First Annual Isenbarger 4th of July Bocce Tournament

(Or so Curt has named it. I do hope we do it again next year!)

Yesterday was the 4th of July, so naturally we headed down to Indianapolis for a lunch at Jenny's in her gorgeous historic home.

It is a home in Irvington next to the original Butler campus where professors used to live. It also may be haunted. She has occasionally smelled pipe smoke suddenly in her living room. It makes her uneasy, but as she quips, "Well, the ghost must've accepted my presence because I am still here."

Okay, then! Just don't ask me to spend the night!

We brought our bocce and corn hole games with us - the weather was overcast but nice and warm without too much heat and humidity. A perfect day for outdoor games!

(Prior to playing, we got to talking about Leslie's recent mastectomy and since none of us had ever seen a prosthesis, Leslie pulled hers out of the cup in her bra and handed it around. The gals present all got the giggles when it suddenly occurred to us that, if we were short a corn hole beanbag, her prosthesis would make a nice replacement! Craig and Curt, the only men present, were just a bit red faced!)

We decided to play bocce on Jenny's front lawn. Her home is right across from a beautiful park, but her yard, with its bricked sidewalk and antique iron fence worked perfectly. So out came the lawn chairs and the bocce balls.

 Whoever throws the ball closest to the white ball wins.

 Team Yellow - since we had more players than balls, Leslie (prosthesis firmly back in place) and Lisa partnered up with the yellow balls.

 Green wins! You can't get any closer than this for a win, that's for sure!

 Lisa pitches for team yellow while Curt, Jenny, Vanessa, and Leslie watch.

After Curt, Leslie, and Vanessa had each won five matches, they had the championship round with Vanessa winning.

Leslie was the big surprise of the day as she'd never played bocce. I think it must be the tomahawk throwing she does at the Feast of the Hunter's Moon that gave her a feel for how to throw the balls close to a target.

After the official round, the Martin sisters had a round for sisterly bragging rights.

 Jenny and I intently watch Leslie's throw.

 Next up is Jenny.

My turn!

  I think Jenny looks a bit worried. (She needn't have been - I was no threat.)

Leslie won this year's sisters' round, and I have a whole year to practice before the next 4th of July. (I am the only family member who did not win one single bocce round. Ouch!)

We got home around 5:30 and grilled some hotdogs and brats for supper. Lisa's friend, Kit Weckel, came down from Minnesota to spend a few days with us (she has joined us several times in the past for Thanksgiving - it was good to have her here again.)

I remembered seeing a sack of fireworks in the garage, leftovers from my boys from several years ago. I searched for them and brought them out to the patio to see what was in the bag.

What a bonanza! Using Craig's fire pit, we lit off fireworks until nearly 11:00 PM.