby based RTS. Crazy I tell ya. Requested by Aidyn we started a new exploration of the universe. I believe I successfully built 4 starbases and quite a few science and construction ships. We never ran into each other, but the game is saved and we can revisit it at another time. Aidyn started to get a little bored with the game so we will be moving on to the next. Until we meet again!

Operation Defend the Villagers

 Quest Name: Operation Defend the Villagers

Type: Main Quest

Location: Conquerors Blade

Description: Halloween Event to defend a village from the undead hordes.

During our first defense, we suffered too many casualties and were forced to retreat from the village, leaving the village in the hands of the Abyssal Knights and Dullahans. Our second defense was much more productive and we managed to saved more than half of our villagers. It seems as though Aidyn would like to switch up the game though. We will see you soon!

Feast Over Famine. Quest Complete!

Quest Name: Feast Over Famine

Type: Side Quest

Location: IRL

Description: Choose your meal and complete the act of abating your hunger.

That was a tough quest! Took a lot of time to figure out what we were going to dine on tonight. We did not let the act of indecision get in the way of completing our objective though. Now, after many mozzarella sticks, we are back in the game. Next quest will be along the main story arc. I'll see you all in Conqueror's Blade!

It's Break Time! (And Maybe Even Dinner Time!)

Hey everyone!

It's break time! (And maybe even dinner time! I'm kind of hungry.) We've been at it since 8:30 am and it's now about 4 PM, so that's, like, a whole bunch of hours of gaming! Our brains are tired, our controllers are worn out, and our tummies are definitely making their presence known. (Okay, bad joke.)

We are so excited to be participating in Extra Life this year! Even our tummies are excited... they're just expressing it in a slightly more "rumbly" way.

See you soon!

Dinner Time Bell GIFfrom Dinner Time GIFs

Chouinard Chaos, Gaiscioch Gaming, and Extra Life Excellence!

So, remember how I said things were a bit wonky? Well, buckle up, because it gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it). Turns out, I accidentally signed up for Extra Life under the wrong email address! But hey, now there are two "The Chouinard Family" teams, both raising money for the kids. And the best part? It accurately reflects that this is our 14th year doing this awesome thing!

Okay, enough about my email woes. Are you ready for some serious gaming action? I can't hear you! ARE YOU READY?!? It's almost time to join the amazing folks at Gaiscioch in The First Descendant! For those not in the know, Gaiscioch is an awesome gaming community that's all about having fun, supporting each other, and making a difference. They're the real deal, and I'm so excited to be teaming up with them for Extra Life this year.

This game is gonna be epic, with awesome loot, intense battles, and maybe even a few hilarious fails (hopefully not by me!). I'm so pumped, I can barely contain myself! Think you're more excited than me? I don't think so! 😜

Head on over to Twitch.tv/Gaiscioch and join the fun! Say hi to "Radiologikal," "Nuklear," and of course, Fog. We'll be hanging out, slaying monsters, and raising money for a fantastic cause.

Oh, did I mention prizes? Just by hanging out with us, you can earn tickets for raffles and win some seriously spectacular prizes. We're talking games, goodies, and maybe even a signed photo of my cat (he's a bit of a celebrity, you know).

So, what are you waiting for? Let's do this!

It's Extra Life Time! (And Website-Building Time, Apparently) - Update!

 Woohoo! Looks like I mostly squashed those website bugs! (crosses fingers) If you stumble across any wonky links, just let me know.

Back to Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms!

My party has been rocking it while I was wrestling with HTML. I'm so awesome, I've even got two parties going at once! (It's easier than it sounds, but shh, let 'em think I'm a multi-tasking genius.)

But hold onto your hats, folks, because the real action kicks off in about 2 hours! That's when Brett and Aidyn join forces with Fog and the Gaisciosh crew to take on The First Descendant!

This game is gonna be epic! Think third-person looter shooter action powered by Unreal Engine 5. We're talking awesome abilities, giant bosses, and co-op mayhem!

Catch all the action on Twitch.tv/Gaisioch at about 2 PM ET or 11 AM PT.

Whether you donate or just hang out and cheer us on, you're awesome!

https://www.extra-life.org/participant/TheChouinardFamily

It's Extra Life Time! (And Website-Building Time, Apparently)

 Hey everyone!

So, the website's not quite there yet, but Extra Life waits for no one! Forgive any wonky links you might encounter – I'm juggling website updates and a 24-hour gaming marathon simultaneously. (Because I'm awesome like that.)

To kick off this epic charity event, I've chosen Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms! 

I've sunk a ridiculous amount of time into this game – ironic, considering it's an idle game, right? But I seriously love it. First off, it's D&D, so automatic win. It's also incredibly well-made, with a fantastic mix of classic D&D characters and more modern pop culture icons like the Critical Role crew. And the best part? It's totally free! Sure, there are some premium currency options, but you can earn everything you need by just playing.

Anyway, I'm gonna get back to slaying goblins and fixing hyperlinks. Super stoked for this year's Extra Life!