Happy Labor Day, everyone!

I hope you were able to enjoy the long weekend (if you got a long weekend, that is. If you didn’t, I apologize for rubbing it in.) I certainly made the most of the extra day off. I was so busy enjoying the weekend, in fact, that I did not get to post any new activities since Thursday!

However, the reason I was too busy to post since Thursday is that I was busy spending time with family and DOING a bunch of new activities. So many activities to share with you!

Every year, my husband’s family has a Labor Day picnic on the Saturday before the holiday. His family lives on the outskirts of a tiny town on a small farm. They have a few cows, some barn kittens, and recently lost their mini horse Buckey (he lived a very long life. RIP Buckey). Family comes from all over, as far as Arizona, for this picnic. One of my favorite parts of the picnic is the hay rack ride, where the adults stuff beer cans into their pant pockets to make sure they have enough alcohol for the 20 minute ride. Kids go too, but we know who it is really for!

This was my third Labor Day picnic with the family, but this year there was a new activity. In my husband’s tiny home town, the game Rolle Bolle is a very big deal. They have tournaments regularly and most kids are given their own engraved bolle by the time they are in elementary school. I cannot tell you the amount of times I’ve heard about how good my husband apparently is at this game, but for some reason, for all this talk, I’d never seen him play. I’d never seen the game played at all, actually.

For those of you like me who had never heard of this game before, it is a mix of boccie ball, horseshoes, and bowling. The simplified goal of the game is to roll your bolle towards a peg in the ground and be the closest to it. The bolle is a hard rubber wheel-looking thing with one beveled edge. This edge is important for making the bolle curve certain ways that require way more skill than I acquired in an hour of playing.

After a few rounds, I started to get the hang of it. I started to get my bolle closer to the peg slightly more regularly. Even so, I am very glad we did not play for money or bragging rights. We played with children with the goal of learning. I will say, I ended up being better at it than I thought I would be. I have a tendency to be really good at activities I’ve never tried before, a fact that kind of annoys my husband. He hates introducing me to new activities that he enjoys because I almost always am better than him the first time I play. I tell him it is beginner’s luck, whereas he is better off because he actually has some technique. See how well he does even with two cans of beer in his hand.

*I was told that it is a requirement to play this game with some form of alcohol in your other hand. Must add an additional difficulty level or something.

Another thing I will add, the bolle is kind of heavy. After an hour, my wrist was very tired and it has been sore for the rest of the weekend. I may need to do some resistance training so I can increase my bolle hand strength.

So, how do I feel about Rolle Bolle, you ask? Is this game I would recommend others try? Well, I’ll let me face answer that one!

Now to find the energy to “rolle” into this four day week!