Water Balloons--YAY or NAY?

Nothing's better than a cool water balloon hitting your back on a warm summer day. Well, as long as it doesn't hit your back too hard. Recently, we tried a big time water balloon fight to see what all the fuss was about. The outcome? Pretty amazing. Our friends Pep (age 12) and Hser (9) came over to help.
It took us about 10 minutes just to screw the water balloon filler onto the hose. Once we finally figured it out, we were on a roll. Hser stretched the balloons, Rose filled them, Pep tied, and I distributed them evenly among the buckets for each team. When there was a backup, or not much need for help, the teams switched off work to practice by tossing a filled water balloon back and forth hoping it wouldn't drop and break.

Oh! Yes, the teams. Hser and Claire (me) against Pep and Rose (my sister). After taking around 1 1/2 hours to fill up 100 balloons (50 per team). We then took our buckets of balloons and lugged them to the front yard in pure excitement.

The Rules:

1. You cannot cross the safety line

2. You must be in bounds. 

3. The winner is whoever has the most balloons left.

4. The winner gets to drop the GIANT WATER BALLOON on top of the winning team.

Siri counted us off, and then there we were, tossing water balloons at the other team. The rush was amazing, as I threw water balloon after water balloon carelessly at the other team. Then, I went to go get another water balloon, and they were all gone! Nervously, Hser held the LAST WATER BALLOON. We could not loose. Hser cradled the balloon carefully, until suddenly a balloon hurdled at her. She jumped, the last water balloon soaring through the air from her arms. I dove to catch it...but it broke. 

All I can say, is that we lost. TERRIBLY. And the worst part wasn't the giant water balloon getting dropped on our heads, it was the clean up. To avoid the problems we ran into, here are a few tips for your next water balloon masquerade:

-Lay down a tarp to avoid extensive clean-up.

-Spring for the multiple fill-up water balloons.

-Make water balloons where you will fight them. It's not as hard to carry.

-Have fun!

So yes, this was a YAY. However, with a few slips and even just one more issue, I might say NAY. It was very time consuming for prep and clean-up. The time that we actually got to throw water balloons were very fun. I think water balloons are great for all ages, as long those ages don't eat the plastic. Well, happy water balloon throwing! If you will excuse me now, I have to pick plastic water balloon debris from the front lawn....