Mark, Nathan, Evan, William (Evan's friend) and I all volunteered at the 2009 Special Olympics! It was a great experience for everyone! Mark and I have worked the games before, but it was a first for the three youngest. They wanted to volunteer with us and we just couldn't turn them down!
We were all referrees for Bocce. It is an outdoor game kind of similar to cornhole..
But with Balls intead of bags... and you are aiming for another ball intead of a board...
These were the proud winners of the first game of Bocce I reff'ed....
Mark and Nathan were the refs for one court... Mark rocked the aviators, while Nate rocked the skater gear.... They were cute as can be.... 
Winners of round two.....
My little brother TOWERS over me these days... He still isn't too cool to take a picture with me....and put his arm around me.... He is SUCH A GOOD boy. I'm sooooo proud of Nathan and can't wait to watch him grow up even more!
Handsome refs
I was assigned to a court with this guy.... Is it bad that I forgot his name already? Let's call him Chris.... 
Trophey time!
It was great to be able to cheer for the awards ceremonies throughout the day!
Hunky Ref.....
Nathan- enforcing the rules... :D
These two teams played against each other on my court.... They were from the same city.... So they were practically the same team playing eachother... they were all cheering each other on during the game. It was awesome. Afterward, I got a picture of all of them... Since they were all technically the winners... :D
Mark discussing techniques to the game with some of the athletes....
William and Evan were on a court a little further away from the rest of us. They did a good job helping out, though. Here, Evan is measuring the balls to see how many points the team got. William is picking up the bocce balls and throwing them to the next players.
Enforcing rules... one bocce game at a time.... Evan and William 2009
There were 12 bocce courts all together......
I think four games were held on each court.... thirty minutes each... or first to 12 points....
Mark and Nate
Nathan cheering on the athletes
The girl in the glasses was awesome! She won two gold medals at the Special Olympics! When she found out she got two, she came up and gave me a big hug! :-) She started crying when the guy in the yellow put the second medal on her... I'm glad I was there to capture the moment!
More medalists.....
Evan and William were ready to rage once their duties were over... :-)
We found a hopscotch game on the sidewalk....
The boys just couldn't resist... :-)
Overall it was a great day! I'm sure we will all be back in 2010!
Hunky Ref.....
Nathan- enforcing the rules... :D
These two teams played against each other on my court.... They were from the same city.... So they were practically the same team playing eachother... they were all cheering each other on during the game. It was awesome. Afterward, I got a picture of all of them... Since they were all technically the winners... :D
Mark discussing techniques to the game with some of the athletes....
William and Evan were on a court a little further away from the rest of us. They did a good job helping out, though. Here, Evan is measuring the balls to see how many points the team got. William is picking up the bocce balls and throwing them to the next players.
Enforcing rules... one bocce game at a time.... Evan and William 2009
There were 12 bocce courts all together......
I think four games were held on each court.... thirty minutes each... or first to 12 points....
Mark and Nate
Nathan cheering on the athletes
The girl in the glasses was awesome! She won two gold medals at the Special Olympics! When she found out she got two, she came up and gave me a big hug! :-) She started crying when the guy in the yellow put the second medal on her... I'm glad I was there to capture the moment! 
More medalists.....
Evan and William were ready to rage once their duties were over... :-)
We found a hopscotch game on the sidewalk....
The boys just couldn't resist... :-)
Overall it was a great day! I'm sure we will all be back in 2010!Thanks for your help, boys!
We loooooooove yooooou!
Mark and Tiff
1 comment:
The Special Olympics are always very meaningful events. If you get a moment, perhaps you'd like to check out this video -- ahamoment.com/pg/moments/view/3522 -- it's the "aha moment" experienced by one Special Olympian's mother while in attendance at a competition. I think you'll find it inspiring. And perhaps you'll even consider sharing your own "aha moment."
Thanks,
Jack@ahamoment.com
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