Bowling in Ridgecrest

This weekend we had thought of going out and about somewhere, but the weather didn't cooperate. First we had RAIN, wonderful, glorious RAIN, on both Thursday and Friday. A really good soaking. Oh, I hope this means we'll have wildflowers. We'll have to get more than this, but it raises my hopes.

Saturday it cleared up, but first there was heavy fog (very unusual for Ridgecrest), and then of course everything was all wet, plus it was still raining in other areas. Not a good travel day, nor a good hiking day, nor a good park day. So we stayed home. And on Sunday we had very high winds, so it was also not a good travel day, nor a good hiking day, nor a good park day. It would have been a good day to see a movie, but there are NO children's movies in theatres right now.

What to do, what to do. Then I remembered that Ridgecrest has a bowling alley! We went to it once, back in September, when the twins were invited to a birthday party there. Now, granted, that bowling experience was a total disaster -- they didn't understand what to do, couldn't lift the smallest bowling balls, wouldn't pay attention... But heck, I thought, that was almost five months ago! We could give it another try. Secretly, I was itching to bowl. I haven't gone bowling in decades -- I have no idea when the last time was. And bowling is fun! Rocket Boy agreed that it was worth a try, so we went.

Driving over, I mentioned that we'd need to wear bowling shoes, and the twins were immediately very concerned. "I'm not going to wear the special shoes," Baby A announced, and Baby B said, "Me too." I decided not to say anything, because once you get into an argument like that, it's all over.

At the bowling alley, we asked if we could have one of the kids' lanes, which have little fences on the sides so that balls don't go into the gutters. The man mumbled something about how he didn't usually rent those (for some reason that I couldn't hear), and then rented one to us. Rocket Boy and I got shoes, but the man said the twins didn't need them, thank goodness. We chose 11-pound balls, and the man produced some 7-pound balls for the boys, and we were off to Lane One.

Where it quickly developed that nothing had changed in the almost-five-months since the last bowling experience! Actually, I shouldn't say that. Baby A, who is more stereotypically boyish, not to mention extremely competitive (or is that the same thing?), did his own bowling. He couldn't lift the 7-pound ball, so he squatted at the line and then pushed the ball as hard as he could with both hands.

Baby B is our dreamy one, who likes puzzles and dolls and is much less competitive. He enjoys board games, such as Candyland, but does not mind at all if he doesn't win. He's a good rock climber, but he never seems interested in athletic games. True to form, he gave up on bowling almost immediately. I had to take most of his turns for him -- and since the finger holes in his ball were too small for me, I did the squat-and-push move for him too.

Rocket Boy and I had fun. We were soooooooo rusty -- and I don't think I was ever any good at this sport. But I'm as fiercely competitive as my older (by one minute) son, even in situations (such as this one) where it is really not appropriate to be. So I threw myself into the game, and in fact won it. Rocket Boy struggled a bit, but he worked on his form until he started doing better too.

And here are our final scores:

Baby B messed with the electronic scoreboard a bit (instead of bowling), so the last few scores are messed up. The scoreboard would say it was the next person's turn, even though there were only 3 pins standing, etc. But I did win -- I think -- and as you can see, I'm still excited about it. Unfortunately, RB and I agreed that it might be better not to go bowling again for another 6 months or so, see if the twins are more interested in it then. Of course, by then we'll be back in BOULDER.... In the meantime, there's always Candyland.