Great day for Solstice and Testicle Toss

For Christmas this past year, my soon to be brother-in-law Nathan was kind enought to put together a testicle toss set for Graeme (some of you may know the game by its marketed name Blongo- however, my family refuses to awknowledge the existence of said Blongo).
Basically, the game is a couple of peices of PVC pipe slapped together that stands approx shoulder level. Teams then throw golf balls, teathered together by rope, at the rungs of PVC pipe and win points for their team based on the level of rung. It is a surprisingly entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, and paired with beer and sun, can be quite addictive.
Although we have had the set for almost six months, this was the first day that we had actually assembled the set in our yard. We hurridly put it together in the morning before heading down to Fremont for the annual Solstice Parade. The parade is Graeme and I's favorite event in Seattle- a spectacle of wierd lefty politcal statements, kid-friendly activities, and public nakedness. Its basically a local neighborhood parade where all are welcome that turned into a city-wide spectacle. It's fantastic.
The neighborhood was already packed with cars trolling for parking and kids hawking lemonde and homemade cookies when we took of for Fremont at 11:30am with a couple of beers. We arrived just in time for the naked biker ride, of which the throng of "Where's Waldo" characters was my personal favorite- although I do think that Graeme's idea of painting oneself as a police cyclist and then following a line of them around would have been brilliant.
We staked a claim of land right outside Tacos Gyamas, which proved to be a perfect spot. Apparently the balcony of spectators encouraged parade participants to put on a show and the restuarant afforded up the opportunity for additional beers. The crowd of 20-somethings in front of us had also arrived in costume and were an entertaining group- inspiring Graeme to muse out-loud more than once that he had decided to dress up as a chicken for the parade (the most ammusing costume in the bunch).
After the parade it was back to the house to put more beers on ice, grill up some hotdogs, and break in the testicle toss. Maia and Scott proved to be fierce competitors, as did some of the other friends who stopped by on their way back from the parade or on their way to another party. The game stayed out and was in use throughout the evening, despite breaks of rain, and was only put to rest when it was too dark to play anylonger.