The Red Bandits! (photo credit: Grace Church)

Week #45 – Summer Fun Challenge: “Pool Volleyball” (and other ways to GET WET!)

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and welcome to week SIX of our Summer Fun Challenge!  We are HALFWAY there!  (And if you still have ideas to share — please send them my way!)

Volleyball has long been a Church Family tradition.  As a little girl I remember the “grown-ups” playing volleyball in our backyard at home during family picnics.  These were adult games with high stakes — and the kids simply were not allowed to play!

Fast forward a decade or so — and my older brother and sister got homes (and yards) of their own!  Volleyball was back — and Rob and Jim were the team to beat!  It was the “Red Bandits” (as Rob would call them) versus everyone else!  (Some kids were brave enough to join…but it was definitely still a play at your own risk situation!)

And then…someone had the brilliant idea of moving the volleyball game into the pool!  And a whole new family activity was born!  It was still the Red Bandits versus everyone else — but at least we stayed nice and cool while we lost…over and over again!  😉

Whatever it is you usually enjoy doing — get creative and modify it to a water activity!  I recently saw a video of a kickball game modified with slip-n-slides as base paths and kiddie-pools as bases.  You can pitch batting practice with water balloons.  I’ve seen more than one video of a bikes and skateboards being launched off a ramp into a lake.  And there are plenty of strength training and cardio moves designed for water resistance…and now you can even up the ante and practice your yoga on a paddleboard!

Your assignment for this week: GET WET!!!  I know many of you are living in areas with record temps right now — and with that comes the tendency to limit physical activity.  Sometimes the heat just makes it plain hard to move.  But don’t despair!  Head to your favorite lake, pool, or watering hole and jump in!  When we were kids — we spent HOURS in our neighbor’s pool playing Marco Polo, Aquaman, and other pool games.  As teens — we headed to the community pool to practice our can-openers, watermelons, and cannon-balls off the high dive!  Now — as working adults — we each still head to the water after a long hot day of work or commuting.  There is nothing like the attitude adjustment that comes after a long, cold soak in the pool (or lake or ocean) — not to mention the sleep that comes afterward!

So beat the heat…and GET WET this week!

Spread Happyness — and share your favorite water activities in the comments!

7/24/15 by Grace Church
© Grace Church

PS: Our FUN LIST is still growing!  I’ll keep adding your ideas to the list — and pick one at random for each weekly challenge.  Keep ’em coming!!! 

– “One Tank Trips”
– Surprise trip for spouse or loved one
– Kayaking
– Beach time
– BBQ’s
– Tourist for the day in nearby city
– Walking the boards
– Rock climbing
– Scuba diving
– Touring an estate
– Time with family
– Sitting on the porch
– Watching for rainbows
– Learning to surf
– Gardening
– Writing a book
– Working on a “summer” project
– Moving to a new town
– Planning a spa day (or half-day, or even lunch hour)
– Taking Fridays (or Mondays) off!
– Day at the ballpark (Minor League stadiums are great, too!)
– Outside concerts/music events
– Hot air balloon ride/festival
– Pool volleyball (a Church-family classic!)
– Take yourself or someone you love for ice cream!
– Weed your front yard garden (and talk with neighbors and folks walking by!)
– Lose yourself in wonderful music, either listening or singing
– Play in the grassy backyard
– Play with your dog (or maybe your neighbor’s dog!)
– Sing karaoke
– Explore your town, county, state…through food and drink!
– Visit a farm
– Make plans to see friends you don’t often get to see (or schedule a gathering!)
– Blind-folded Make-overs!  (Great for a rainy day!  Bonus points if you go out in public after!)

(What are we missing?  Send me your ideas and I’ll add them to the list!)