Growing up I had two visiting playmates every summer. ☺ I lived next to an older couple whose grandsons would come to visit every summer for as long as I could remember. I remember after school would end I'd constantly ask Mrs. Thomason when her grandsons were coming. "Now? Tomorrow? Next week? When?" The anticipation would kill me because sometimes they wouldn't come until the end of summer. But when finally came for their visit... we would swim, have water fights, watch movies, play games, play basketball and most of all SKATE! We would skate in their grandparents' drive way, it was absolutely made for skating. We would mostly race or play hockey on roller skates but one time I convinced them, somehow, to do some synchronized skating. It was just us making up moves and acting like ballet fools on skates, but it was fun. That's what I liked best about them, they were ready to try anything. So while skating I was remembering them, my boys of summer.
After skating and feeling very pleased with myself for remembering how, and not falling on my face, I headed out to meet a friend for some DODGEBALL! Now that was really fun. I had forgotten most of the rules because I hadn't played for a very long time. It was not played very much at my school, actually I think it was banned because kids would get hurt and cry. Come to think of it, they also made us stop playing Red Rover for the same reasons.
Anyway, the whistle blew and we started playing. I had no idea what I was doing! I just wiggled at first and tried not to get hit for the first few games until I got into the groove and found out the rules. Then it was... GAME ON! I was ducking, moving, throwing and catching! When you catch the ball, the person who threw it at you is out and one of your teammates who was out comes back in. Someone said to me "you're a catcher!" I just smirked and said "yeah," all the while thinking "yeah, I have brothers."
Who knew that the torture I endured from them while growing up would have made me be so athletic and have really great reflexes. They thought it was just the funnest thing to throw tennis and racket balls at me ALL DAY LONG. It got so crazy that I would be watching TV and be able to catch the balls that they were throwing at me without taking my eyes off of what I was watching. Of course this became their very favorite past time after they saw that I could do this. The "look how Jen catches the ball without looking," or "let's see if we can make her miss," were games they played "with" me... a lot.
So conclusion...
1. Boys are fun.
2. Brothers are really fun.
3. Childhood games are really really fun, even when you are just a little bit bigger and older.
DODGEBALL HOW TO:
How do you play Dodgeball for those like me forgot? (well at least what I learned... in 5 steps)
1. Throw the ball LOW at people to make them leave the game once they are hit... because getting hit in the face is not fun.
2. If you catch the ball the person who threw it at you is out and a person from your team can come back into the game.
3. You are only out if the ball hits you before it hits the ground or if someone catches a ball you've thrown. Ricochets off the floor or wall do not count even though it may hurt if say... it hits you in the face.
4. In coed, the girls can get closer to the other team to throw at them while the guys can only go midway to throw. Girls are important to a team because depending on how many girls you have on a team playing determines how many men can also play.
5. Don't throw wrenches.
WHERE WAS I?
Skateland Mesa
... retro rink that I will be visiting again.
&
National Dodgeball Organization
... in a word... YES!
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