More Bocce Ball

The other day we went out to the lake.  Among other things we played some Bocce Ball, which was a lot of fun.  More recently, we got the game out again and played it with some little kids, Schwartzbeere's kids.  That was a lot of fun.  As before, to start with, the little white ball has to be carefully placed in the playing field.

Once the little white ball is in position, the game is ready to start.  This time, Grandma got the game started by explaining how to play and taking her turn first.  Grandma was tossing the red balls.

 Each person gets two balls to toss.

Next was Big Red, tossing the blue balls.

He was followed by his little brother, who was tossing the green balls.  As you might imagine, each of these players had their own, unique style.  This one liked the "wind up".

Last of all came the little sister.  Another unique style.  Kind of all over the place, with the ball landing who knows where, all without much regard of where the little white ball was.  But she was having fun, so what the heck, right?

As the game wore on and the attention spans began to wane, one young man decided to try tossing both balls at once.

Yeah, that had mixed results.  But the game actually lasted quite a while before they lost interested.  It was a good time.  If you have the patience, playing with little kids and the variations they bring to games can be a lot of fun.

Another Day at the Lake

We were able to spend another afternoon out at the lake, relaxing.  This time Himbeere and his friend went with us.  He volunteered to load the kayaks in his truck; much easier than hooking up the trailer and using it. 

We got out there and put some burgers on to grill - the kids hit the water almost as soon as we got there, especially since lunch had to cook a bit before it was ready.

We found a shady table and got the grills going.  We used the one there at the park but we also brought our own little portable grill.  It does quite nicely. Having two grills going got lunch ready all the quicker.

It was a near perfect day for playing at the park, nice temperature, slight breeze, overcast sky.  Everything an August day can offer.  There were a few others around but not so many that we couldn't keep adequately distanced.  I guess that's something we have to watch now days.

So we chatted while the burgers cooked and pretty soon it was all ready to eat.  The younger kids had worked up enough of an appetite that they were willing to get out of the water to eat.

Good food, good times.

We took our Bocce Ball game and, after lunch, those that didn't head back to the water played some Bocce Ball.

First you throw out a little while ball and then everyone tosses their balls to see who can get closest to the white ball.  Some interesting strategies going on. 

It was pretty fun. 

Blaubeere brought her dutch oven and made a cobbler in the grill, among the coals.

She said it was the first time she had actually made it herself.  I thought it turned out really good, really yummy.

Then it was everyone in the water.

A great way to cool off.

Pretty soon the kayaks were in the water, too.  That sometimes includes some shenanigans, but everybody was having fun.

Wet times, good items.

Himbeere's friend had never been in a kayak before.  She didn't do too bad at all, didn't capsize or anything like that.

It all made for a very nice afternoon.  We might have to make this a habit. 

Another Fun Time

This crazy pandemic that's been going on all spring has limited our ability to get around and visit as much as we'd have liked to.  Early in the year we'd had plans to go visit Erdbeere but then everything in both our states shut down and that was off the table.  But through perseverance, we were able to still put together a time to meet up for some fun on the bikes as things began to ease up and travel became a little more doable.  And so the day arrived and we loaded up the bikes for some fun times!

We met at a parking area along the Peace Trail in Janesville.  The Peace Trail is about 6.5 miles of paved trail, much of which runs along the Rock River, which comes into town from the south.  We were not planing on doing the whole trail, just part of it. So we all held still for a picture before hitting the trail and then we were off!

This was a nice little trail, lots of shade and some nice spaces along the way.

There was a butterfly garden we stopped at, lots of butterflies hanging about.

Plenty of other flowers along the way.

Cruising in style!

I like bridges, I think they make for fun pictures.  Plus, they're often fun to go over, especially when they're rumbly. Alas, none of the bridges we crossed on this trip were noisy.  But they're still fun.

It was a fun ride.

The "turn-around point" on this ride was a playground.  It had looked promising when I had been scoping out the ride.

It did not disappoint.  So we had some lunch and then the boys got to the best part - exploring and playing.

The one thing that seemed to be the biggest hit was the roller slide.  The kids spent a lot of time on it.

They each went down it plenty of times.

Then they had to try going up.  After all, every kid finds delight in climbing up a slide!

Roller slides, however, are pretty tough to get up.

Even the grownups had to give it a try.  Its a whole different feel.

Eventually, it was time to go.  The hill we had all struggled to get up after we turned away from the river was a lot of fun going back down.  The ride back always goes quicker than the ride out.  I've always figured its because it was new and inexperienced on the way out but more familiar going back.  In any case, it was a fun end to a real fun afternoon.  It was so very nice to get out and have fun with these folks we had been unable to see for a while.