Nerf War!

We had a very busy weekend of hayrides, soccer games, and whatnot, but we were all focused on yesterday's Nerf War at the Shell.

At the beginning of the school year, the boys went to a sleepover and came home begging for Nerf guns. After refusing them for years, I finally gave in. They were so smitten, it was cute.

Then Satchel came up with the idea of having a Nerf War. I definitely didn't want it in my living room, so we talked about doing it at the park--maybe in the Old Forest. Then we started thinking about who to invite. Once we realized that it was going to be pretty big, I said, "Let me see if we can get the Shell." The Shell has always been open to Rock-n-Romp, so why not a Nerf War? They happily agreed and penciled us in for their only free afternoon--Sunday the 30th.

I contacted some friends who are food vendors, convinced my RnR buddy to pick up a keg, created a Facebook event, and then let everything else fall into place. And somehow, everything did.

I'd say there were about 50 adults and 100-150 kids?

I knew bullets would be lost and that there would be tears, but overall, everyone had a great time. We didn't even need one band aid!

Satchel and Jiro had a couple of friends come over early to prepare. (Everyone was asked to self select a team color--red, blue, green, or yellow.)



I made Warren Red Team Captain, expecting the monkeys to follow suit, but they very much wanted to be green. Warren didn't let it get him down.



And yes, Warren even bought himself a gun. What was even funnier was the fact that a LOT of dads were really into the war, maybe even more than the kids.




Seriously.



I'd say that even the adults who didn't partake in the action, had a good time. It was really fun to watch! And did I mention we had a keg and awesome food vendors?



I love Mama D's pops.



And if you haven't had a taco or a grilled cheese with bacon from the Fuel truck then you aren't living!



Our friend, Su, even volunteered to paint faces.



She's not your average face painter, as you can see from Zark's transformation.



Okay, okay, on to the war. We started off with a bit of a free for all. The kids seemed to like just running around and checking out each others gear. Noel was one of the more impressively prepared for the war.



This kid was a close second.



He, along with his mom, had actually come to the Shell a few days early to practice!



Capturing this wall was key for the Green Team.



We did have a few coordinated activities. Every so often the captains would blow a whistle and call the troops in. Each team had their own bunker in which to plot. By the end of the afternoon, the Red, Blue & Yellow teams had all combined forces against the Green Team.



And yes, despite Satchel's insistence that there were "No Girls Allowed," plenty came to join in. One of them asked me if tackling was allowed!



Once the war was officially over, it was all about bullet retrieval. How some kids left without any, I'll never know. They were everywhere!



I'm sure we'll still be picking them up at the Rock-n-Romp next Saturday.

It was a great afternoon, and yes, we will definitely have to do it again.