That's Child's Play

It is one of the hottest summers I can ever remember here in good ol' Florida! I was thinking about all the time we used to spend outside playing games and how, as an adult- I really hate being outside (unless it's nice cool weather). But it made me think about the old time games me and my sisters used to play (and a couple of kids from the neighborhood).

Ever heard of TV Tag? Freeze Tag? Ghost in the Graveyard (not one of my favorites)? Sardines?

The rules of the games were so silly, but as a kid- boy did we sure have a lot of fun!

With Freeze Tag one person was "IT" and the other people had to do their best to keep away from the person who was "IT". If you got tagged by "IT" then you froze with your legs a little more than shoulder length apart and you waited until someone else came and crawled through your legs before you could move again. If I remember correctly if you got "frozen" 3 times, you became "IT".

Like Freeze Tag, TV Tag had the same rules, except you had a safety net. If you were close to being tagged by "IT" then you would shout out a TV show as quickly as you could and you would be safe from being tagged- But don't EVEN try to call out the same TV show more than once, you will LOSE! :) I can remember shouting out on several occasions "Dukes Of Hazard" (oh, yeah! Bo and Luke Duke were quite the hit when we were kids) :)

Now, Sardines was like the opposite of Hide and Seek... if that makes any sense. Instead of everyone hiding and one person trying to find them, one person hides while everyone else counts to 20. Then the seeking begins, but when you find the hider, instead of chasing them back to base, you hide with them. Obviously the Loser is the one who is the last to find all the people hiding. I remember playing this one time at a park my Aunt used to take us to (one of the very few parks that had see-saws and a merry-go-round) and the oak trees were MASSIVE and made perfect hiding spots!

What kind of games did you play as a child? I can't wait until Joshua is old enough to start playing games like tag and hide and seek! Right now it's just hide and go peek-a-boo!

6 of 6

Danielle tagged me to do this, so here it goes:

You take the 6th folder in your pictures folder and then take the 6th picture in that folder. Post it and tell us all about it. Then you get to tag 6 people. I'm tagging Melissa, Bekah, Brittany, Bethany, Dana, and Amanda

To really and truely appreciate this photo, I will post the before and after photos as well.

When we bought our house in Mulberry, it really was a truly wonderful house, EXCEPT... the hideous colors and brown wood siding panels that adorned the front. Jim worked very hard to remove all the wood siding and we hired a stucco guy to come and stucco the front of the house. So this picture (above) is during the stucco process.

Troll On the Bridge

Well, as promised, I would like to share the pictures and story of our "friendly" golf game!

13 of us met at the Family Fun Center for a miniature golf adventure... and boy was it ever. Our first mistake (other than inviting Gary B) was not reading the rules that said 4 people per hole...

We started out youngest to oldest... (which was pretty painful for me as that put me 2nd to last) :( Jim, in case you weren't able to guess, was dead last! Which gave him plenty of time to take all these great photos!

There was lots of standing around....
Lots of waiting.....
And the pressure of all those eyes on you as you desperately try to sink the shot (that has taken you the maximun 7 strokes to obtain).

We even had one member of the group who really took the game of miniature golf
to a whole new level...

Of course, with the weather as it is in Florida, we had one of our afternoon storms brewin'. Kyle and Justin decided to test the theory of "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God"

(I really like this one since Sara has such a great pose and then Kyle and Justin in the background being dorks!)

As it began to rain, those of the group who melt when they get wet decided that we need to head to the cave for safety. Obviously the cave was part of the course. This was especially fun, as each person putted the rest of us hiding in the cave had to jump to dodge the incoming golf balls. (trust me it was more fun than it sounds)

The storm lasted long enough for us each to finally sink our own golf ball and then it was on to the rest of the course. And then the serious drama came... This brings me to the part of the story that explains the title.

The next hole on the course is what I would call a two-parter. You have to hit your ball into a hole that is connected to a pvc pipe that runs under a bridge that carries your ball on to another green where you have to then try to get into the actual hole.

All was going well with the first couple of people... I think there were even a couple of hole-in-ones that took place. Then the troll woke up and decided that no other balls were going to pass under his bridge (You know like in the fairytale of the Billy Goats). (Do you see the resemblance below?)

Gary, being a seasoned Cunningham, knew that with his weight, and a little jumping, that he could manipulate the situation greatly. He managed to get 10 people's ball STUCK in the pvc pipe (including his own- becuase Jim used it to try and "dislodge teh other 9 balls). How did we manage to get them out you ask?

Well, between Kyle, Jared and a golf club, we finally were able to move on. Needless to say, we all got honorary holes-in-one on this round (except Gary) and have been charged to beat him with a golf club next time we play putt-putt (his wife condoned it).

Other honorable mentions of the day include: Mallory and her, well, "special" golfing techniques. Way to go Mal!

And we can't forget the Power Play of the Day which goes to Justin, who managed to be the only player (probably ever) who was able to NOT sink his ball in to the hole on this course, instead, he decided to live on the edge, just like his ball that came to an abrubt halt and teetered on the edge of the hole!

The golf game ended and we all ended up in the arcade, where Kyle hit the jackpot on one of the games winning 400 tickets. I teased him about buying mom's b-day present with the tickets, but unfortunately 400 tickets don't buy much more than a koosh ball and glow-in-the-dark spider ring...

Kyle and Justin also tried there hand at racing... I think this was Kyle's attempt to regain his dignity after Justin beat him TWICE at arm wrestling earlier in the afternoon!Finally, we ended the fun-filled evening at Taco Bell, where we enjoyed yummy food and recanted the afternoon's adventure. Oh and by the way, Gary is officially uninvited to the rest of our golf outings. I'll pick you up Dani! :)