A Bowl Lotta Fun

The summer break is in full swing.  Halle is out of school, and I have been searching for ways to keep my munchkins occupied.  My friend, Debra, found out that kids can bowl free all summer long at certain locations.  I'm not a bowler myself, but I knew my kids would have a blast.  We immediately signed up and headed to the bowling alley with our friends.  The three little kids bowled in one lane and the four bigger ones in another.  They had a great time hap hazardously chunking 8 pound balls down the lanes. 


This was Arden's first time to bowl.  I taught her how to granny bowl.  She decided, however, to put her own spin on the granny bowl and did a scary side toss.  One time it went down the next lane over rather than hers!  Luckily there were kids bowling in that lane with the same mad skills as her.  Here's a video of Arden bowling.

The yellow ball in the left lane is actually Arden's ball.  Notice how slow it is.  She had time to pick up another ball before it made it to the pins!

We parents thought it was so funny at how long it took for the little ones' balls to make it down the lane.  It would take almost a full two minutes sometimes.  And then some balls would just stop mid-roll and get stuck.  The employee didn't seem too thrilled about having to keep going down the alley to retrieve the balls!



Arden's friend, Colton, was a hoot. He took one look at the bowling shoes and snubbed them. Arden tried to convince him to wear them, but there was no way you were going to get those on his feet! His mama is pretty stylish so I guess he inherited that quality. Those shoes were not good enough to wear! He ended bowling in his socks. Everytime Colton threw a ball, he would immediately go and stick his head in the conveyer belt thingamajig that returns the balls. His mama, Alicia, had to pull his head out each time before he got knocked out by an incoming ball.

Alicia's lightning speed reflexes to move shoeless Colton away from the ball-return device 

Halle had a great time bowling, too.  She bowled a 79.  The Burress kids were naturals, though, and won the games.  The big kids all had their own style of bowling.  Jadyn would do sort of a run-skip before rolling her ball.  Rylee had a side swing.  Halle had a serious, methodical technique, and Leianna kicked up her leg after the follow-through.  It was so interesting how each kid had a unique flare to their bowling. 

Halle's methodical technique

Apparently I don't know the house rules of a bowling alley, not even the ones that are plastered in front of every lane.  A big sign in front of me stated, "Do not cross foul line.  Seriously injury may occur."  I wish I would have seen this sign before I tried to go after Arden's ball that traveled a few feet down the lane and stopped.  I walked into the forbidden territory, and started slipping and sliding on the oily slick surface.  I flailed around like a fish out of water, trying to regain my balance.  I ended up in a half split with pulled muscles.  It was one of those moments where you want to laugh and cry at the same time.  Neither of my friends saw, so they couldn't share in this glorious moment with me.  Only the ladies in the next lane and the employees saw which made it more embarrassing.  Our lane was right in front of the front desk so the employees were looking at me and shaking their heads in a "you're an idiot" manner.  I also got in trouble for trying to roll a ball down the lane in an attempt to push one of the stuck balls along. Perhaps if I had gotten it on the first try the employees wouldn't have noticed, but my aim was so poor that it took several tries (and never succeeded). That's when an employee told me "one ball at a time, please," with an annoyed look.  I dubbed him the Bowling Nazi in my head.  I was just trying to do him a favor and save him from retrieving a ball for the hundredth time.  Oh, not to mention I wasn't wearing bowling shoes. 

The bowling Nazi retrieving a stuck ball

 
All in all the kids had a wonderful time.  I hope by the end of the summer that Halle will learn to bowl without bumpers, Arden will perfect the granny bowl, I learn the rules, and Colton learns to wear the shoes!