olympics.

Last week Seren informed me that before the LACES kids’ soccer games on Saturday, a group of 28 volunteers from Harvest Christian Fellowship in Muncie as well as her dad and sister would be joining us to do activities with the children. She then charged me with the task of coming up with ‘fun games’ that we could all play together.

Pulling from my summers spent as a camper and counselor at Camp Talahi, I came up with a list of games and the materials we’d need for Sunday’s event, which I had now dubbed “LACES Olympics.” After filling up water balloons, gathering our supplies, and adding a few last minute activities to the roster, we were ready for the games to begin!

Everyone was divided into ten teams of nine, and instructed to come up with a team name as a group. Next came the water balloon toss, followed by four different sets of relay races. Sounds of laughter and cheering filled the air as the day progressed, and each event was more fun than the last. Everyone in attendance had a blast- even the spectators watching from the sidelines!

At the end of the day, the winning teams were announced, candy was passed around to the kids, and cold sodas passed out to the adults. Even though the Olympics was over, there was once last event left- an adult only game of tug-o-war!

The two teams ended up being white versus black (which we all had a good laugh about), as the LACES coaches and staff took on Seren, her fam, and Harvest Church group. The kids looked on as the adults arranged themselves strategically, gripping the rope tight in hopes of winning the war. However, the moment the two teams began to pull, the rope suddenly snapped in half, and the competitors all tumbled to the ground. Both adults and children laughed hysterically.

(I determined the game was a tie.)