Mid Winter Break fun

Our kids had a 5 day weekend, so we had plenty of time for some family fun. Friday, we cleaned up the house. That was the decidedly unfun part of the weekend. It was not as much of a nightmare as usual, but still generally unpleasant. On the plus side, getting things cleaned meant the kids were allowed to do all the other fun things they wanted to do. We had an assortment of friends over to play at various times. On Saturday, we all went shopping together. We came home with new baseball cleats, ice cream, 4 new movies and one rented one. Valentine's Day for me and Robert consisted of setting the kids up with Madagascar 2 upstairs, and the two of us snuggling on the couch and watching Roman Holiday.

Monday was where the real fun happened. The girls all went together to get haircuts. It was Emilee's first time getting more than her bangs trimmed by her mom, so I was impressed by how well she sat. She seemed to enjoy sitting in the big chair and being a big girl. There are the girls with their new haircuts. Rachel is also sporting a fabulous orange punch mustache.

After haircuts and lunch, we went bowling. Emilee was thrilled to have her bowling shoes and even bowled a couple of balls. In a combined effort, Emilee and I actually bowled a strike.

Josh had incredible between the legs form. He probably averaged about 1.9 mph with his ball speed. Amazingly, we only had to call for help once to retrieve a ball that didn't make it down the lane.

Rachel and Matthew both discovered that real bowling is a lot harder than Wii bowling. They both had trouble aiming because of the weight of the ball. We were all happy for the bumpers. They each managed a strike or two and some spares. Matthew also managed a gutter ball, which I think is quite an accomplishment when you have gutters.

I bowled my best game ever, a 155. I can't claim to have done it alone. Emilee bowled one ball with me and I got several assists from the bumper. I did bowl some of them straight down the middle and actually earn my strikes.

Robert was the hero of the day. He bowled pretty well both games. He got a turkey in the second game and finished with a pretty high score. His heroism had nothing to do with bowling, though. While some of the kids were taking their turns, he left and came back with nachos, french fries, and Sprite. The kids were thrilled.

We came home and had a tasty dinner, grilled by Robert. He actually made all but one meal on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We didn't eat healthy, but it all tasted good.

Tuesday, we decided to finish off the weekend by heading down the road to the park. The kids had a great time digging in the sand, climbing, and spinning on the merry-go-round. Everyone got in on the action. Emilee even pushed a little bit. But like anything else, the fun eventually had to end. Josh got sick on the merry-go-round and all the kids scattered. As soon as he was done throwing up, he ran off to play again. We stayed for a few more minutes, until I couldn't handle the cold anymore and came home.