| Last weekend we spent the afternoon in the park | | | | gaining on me by then. Finally, I was lining myself for the |
| playing yard games. We first played the yard game | | | | last shot through the final two brackets and into the |
| croquet for a while, then some of the Italian game of | | | | stake at the end, to win the game, or in our case to |
| Bocce Ball, then juggled bocce ball balls for a while and | | | | become poison. There were some grooves in the |
| then played some Frisbee. My wife and I along with | | | | ground though, that made it more difficult. My croquet |
| some friends were playing. | | | | ball fell into the groove and made me take an extra hit. |
| If you are looking for something fun to do then get | | | | Another player, who hadn't played poison croquet, but |
| yourself some Croquet Sets or Bocce Ball Sets and | | | | had just learned that I would become poison, decided |
| start playing some yard games. There are so many | | | | he was going to try to hit my ball away for some |
| different kinds of Yard Games that each time you | | | | reason instead of going through the third to last |
| play you can feel like you are doing something new | | | | bracket. I don't know what he was thinking. He didn't |
| and unique. Some of my favorites are Kubb, an | | | | want me to become poison, but he wasn't really |
| outdoor Swedish yard game where you try to knock | | | | helping himself out much. |
| over all of the opponents kubb blocks and then the | | | | In poison croquet, once someone hits their ball into the |
| king in the middle; Bocce ball, where you try to get | | | | stake to win the game, instead of winning, they |
| your bocce balls closest to the pallino or target ball; | | | | become poison. When you are poison, you hit your ball |
| croquet, where you have to hit your croquet ball | | | | into other players' croquet balls and eliminate them |
| through a course of brackets to win; and horseshoes, | | | | from the game. The winner in poison croquet is the |
| where you try to get your horseshoes to ring around a | | | | last player who has killed all of the others. It is kind of |
| stake in the ground. | | | | like marbles at the end, I guess. |
| Our croquet game was pretty good. I got some good | | | | Anyway, I was able to hit my croquet ball through to |
| hits at the start and was able to keep the lead the | | | | the end and hit the stake, so I became poison. The |
| whole game. By the time I made it through the fifth | | | | person that was trying to stop me ended up getting hit |
| hoop though, I had a bunch of bad short shots going | | | | by his wife and she roqued him right into me, which |
| toward the two hoops before the stake. It took me | | | | basically ended his game, because now I had an easy |
| about three turns to line myself up and get myself into | | | | shot on my turn. I was also able to hit his wife's ball |
| position to hit my ball through the two hoops and into | | | | and get her out of the game. Unfortunately, during that |
| the stake. By then the person in second had gotten | | | | time of eliminating both of them, my wife was able to |
| through the fifth hoop, and was gaining on me. | | | | hit her ball into the end and become poison herself. I hit |
| Fortunately, I hit my croquet ball nicely through the two | | | | my ball toward her to eliminate her, but missed and my |
| brackets and into the stake, so I got my extra hits and | | | | ball didn't go far enough because of the grass. She |
| was able to hit it back through again, then a took a | | | | was then able to hit her ball into mine and eliminate me. |
| long hit and was able to hit it all the way through the | | | | When you are both poison, it is whoever hits their ball |
| next stake, which is a long shot, about 20 feet. | | | | into the other's first wins. So, even though I lead the |
| Probably my best croquet shot ever. That got me an | | | | whole game, I lost at the end. |
| extra turn to hit the ball to the center bracket again, | | | | We then played a little bocce ball, which was a close |
| sealing the deal with my lead. | | | | game until the end. It was my wife and I against our |
| Unfortunately, I faltered on the next few shots, hitting | | | | friends. They lead for a little while during the game, but I |
| past one of the brackets so I had to take an extra | | | | don't remember who ended up winning. I just know it |
| turn to get back on track. Everyone else started | | | | got close. We were only playing to ten. |