When I was growing up, we used to do picnics in the park all of the time. At least a couple of times every summer, we’d just get the whole family together, eat a bunch of food and play volleyball, softball or any number of other games. At some point though, these just stopped happening. I think we only ever did one when the girls were little and we hadn’t done one since Matt was born. So, I decided it was time to try to throw one together. I picked a park (sort of) and reserved a shelter on the Sunday before Labor Day and invited friends and family to come along. Honestly, I had no idea how many people were going to show, but we did it anyway.
The park we were at had a great shelter, but fortunately, it wasn’t much of a park. Besides the shelter, there was a bathroom, and that’s about it. It’s more of a pit stop along the Platte River bike path, so there wasn’t a play structure for the younger kids, or even any grass to setup a volleyball net. Still, we had corn hole, a BBQ, and shade from the 93 degree heat. We ended up with about 30 people, and thankfully my sister-in-law Bernice brought water balloons for the kids. They actually went down and played in the river after lunch and overall, I’d say it was a success. Besides the heat, we had plenty of food and a lot of fun just hanging out. I plan on doing this again next year, but definitely at a better venue.
