Family Olympics Extravaganza

We like to have fun when we get together. And a few years ago, my family organized a last-minute Olympic event to see who was best at certain things. It's all about bragging rights in our family, after all. And we are slightly competitive. Which makes even the silliest of events turn into dangerous, pain-inducing, hour-long escapades that won't soon be forgotten. Or let go by others. The Olympics were such a success last time that we thought we'd make it more official during our family reunion. This was our first appearance at such events, and John and I had been training for months. We even made our own team uniforms.

This year's prestigious events included: IQ Test, Yahtzee (forfeited after Mom "forgot" to bring it), Blokus (same thing...mysteriously didn't end up in the truck for the trip south), Ball In The Circle, Hula-Hoop, Head Stand, Stilts, and the always-popular One-Legged Stand. Thanks to Charloe and Mom for designing this year's showcasing games.

IQ Test & Ball In The Circle

We started out easy with the Ball In The Circle event. After playing Bocce Ball for the previous three days, we were all worked up to get our ball closest to the center for more points. I was pleasantly surprised to take second place. Joe took first, and Brian came in third.

Stilts

Next came the Stilts competition. I quote Brian, "Had I known we had stilts in the garage this whole time, I would have practiced!" He lost and had this excuse. I am very proud of my husband, John, who brought his A-game and caused a time limit to be imposed. After five minutes, he beamed as he came down the twelve-inch sky scrapers. No one came close to beating his time, though it was more than entertaining to see the attempts.

One-Legged Stand

The first heat of the One-Legged Stand came next, followed shortly by the second heat and the champion round. The top two competitors from each heat moved on to compete for the final placing. I am glad I gave up early as the final round lasted almost an hour. Who knew standing on one leg could bring on such misery and pain? Ask Joe. He would know. After hanging in there with the best of them for almost half an hour, he crumbled to the ground. Some people do their hair every morning for forty-five minutes in this one-legged position, which may be considered cheating in other families. We just saw it as dedication and sat back to enjoy the LONG event. With no end in sight, we had the final two competitors throw a ball from the one-legged position. Then, the top three finishing athletes decided to split the gold medal. Such actions caused the crowd to go wild and induced tears in every eye.

Hula-Hoop

Hula-Hooping was a challenge to some athletes and easy for others. Corban said, "I think I'm going to take Bronze in this one." Since he had no idea what "Bronze" meant, we were all shocked and amazed when he actually did take Bronze with his performance. Kippy was crowned the champion and even did some extra tricks for all the ladies in the crowd.

Head Stand

Finally, the events came to an entertaining end with the Head Stand event. It's amazing the guts some people have in being able to last minutes at this misery. I think my best time was 1.32 seconds. Thank goodness for stopwatches to witness such glory!

The athletic competition at this year's Family Olympics Extravaganza was one for the history books. We have been training for months and are proud of the results. Everyone received a medal, which just goes to show how well-rounded, talented, and humble we really are.