4th of July/Second Annual Family Bocce Tournament

July 4th means we not only celebrate the United States, we head to Indianapolis for Jenny's annual 4th of July party!

Everyone brings a dish to pass and she provides the sandwiches, drinks, and fixings for ice cream sundaes.

 Er, she's rather particular about where things go on the table as you can see.

This year the food was as good as ever, and we all raved about the "M&M salad" that Melanie, a friend of Jenny's, brought. (It was made from a variety of different M&M candies!)

 Trinity and Ian were all dressed up for the occasion.

 Aunt Leslie, Uncle Rick, another friend of Jenny's, and Granny Slash.

Cole, Emily, and Julie arrived from Tennessee in time for the party.

 Trinity and Ian, Lisa and Julie.

 Boompa's still got it - look at Julie's face!

 Vanessa rocks a sleepy Ian to sleep.

 Granny Slash does her best Cambria impression.

After we ate, it was time for the annual bocce tournament.

So many wanted to play that Curt and Cole had to draw up brackets! Those playing sat with the spectators while awaiting their turn to compete.

Leslie and Todd were the first to go. Each pair played three rounds to determine who moved on to the next step. Todd won.

 Sarah beat Uncle Rick.

 We are serious about our bocce - the tape measure had to come out a time or two!

Aunt Jenny did push-ups to warm up.

 Not to be outdone, Cole did deep knee bends.

 Aunt Jenny throws the winning ball for their match.

 Cole gave Trinity some pointers on how to play Uncle Curt.

 Sarah's winning form...

 ...clearly is a family trait!

Before the final round, things got pretty goofy. We sang the national anthem and Cole did a "flyover" of jets, just as you would see in a real stadium.

 And when all was said and done...

 We had our winners!

 Aunt Jenny checks out her medal.

Yep, it's good!

Trinity does her best Princess Leia imitation as she gives Boompa "Chewbacca" his second place medal.

 And finally, the winning trophy!

 Sarah gets a medal, too.

 Such a gracious winner.

After the tournament was over, we hopped into cars and drove back to West Lafayette. Shortly after our arrival, Kyle and his family arrived as did Jessica and hers!

 Boompa fired up the grill and I got busy making potato salad, cole slaw, and watermelon for supper.

 Corinne approved of the fare being served.

I didn't get photos of everyone, but you can see Jessie in the middle to the right of Curt in this one.

Our day ended with a massive display of fireworks in the front yard and down by the lake (Sarah and Todd had stopped at Shelton's on their way here) and we watched the city ones as well as those from several other neighborhoods that we could see from our vantage point.