Let the bocce season begin!

It's that time of year already -  bocce season!  Have you forgotten about our mis-named tradition?  If so, in summary: our bocce nights are a weekly excuse to get together with friends we might not otherwise see regularly and eat yummy food.  No bocce is played, at least not by the adults, and certainly not weekly.

I'm feeling nostalgic, not sure why.  Perhaps because our friends and fellow bocce-ers gave us a gorgeous photo book for Christmas, filled with pictures of our bocce nights from the past few years.  I love looking at it, and seeing how much has changed since we started...

Scott initiated bocce season the summer Zach turned one - 2008.  Previously we had played in a weekly co-ed kickback league, a way for us to get together and be active (and drink beer).  So that first summer, Zach and his birthday buddy Stuart sat in their parked strollers on the sidelines, ideally sleeping.  That worked pretty well, but that next summer there was no way our active toddlers were going to quietly sit in their strollers and watch, plus by then there were several more babies added to the mix.  So we reluctantly gave up kickball (to the delight of our competition).

It was then that Scott brainstormed and proposed we get together once per week, rotating houses, to barbecue and play bocce.  Another engineer created a google doc spreadsheet with the schedule and sign-up sheets, and we were off and running.  The host provides the main bbq'd entree, and everyone else fills in the gaps.  And wow - have we had some delicious meals!

Attendance varies from week to week, of course, and it has also changed from the very beginning.  One family moved out of state, another couple families joined us.  And we've had other changes - several of us are in new houses, some of us got married, and of course... we added quite a few kids!  It's hard to do the actual math, since families have come and gone, but if I just count the births since May of 2008: nine!  Current status is 8 families with 16 kids total.  And for the first time in a while... none on the way.  That I know of, anyway.  :)

Anyway, back to the point of this blog - we had the first bocce at our house a couple of weeks ago.  We have traditionally hosted the first one of the year, which I appreciate since I can set the bar low entree-wise: burgers and dogs!  It was a gorgeous day - sunny and low 70's, which is the perfect temp for our shade-less backyard.

Last year (or the year before??) our friend Zac suggested we take a group picture of all the kids in attendance each week, which turned out to be a hilarious tradition, especially if we waited too long and the kids were hyped up on sugar and reaching the end of their socializing limits.  While we forgot to take the picture at this bocce (oops), hopefully the other pictures show that a good time was had by all.

One of the funnier moments of the night: while Sawyer is pictured here happily cavorting on the trampoline, it took a lot to get him there.  He had decided he couldn't play with anyone wearing flowers.  And Kasey had flowers on her dress... ahhhh!!!  One of those nonsensical kids moments you just have to remember so you can tease them at their high school graduation and/or wedding.  :)

Let the bocce season begin!