Fun and Games
It's Sunday (3/18/07) afternoon. We just finished dinner and some of us are playing a game of croquet. Cheryl set it up, and the game began. I took pictures during the first game, but the thwack of a mallet resounding in the air as it sends a croquet ball briskly rolling across the grass was enough for me. The heck with this...I'm going to play. It's pretty exciting. Harder than it looks trying to hit that little ball through the hoops. Even worse. Just when you think you've got it made...someone's ball knocks yours off track.
We've had the set a long time, but I never played croquet before. It involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing arena. Evidently it originated in the game of "mail" played in the French countryside during middle-ages. Borrowed by the British during the 14th century, the modern game was apparently invented in Ireland in the1830s as a distant cousin of golf and taken to England as a pastime of the aristocracy in the 1850s, and by 1870 to its colonies. So much for history...On with the game!
Mason's ball is on the move.
So is Drew's.
Foghorn says this is not a sport for gentlemen.
Karli and Bradley battle it out.
Katie, Amanda and Megan have lots to laugh about.
Do we have a winner?
As the sun sinks in the west, the game's over, and it's time to retreat. Guess what?! I won my first game. Probably my last, but it was great fun.
Maestro's Brent and Mason playing some funny stuff on the piano.
Now that everyone has settled down and in one place....might as well get a group photo, although it's pretty hard to get 'em all to behave and pay attention.
See what I mean?
It's been a fun afternoon. Hope we can do it again soon.
