You Bowl me Over

We went bowling the morning of Labor Day. We had a great time. Bowling has really moved into the 21st century! When I was a kid, you kept your own score. You knew that when you got a spare, that meant that you got to add in the number of pins knocked down on one additional ball, and that with a strike you added the number of pins knocked down on 2 additional balls. When I was a kid you understood how someone could bowl a 300, in only 10 turn, with only 10 pins per turn. The kids around us in other lanes . . . they had no idea hot their score was calculated! It was like waiting for magic to see what their score would be each turn. Sometimes technology, well it ain't so great.

But on the other hand it is sooooo great. First the bumpers (for the little kids) rise and fall depending on whose turn it is. Amazing huh? And if you look closely you'll notice that Trent has no bumpers, but Julianne and Catherine do. Next (and this is not really technology) but they have these cool ball launchers for kids-- they can aim and angle and give the ball a pretty good push. (Don't you all remember when the ball would roll so slow that when it hit a pin it would bounce back toward you and then the gate would slam down and you would have to send another ball to hit it, but then the computer would think 2 turns happened and it would be all screwed up???) Even Madelyn could bowl with these launchers.

Another big change nowadays is the cost. Wow! For 1 game for the 5 of us and shoes it cost 30 bucks. When I was in 6th and 7th grade there was a local bowling alley that had a summer bowling club. It was located on Bellaire Avenue across from the old YMCA. The first summer I think it was entirely free. Every kid could bowl 1 game and rent shoes free every day of the summer. I don't think we missed a day. We went everyday with another family (the Bowmans). It was a great way to beat the heat. The funny thing is that I don't remember it being crowded. Sometimes, my Mom would buy a 2nd game, but most of the time we bowled our one game and went home. The next summer I think it cost $25.00 to join the summer bowling club, so we did and then once again bowled every day. I don't know if they discontinued it after that year, but I don't remember doing it ever again. Too bad I haven't found something like that now. . . because at $30 bucks a pop, we are not bowling every day!

One thing though that has not changed . . . the shoes. . . still ugly. . . still ugly. . . still ugly. . . My sweet fashion conscious little girls had to be convinced to wear them -- they only agreed when we pointed out that everyone had to wear them (yet another example of peer pressure helping me out!)

Adam even got in on the fun!

Hey if any of my family reads this -- let me know if I am remembering the good old bowling days correctly.