It’s the summer! What can you do besides going to the beach? Have a summer picnic! Although it’s usually quite hot when we have our summer picnics (which I definitely do not like), at least it wasn’t humid this year.
This year’s summer picnic was interesting. In the past, it was always run by a committee who organizes all the activities, food, and set up. To reduce the amount of effort this year, a company was hired for the picnic! The package included games and activities, food, and set up including tables and chairs with umbrellas.
Food
I arrived just when food was ready. It was buffet-style, except the staff serve you the meat (so you can’t grab that much).
Sides
Fresh Cut Fruit Salad – This fruit salad was very refreshing for the hot day!
Loaded Homestyle Potato Salad – Honestly really liked this potato salad. I was surprised at how good it is that I had to go back for more.
Mixed Green Garden Veggie Salad with Dressing and Topping Bar – I wasn’t a huge fan of the broccoli, but it was nice to have some salad with all the mains.
Mains
Stuffed Grilled Bell Peppers with Impossible Meat – I did not try this!
Open Flame Grilled BBQ Chicken – The chicken was more like shredded chicken, so it was in bits and pieces and drenched in sauce. I would have preferred it to be a whole piece.
Peeled & Smoked Tri-Tip – This tri-tip (along with the potato salad) was definitely the star of the meal! I was not expecting tri-tip to be good at an event like this. It was also much better with the sauce that you have to add yourself on the side.
Hot Dog Bar – I got a beef hot dog and added my own condiments – ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, and jalapenos! This was good, except the length of the hot dog needs to be longer. There was so much bread with no hot dog to eat with!
Beverage Bar – There was also a beverage bar with lemonade, sweet tea, and filtered water, but the cups were so small! I kept having to stand by the beverage tent because it was so hot and I kept finishing my small cup of water too quickly.
Games
There were four different areas for games, plus a small ping pong table and big Connect 4 on the side:
1. Carnival Games
There was one staff member watching the carnival games to hand out prizes. The prizes were small little toys. The games were pretty easy (except the ring toss), so it got boring pretty fast. The carnival games booth had four games:
- Dunk the Clowns – Knock over a row of clowns with a bean bag to win. Difficulty level: Easy.
- Roller Bowler – Roll a steel ball down a track that has a small hill in the middle of the track. Keep the ball in the middle dip to win! Difficulty level: Easy.
- Tin Can Alley – throw a ball into one of the three big cans! You get two balls. Difficulty level: Easy.
- Bottle Ringer – Toss rings over glass Coke bottles to win. Difficulty level: Hard.
2. Safari Challenge Obstacle Course
This was a bouncy house obstacle course. You can either race through the obstacle course (a staff makes sure there are no kids inside first) or just bounce in it if you’re a kid)! It was a bit dirty though, with some sharp objects (trash) inside…
3. Sports Trio
This 3-1 Sports Trio has baseball, football, and soccer! Aim the ball into the targets. The targets were pretty high up though so this was pretty hard.
4. Field Games
The field games were the main activity. This was led by the event company. The MC would call out each game and you would line up to play. If you’re a high scorer, you stand to the side to wait and see if anyone beats you. If there’s a tie, you compete again. The prizes were not much better than the prizes at the carnival booth. The games included:
- Frisbee
- Archery
- Golf
- Pickleball
- Volleyball
- Water Balloon Toss…and others!
The games were pretty cool, but they were mostly individual games. I would’ve preferred team games. My favorite game was archery – I was so excited for this! However, each person only gets to shoot three arrows, and you don’t get any practice tries either. The staff leading the games were sometimes distracted and don’t see it when you make your shot. It also felt a bit rushed and the staff would sometimes limit the number of people who can participate in each game.
The format of these field games reminded me of a kid birthday parties…you just wait in line for your turn. Each game is velcroed onto the set, so once a game is over, they just rip off the game to get to the next one. I do wish that they could have kept each game up to play on our own time since they were all individual games, but we were only able to play it when they led it, and with very limited attempts too.
Gerald
The piñata is something I look forward to every year, and this year, the piñata was named Gerald. Usually the kids would hit it first, then everyone would be able to pick up the toys on the floor. This year, the event company led it, and they only called the kids over for the piñata! I missed out on the entire piñata activity, which I was pretty bummed about. All I got to see was Gerald in the trash can.
Overall, this year’s picnic was pretty different with the new games. The food was better, but I would have preferred team games instead. A lot more people left early too. Having the committee organize the activities is definitely a lot more personal than hiring an event company to run the show!