Blogstorm: Summer picnic in the park

A couple of weekends ago, our church held the "first annual church picnic." The Knights of Columbus and the parish youth group got together, grilled a few hundred hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages, and threw us a summer party at a local park. Between the good food, the sunny day, friends all around us, and the games on the lawn, our family had a great, great time.

Here's our middle child, all sparkling smiles, getting ready to have some fun throwing water balloons. She and partner beat out a dozen other teams, eventually ending up about fifteen feet apart, still tossing the balloon back and forth while those of the other teams had all burst.

Mom, and our little son. Those dimples!

Middle child again, in the sponge relay race. The goal is to fill a bucket at the other end of the run, by carrying water in a big sponge from the bucket at the starting line. Our eldest - the blonde in the yellow shirt - waits for a teammate to hand off the sponge.

Our little son is ticklish, ticklish, ticklish.

After the picnic, we headed home. Our son, so tired he was hyper, went straight for the swings. These motion shots are a lot of fun and, I think, really convey his joy in the moment.

Of course, it couldn't last. He doesn't often nap anymore, but a long day can still send him straight to snooze land. I wish I could nap whenever I needed to. I think we should take a lesson from the Spanish and Italians. Siesta, anyone?

Time with family and friends. A beautiful afternoon. Food cooked with love and honest brotherhood. Being the grateful beneficiaries of others' graciously donated time and effort. What a great day.

"First annual" anythings are a little optimistic, by nature. But we hope this event does, indeed, turn into a thriving annual tradition.