Yard-Lympics Deux

Some people saw this post as an attachment, added to yesterday’s “Only a Test” email. Some didn’t. It wasn’t initially able to be sent out during the time Lightly Tethered was having technical problems — but if you’ve already seen it or aren’t interested, just hit the delete button, baby………………..

For nearly twenty summers our family has attended what we call “Kunkel Kamp”. It didn’t happen in 2020 due to Covid restrictions, but this year we were back in high gear. We rented an Air B&B instead of camping and although it was hot and smoky in the middle of the state where we met the Seattle side of the family, it didn’t stop us from having a good time. One highlight was the “Yard-Lympics”, so named because the actual Olympics were taking place in Japan. There were twelve of us, the perfect number to make six competing groups. The schedules and teams were chosen not at all randomly by our youngest son and another son’s wife, who spent a long time deciding which people would be the best combos and how the competition might break down. The games were interrupted by a period of thunder and dry lightning that forced us indoors for a while but things resumed shortly. The teams: The Peanut Butter Pretzels (name chosen by an exuberant seven-year-old), O-squared (Oscar and Oma), Franciscan Health (after a t-shirt one of the participants happened to be wearing), Chopa (a combination of Charlie and Opa), Sunrise Chicken Thighs (the cabin we rented was named Sunrise Villa), and the Skunkin’ Dunkers (who vowed to immerse themselves in cold water if they lost). There was fierce competition in all three outdoor events: Ladder Ball, Corn Hole and Bocce Ball, with the Skunkin’ Dunkers eventually taking first place overall and wearing the handmade laurel wreaths for photos. This may very well be the last year that the oldest two of our grandchildren will be willing or able to arrange time off work and be able to go and I savored every minute of our time together.