Bowling, Bowling, Bowling

I have the unique situation to absolutely love the people I work with. The English Department at our high school is dynamic and so much fun to be around. So, we have recently decided, as a department, that it would be entertaining to gather our families together more often outside of school.

For the first, of what I hope is many, outings, we chose to go bowling with our families.

When we first arrived, I was a little taken aback by the amount of people at the alley. I had called on Saturday to affirm that there were no major leagues or events going on Sunday, and the man on the phone assured me, "Nope, you'll be fine!" Well, we weren't fine. Almost all the lanes were full because of a tournament scheduled that day, so we grabbed three available lanes that were each spaced a lane apart.

We put the first groups on the lanes bowling, then strategically glared at the people innocently trying to revel in between us. Ultimately, our glares had no impact but we eventually were able to bowl as an extended group.

Evan decided to befriend another little guy, Gabe, who he had played football with at a previous gathering.

Four boys, two of mine and two of my friend Lisa's, all bowled together on the middle lane with Chris as the chaperone.

We put a whopping six people on one lane with some department kids and one adult keeping them corralled.

The rest of us adults spread out as the lanes opened up and enjoyed a few games with only a few mishaps. I bowled my best games in years only after figuring out that I was bowling with the wrong hand. Oops! Jess' husband took a quick dive to the floor when his bowling shoes lost their traction. Rick had his first turkey in his esteemed bowling career, but he couldn't be outdone by Jason's last minute save to earn him the bowling title in the final game. We eventually finished bowling with the adults complaining of our various aches from non use of the "bowling muscles." I had even forgotten their were muscles specific to the game! Then, we relaxed, ate some pizza and let the kids play in the arcade a little, earning their trinkets such as bouncy balls and scary teeth.

Officially, I declare our bowling outing an exemplary way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I do hope we have many more like this.