Strike!!!

Or at least a few spares. We took the kids bowling today and all had a really great time. Back in October we won a family gift certificate for 2 hours of bowling at the local lanes. We've been waiting for a good time to do. Since Tom is taking this week off and Erin has 2 weeks of Winter break we decided this would be a good day to go. I'm really glad we had the prize because otherwise one of us would have had to go out and donate a kidney or something in order to afford a few hours of fun with the kids. Seriously. It would have been close to $60 for 2 hours for a family of 4....OMG.

Anyway the kids are familiar with bowling because of the Wii. Erin's pretty good at it. Jeffrey doesn't quite really get it yet. But he tries. We got there right as they opened (as Tom was advised to do when he called in the morning and a good thing too because it got pretty busy). Handed over our golden ticket, got 4 pairs of lovely shoes and headed off to lane 17.

Everything is much more automated than I remember it being. So we put our names in a little computer and even tried to set it up so that Erin and Jeff had bumpers and Tom and I didn't. That didn't quite work as the bumpers were more manual than that. But probably a good thing because Tom and I needed them just as much as the kids.

Erin has this really weird connection with bowling. It took 2 games on the Wii for her to get the idea. Took about 2 frames with a real ball (and bumpers) to catch on. She had her very own way of rolling the ball with some amazing spin, hitting each bumper at least twice, and then smacking the set of pins right in the kisser. She got her fair square of spares and even a strike I believe. Mommy only beat her by 7 pins in the first game.

Jeffrey had several methods. I'm sure there are several more dents in the lane than when we got there. He would just kinda toss the ball rather than roll it. It would then dribble down the lane and bump into a few pins. Then he tried a fascinating method of putting the ball on the floor and then pushing it from behind. Got a little more momentum that way, but was apparently not as fun. Finally he developed the true winner method. He'd grab the ball (6 lbs...forget about using the finger holes) run towards the lane, slide onto his knees/bum and let go of the ball down the lane, without crossing the foul line himself. Seriously one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed.

Of course where was the camera? Right here at home. Sitting right next to the computer. Oh well. Next time right? Maybe. We'll see if one of us wins the lottery first. Still it was a great time with lots of laughs and fun. I think we'll find a way to go back sometime.