When I was a kid, I would visit my dad and we would pretty much do one of three things:

Go to a movie. We took turns picking the movie. So one day it would be “Valley Girl” and the next day it would be “Breaker Morant.”  Yes, I exposed my father to Nicolas Cage’s first break-out role and to return the favor, he took me (a 10 year-old) to a movie about the murder trial of three Australian Army officers serving in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902, as if you didn’t already know).

I don’t know why I kept kicking the seat in front of me to express my extreme boredom.

Play miniature golf. I was very good at miniature golf and if my dad had only focused and honed this untapped talent, I would obviously be an unparalleled powerhouse on the mini golf circuit now.

Go bowling. Apparently during the 1970s and early 80s, bowling was a sport meant to crush children’s self esteem because I don’t remember there being any kind of gutter guards. So it was pretty much just me throwing the ball down the gutter frame after frame. And then crying. Because I sucked.

So you can imagine my desperate state, when on the last day of Dylan and Summer’s winter break, I cheerfully proclaimed, “Let’s go bowling!” Frankly, I was completely drained of all other ideas of how to keep two little kids busy in 20 degree weather. After two weeks of vacation, I had nothing left. My creative vault was empty.

So we went bowling…

And with the invention of those fabulous gutter guards, the girls LOVED it.

And I, of course, still suck.

These are our final scores:

Dylan: 93

Summer: 90

Rick: 127

Me: 61

Here’s my bowling technique in case you’re coveting my score…

And here’s Rick’s technique if you actually like to bowl over 100…

Next time, I’m seriously considering using the gutter guards.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!