Duck Beach Day 2: Bocce on the Beach

Everyone was slow to rise in the morning due to late-night revelry [this is a recurring theme of Duck Beach], but most went to the local LDS branch (instantly transforming it into a stake conference in terms of size). After the crew returned to our New York house, we had a delicious brunch/lunch of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and fresh fruit. Note: unsurprisingly, the Nutella didn't last long...After everyone had eaten their fill, the games began. Cards, Settlers of Cataan, and Boggle were crowd favorites, and of course general discussions abounded in and out of the games.I, on the other hand, had a date with destiny. Matt Fischer (our Bocce guru) arranged for some bocce friends to join up at the beach for some Sunday afternoon matches. Last year at the Labor Day version of Duck Beach, Camille and I showed that we are a force to be reckoned with, and we intended to carry on that dominant tradition. Let's just say we didn't disappoint. Soon the rallying cry of all the opposing teams was:But you can't stop red. Not when these two bocce warriors are carrying the colors of blood and rampage and passion for the game of bocce. We even had one match where we had the winning throws in four consecutive rounds, which means we had 12 points and the nearest possible score was 4. To the undisputed champions, Camille and Aaron!!Dominating opponents is tough work, and we all left the beach pretty hungry and ready for relaxation. I headed back to the beach house and grabbed some dinner, and then our whole house went to work preparing for the Guitar Acoustic Night which we were hosting in a few short hours. We hid our drink supplies and tied the cupboards shut (unfortunate, albeit necessary, tasks learned from the other New York house's vanishing-food-supplies experience during the previous night's party), moved all the furniture around to make room for the coming hordes of people, and set up the sound system for the guitar enthusiasts to show their skills. Below are a few of the talented artists who performed, including:Jane Gardiner and Autumn JonesDustin "Smooth as" CurrieSara Borg (co-emcee) with Lisa Fraser (performer)Lindsay Ashby and

Just before the acoustic show started, I met this cute girl named Shonni and we had a good conversation, which we resumed after the show and subsequent dance party. She asked if I'd like to go running together, and I got her digits so I could contact her in the morning. Little did I know at the time what would come of this meeting...