We have a great garden in Indiana. One of the things that grow very well for us each year is watermelon.

As much as we love our watermelons, I admit I was a little surprised when Jim decided to bring one of our homegrown watermelons with us on vacation to North Carolina.

But I didn’t say anything since he was the one who had to pack the Hulk.

I also didn’t say anything when Jim asked Colter to cook him some bacon today (not one of Jim’s normal foods).  Nor did I say anything when Jim told Colter to save the bacon grease.

But when he carried the watermelon onto the beach, I admit, I almost questioned him then.

You see, Jim had a brilliant idea.  He wanted to play football in the ocean with a greased watermelon.  Apparently when he was a little boy he had played watermelon football in a lake once. It works well because the watermelon floats just below the surface of the water.

And he remembered it all this time…

He used the bacon grease to grease the watermelon (he later said that butter or crisco probably would have worked better if you’re going to attempt a game yourself).

Rather than narrating – I think I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:

As you can tell by their faces, they had a blast!  Here is what they each had to say:

Colter: “It was crazy when you were trying to hold onto the greased watermelon and all of a sudden a wave came and knocked you over.  Then you were floundering in the water and got up trying to locate the watermelon.”

Emery: “It’s so fun trying to get through the water.  Whoever is fastest or closest gets to the watermelon first.  And then you trip them and they throw, or drop, the greased watermelon.”

Fletcher: “It was totally awesome.”

Greyden: “It was very slippery.”

Hewitt: “It was super fun.”

Jim: “Need more grease.”

I have a feeling this is going to become a new tradition for the Jonas Family.