Bowling buddies

Our next door neighbor turned 7 last week - Luke was incredibly jealous. All he can talk about these days is that his birthday is next month, and the fact that he will finally be 5. And to be 7 is SO much better than 5.

We went to the bowling alley to celebrate this most revered birthday. Will has been bowling twice before - once for Tyler's birthday party and once with his class. He didn't enjoy himself either time, but we thought that since he's doing better with loud noises these days, maybe he would enjoy himself. Luke has only been once (though he is a champ at Wii bowling) with mixed reviews, and Matt has never had the joy of wearing sanitizer-cleaned bowling shoes or sending a 6lb ball careening down a lane. We thought he'd like it though, so we loaded up the van and made an afternoon out of the birthday party and the bowling alley pizza.

Well let's just say that two out of three ain't bad.

Luke was so excited to bowl. Once they hooked our lane up with bumper guards and the metal ramp you push the bowling ball down, he had a blast. He would cheer on his ball, which was so funny. Then he would cheer on everyone else's ball as he patiently waited for his ball to limp its way down the lane.

Twice he decided to forego the ball ramp and threw his ball down the lane. By "threw" I mean that he used all his might to plop the ball loudly onto the lane, and then waited as it rolled about one revolution per hour on its way to its home. Nate had to send a helper ball down the lane to get Luke's ball rolling so that we weren't still waiting for it to hit the pins when they shut the alley down at the end of the night. That didn't really matter to Luke, though. He had a great time just doing his thing.

Matt was hilarious the entire time we were at the bowling alley. He was the only person under the age of four at the party, so everyone wanted to pick him up, feed him, and love on him. He had to keep reminding people that he isn't a baby, and was looking for some sweet bowling action. He loved pushing the ball down the ramp towards the pins, but didn't care to wait to see what happened after that. Literally he would run up to the ball, push it with all his might, and then turn around to see who else had a ball he could push (all the while holding up his hands and cheering because that is what everyone else was doing).

He became the token pusher, and all the party attendees were happy to oblige. He had a great time, then he got to eat as much cake as he wanted. It might have been the best day of his life.

Will... oh Will. So much for thinking you might be past your disdain for bowling alleys. Maybe it is the smell. Or the hoards of people. Or the sound of the pins falling down, or the sound of the ball down the lane... I am not really sure. Whatever it is, Will and bowling alleys do not mesh. We tried to have him sit in his chair and push the ball down the ball ramp. This is about how well that went.

Then we tried to have Will stand and push the ball down the ramp. It went slightly better, but the only place Will didn't have a sour look on his face was when Nate was holding him. And let me just tell you, Will is getting heavy and holding him like a baby isn't an easy feat!

So we made due and did the best we could. We just won't be going back to the bowling alley as a family any time soon. I see no need to torture Will. Unfortunately Luke is now asking for HIS birthday party in March to be at the bowling alley too... I'll have to come up with a much cooler-than-bowling birthday party idea and try to persuade him otherwise!