When we first moved to Michigan (13 years ago!), Joel and I spent a wild, vegetable-free summer with Dad before Mom sold the house and came over as well. That summer we rode bikes, ate canned soup, played baseball & softball, fought, and played Dune Tag.

Dune Tag trumped everything. It was where we made friends, turned as brown as could be, stayed in shape and got to experience summer as only Michigan can offer it. On the dunes, Joel and I were a little less homesick, a little more at home and a lot happier. The people who introduced us to the sport (oh, it's definitely a sport) also adopted us into their families and we spent almost every day with them.

When guests came to visit or we celebrated anything (birthdays, the beginning of summer, the end of summer. . .), we always pulled together as big a group as we could and played Dune Tag. All the way through high school.

So, when tomorrow's wedding was in the planning stages, a huge, celebratory game of Dune Tag was an obvious choice. It was an eventful evening. . .

Dad shocked everyone by donning a pair of shorts (and, later, by being incredibly fast).

Max was appointed (and self-appointed) the referee, complete with whistle and stopwatch.

Julia stood by in support as Joel used his best PE teacher voice to explain the rules to a rowdy group of 25.

Then, she promptly chose her dad for her team.

We strategized and stretched. (Laughter is totally a strategy).

And, then we won. Well, one game. They killed us in the sudden death.

Walking back down the dune at the end of the game, there was a certain amount of nostalgia in the moment. Thirteen years of Dune Tag - give or take - the games marking important events and now one marking the grandness of a wedding. We Dune Tagers (word? now it is) are spread across the world, some of us out of college and in careers. Although I sincerely hope for many more summer nights on the dunes, this was a bookend of a sort, marking the very beginning and very end of a period of time. Our youth? Maybe. No matter what it marks, it was clearly special.

Over the next 24 hours, there will be hair and makeup and tuxes and photographers (hi Megan!) and all the little things getting done. There will be family and friends and people we haven't seen in far too long. But, Thursday, there was an incredible (and incredibly competative) game of Dune Tag, letting us all go back to something we loved, and find a place for it in our lives again.

And letting us eat watermelon. And letting Kurt look cool.

Joel and Julia, Congratulations. I love you.