I spent Fourth of July weekend celebrating with my whole extended family sitting on a deck, drinking wine, and playing card game after card game.

After three days of struggling through rounds of Phase 10 (the most unsuspectingly frustrating game ever played with the most competitive family), I'm convinced there are a few things that must happen at every family game night:

1. Someone takes it a little too seriously. In our case, this is definitely always my dad. He sits rigidly with a furrowed brow and clenched jaw, talking all kinds of smack. He leads for a while but ultimately ends up losing because...

2. The quiet one always wins. This is the player that makes the least amount of noise and smiles as they lay down their perfect hand. Maybe it's grandma, maybe it's mom, but it's almost always a surprise, because there was never really any indication that they were kicking your butt in the first place.

3. Fighting words are exchanged. Here are some excerpts of actual things that were said around our table:

"You're not my favorite uncle anymore!"
"I never was!"
"Well now you'll never even have the chance to be."

"Chica, just because you get to play cards at the big boy table doesn't mean you're a big boy."

"You SUCK!"
"Grandma! Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that!"

And as a result of these hilarious but slightly off-color interactions...

4. Someone gets upset or offended. When you play a game with a bunch people between the ages of 9 and 70, generations clash every once in a while, and obviously not everyone can win. This occasionally results in a crying kid. These moments are few and far between though, because everyone is too busy laughing all night long.

5. It literally lasts all night long. Everyone gets so amped up about winning and having so much fun while doing so that the game goes on for what seems like forever. By the time you've played "one last hand!" it's 3 AM and everyone is practically playing with their eyes closed.

At the end of the night, you have nothing to show it for except several empty bottles of wine and a meaningless card game champion title, all in the name of family bonding.

That's more than enough for me - family game night, even though a total riot, is absolutely one of the best summertime moments.