Tonight, we finished dinner 30 minutes before the kid’s bedtime. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and it seemed like a bummer to stay in the house and do the never-ending dishes.

My son took out our Bocci ball kit and we started playing in the backyard. It was incredibly fun! While I was wondering how many steps I was racking up on my pedometer, my kids were running circles around me. I’m sure if I asked them to walk two miles they wouldn’t have, but running around after the ball in our very small back yard was something entirely different.

Bocci ball made me think of the post I wrote called “Throw Something”.  It’s really similar except my game needs no special equipment. Bocci Ball is an actual official game.

However  tonight, there were almost no rules in our game. The first one who reached six points won. We tossed a white ball, then each of us took turns throwing our colored balls to see whose landed closest. For me, the point was to be outside, stretch my legs and have fun. For my kids, they were literally falling over laughing with their crazy ball rolls. They were so sweaty after 30 minutes they had to take a shower.

It really doesn’t take much to add fitness and family time together. When we play again (which my son declared would be every night),  I’ll add new rules, such as holding a squat in between my turns or lunging to pick up the balls. I could add three crazy running laps in the backyard between games. Actually, the kids did this automatically in excitement. Next time, I’ll promise to do it with them.

Incidentally, as a side note, we met two new neighbors as a result of playing. Any guesses why?