This year, I decided we needed to do something as a family. Even if it was just something for a few hours during the day. Thankfully, I have a friend equally as crazy, that had the same thought: bowling! Low commitment yet something the gang rarely does, so they would reward us with tons of "cool parents" points. We decided we would attempt to bowl together. 11 of us. Crazy, right?
Still...we thought we would give it a shot.
We had to wait a little while for 2 lanes to open up next to each other, but that's what the Arcade is for, right?
Somehow, we scored a deal with the bowling lady that gave us shoes, a pitcher of soda (which we never did use), two lanes (each for an hour) for as many bowlers as we wanted for $50. SCORE!
Once we got lanes, there was a clear line drawn in the sand. Eli and Ty joined the Veenemas. The rest of us Higbys would be a team. And the competition was on. At first, it looked like the V+2 lane would run away with the match but we quickly found our rhythm and thanks to a few surprise scores, our lane was definitely the victor.
Eli's delivery wasn't half bad. He even managed to put his fingers in the holes of the ball. Granted, he used his left hand for the holes and held the ball with his right palm, but he rolled the ball straight...and with decent speed!
Cole was a little more of a "non-traditional" bowler. He didn't even use his hands to take the ball off the return. He'd pick up the 6-pound ball with his wrists and stand sideways to chuck the ball down the lane. He was probably the most thankful for the gutter bumpers since it looked a little more like pinball than bowling during his turn.
When it was Zoe's turn, she would race up to grab a ball and without even pausing to breath, she would head right straight toward the lane and throw the ball without any aim or plan. It was as if choosing a bowling ball was part of her delivery.
Ty was a pretty typical bowler. Not great. Not horrible. Not consistent. But competent. Doubt he'll get a bowling scholarship for college, but he'll hold his own on a date some day.
Poor Ava was at a disadvantage before she even got there. The smallest ball we could find was 6 pounds. Even for a 31 pounder, that's a pretty high percentage of her body mass. She'd lift the ball and it'd look like her knees were about to buckle. She eventually settled on a "put-the-ball-on-the-ground-between-her-legs" approach and then pushed it with all her might toward the pins. She always required my help, so don't expect to see any pictures. Even still...the ball moved so slowly down the lane that there were a few times I wondered if it would make it.
At the end of the night, the "Surprise Bowler" award goes to Cole! Look at these final scores!!! Yes, you're reading them right. We all used the gutter bumpers and Cole came in 2nd. He beat 3 parents! Crazy!
So who wants to be my travel companion when I have to sit through Cole's matches on the PBA tour?
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