A Bowling Adventure

This post could have also been titled "What Was I Thinking!?!"

Recently Leah got it in her mind that she wanted to go bowling. I think she saw some kids bowling in a PBS promo and thought it looked fun. Then on a Friday she became adamant that we go bowling that day. In an attempt to stall her and hoping she'd forget, I told her we would have to wait until her dad got home.

Well, when she woke up from her nap on the couch and saw her dad standing there, the first thing she said was "I'm ready to go bowling now." Then (with pajamas still on) she put on her shoes, socks and coat. By this time I realized that getting her to change her mind would be nearly impossible and would likely involve a huge meltdown. The problem was that first we needed to go to our ward potluck dinner that night. So after much persuasion, we convinced her that she could wait until after dinner to go. 

As luck would have it, Leah's good friend, Millie, and her parents sat by us for dinner along with another couple who are friends of ours. So we invited them to go too.

This was Leah and Millie's first time bowling. They were excited to get started and enjoyed the first couple frames. Then the next thing we knew, they were everywhere (especially Leah). Once Millie even started running down the lane. Plus the lure of the arcade area was just more than they could handle. We were constantly bringing them back to our bowling lanes.

 

Here's a picture of our bowling group. It's great that we were all still smiling at the end. Although you can tell that Millie has about had enough though. And Jessica and Steve were so kind through it all. Jessica was even willing to hold and entertain Leah to help give me a break. What a sweetheart! 

So maybe taking two 2-year-olds bowling was not my most brilliant idea. But what can I say? I was 8 months pregnant! Logic and brain power are not always at their peak when you get to that point.

And speaking of being 8 months pregnant, the other thing I learned from this experience is that it is not easy to bowl when you look like you are carrying a bowling ball under your shirt! Bonnie (who is due two weeks before me) also found this to be true. We both bowled a terrible game. Gutter balls galore!!! Our final scores combined was still less than 90 points!

We had paid for two games. But the pregnant ladies and the 2-year-olds could only handle one. So the Bonnie, Russ and Millie called it quits and went home. And I decided to just go let Leah play in the arcade area while the others played their second game. She loved pretending she was driving the car games. And when we went for a walk, we found a Cosmo Cougar statue that she could take a picture with.

 

Ross and I like to joke about what an awful experience this was and how we are not taking Leah bowling again for a REALLY long time. But all and all we did have a fun time with some great friends. And that part I wouldn't want to take back for anything. So despite being quite an adventure, I'm still glad we went. After all, what fun is life without a little adventure, right?