Spaghetti and Kickball!

Last night I went with the boys down to the last meeting for my older son's youth group before summer break. They announced that the meal was going to be spaghetti on a board. I had no idea what that was, but apparently there is a restaurant somewhere locally that serves family portions of spaghetti on a big board they just put down in the middle of the table and people dig right in and grab it off there. So that was the concept last night.

How it all played out was even a bit crazier than I pictured. Long tables covered in plastic table cloths.. no boards, no plates. Just people, spaghetti and a fork. The noodles were put in piles down the lenght of the table, sauce was ladled right on top and pretty soon meatballs were rolling all over the table. People were just pulling piles of spaghetti towards them. Most of the adults were using utensils.. but some of the kids didn't even bother.. just started grabbing spaghetti with their hands and shoveling it in. It was quite a sight to see.

After dinner it was time for a rousing game of kickball. Instead of picking teams, they somehow decided it would be the seven high school age kids against all the middle school age kids... about 15 of them. The high schoolers were taking it seriously while the middle school kids were in various states of annoying fellow teammates, afraid to try and catch the kickball or just plain sitting in the field watching as the ball flew by them time and again. The high schoolers won with a score of about 45 - 6 or so, but much fun was had by all.

Watching the game brought back memories of kickball from elementary school in upstate NY. We lived and breathed kickball. Every recess and lunch break.. everyone would get out there as fast as they could. Captains would be decided on quickly and teams formed in a matter of a minute or two and away we went. Often we would continue games for all the breaks in one day.. meaning we didn't even have to spend those precious few minutes repicking teams. I'm sure the picking was traumatic for some so it was a relief to only have to do it once a day. Not me however, as I was an all-star kickball player. If only it were a professional sport.. I would be famous! My friend Blue and I dominated the kickball scene. Yes, his name was actually Blue.. its not a nickname. :P

One thing I noticed as I stood there watching the kids have an epic game of kickball until it was getting dark.. was that my son who's current hairstyle drives me insane, had the same look as half the other kids his age, but that most of the high school kids had cleaner cuts. So I am hoping this is a short phase! Currently my older son is trying to have a hairstyle that makes him resemble this:



I am trying to pick my battles and realize that this is not a big issue.. but it isn't easy. I am doing better though.. baby steps. :P