Bowling with Kids

Tonight we went to one of my favorite places. You probably thought I was going to say the mall or a bookstore, didn't you? Yeah, those are also two of my favorite places, but tonight we went bowling. And now I have this song from the great cinema classic, Grease 2, running through my head. I love going bowling any time of year, but especially in the summer because they keep the thermostat in the bowling alley set on 20 degrees below freezing. It feels great when you first walk in from the 90 degree heat, but after about five minutes you start to develop frostbite. But the food....mmmm. There's no better place to go for fried chicken tenders, crispy french fries, and a giant diet Coke (or an Icee if you're one of the kids). I think we all OD'd on deep fried fat.

In our previous life, before we had kids, Dan and I used to meet a group of our favorite people at Melrose Lanes every Friday night. There were four couples who'd be there every week--Dan and me, Lee Ann and Andy, Todd and Deirdre, Brad and Leigh--and a few other people who came unattached--Trish (because at that point Todd wasn't convinced that Jr. really existed), Linda, Jim--and other couples who floated in and out when they could. We'd meet at about 9:00 and bowl until they closed at two in the morning, then we'd go across the street and eat at Krystal's. Most of the group would drink pitchers of beer (except Dan and me because we don't like beer) served by Eddie, the octagenarian female bartender downstairs. I have such fond memories of that time and miss getting together with my buddies. We were never champions, but we were pretty good.

Here's a little-known fact about me: I took a bowling class in college. I had to take a certain number of P.E. classes to keep my cheerleading scholarship, so in addition to water aerobics I took bowling. I even have my own ball (purple) and shoes (white with purple trim). I may not be a very good bowler, but I can accessorize!

Now it's a little different going bowling with kids. In some ways the kids are more mature than we used to be. I won't list any specifics (to protect the guilty) but if you're one of the above-named members of the bowling crew, you know what I'm talking about! Man, we had fun!

I should say that Dan bowled a 176 tonight, ending the game with a turkey (three strikes in a row). We won't mention my score. Or Ten's score. He was mad because he's too old to use the bumpers to keep the ball out of the gutters, so his brother beat him. Soundly.

Here are some pictures of my family taking a break from the heat...