Family Day

This past Saturday was one of those days that the kids have been looking forward to for a long time. The stars aligned, and not only was Daddy home (no percussion competitions!) but we had our church Easter Party and Egg Hunt AND our neighborhood bowling night - all on the same day!

At the Easter party, the kids were split into groups according to age for crafts, the egg hunt, and snacks. Jim was with Ellie, and I went with Ben. As Daddy tells it (and this picture seems to prove), Ellie was one of the more "knowledgeable" kids in the 2 and 3 yr old group. While the others were still standing on the line, being urged on by their parents, Ellie bolted as soon as the whistle was blown!


While Ellie's group was doing their egg hunt, Ben's group was doing a rather intricate craft. He was "done" after the first two steps, especially since the end product was to be a PINK BUNNY!!! Now perhaps if the bunny had been driving an excavator... He was even less thrilled because both of the girls on either side of him finished quickly and then set their sites on "helping" him. By the time he was done, he looked as if he'd been hen-pecked to death. And he was also sporting a big glob of Elmer's glue in the front of his hair from one of the many times that he just had to lean his head on his hand to "sigh!"...while holding a Q-tip full of glue. Now that was some good ole Easter fun, alright!!!

Finally it was Ben's turn for the egg hunt! His strategy was a bit different than Ellie's. He ran out there as fast as he could and then methodically searched for (and would only pick up) "eggs" that looked like sports balls! He was quite proud of his collection. :-)

After a few "quiet" hours at home, we headed to the Army Depot for our neighborhood's bowling night. Rosegarden, our neighborhood, has an active civic association. We plan all sorts of activities, and this one is always a hit. The bowling and pizza/subs were FREE! All we had to pay for was drinks! So, dinner and bowling for 4 cost us $3.00! Not a bad family night, eh?

This was only Ellie's second time bowling, so Daddy was on her "team." His job was to carry her ball and keep her from hurting herself or anyone else. Here's a nice shot of him restraining her from crawling down the alley after her ball.

She (they) actually managed to get two strikes by rolling a ball 1 mile an hour!!! After her first strike, people around us were cheering for her, and she was jumping around and yelling, "I can skip! I can skip!" (She had somehow mastered this moments before as she and Daddy walked/skipped up for her turn...)

We let Ben bowl completely by himself this time. This isn't a great picture, but I posted it anyway just so everyone could enjoy imagining the "mental (and sometimes physical) cringe" that accompanied each and every one of his attempts. :-) Can't you just hear that ball hitting the alley?!? And, bless his heart, he somehow pulled off two spares!!!! Thanks goodness, Mommy is a terrible bowler...Ben beat me!

After a full game of 10 frames, we willingly gave our lane to some others, ate a quick dinner, and headed for bed! 'Twas a good Family Day!! We needed that.