Bowling Adventure

Cameron and I had some free bowling coupons from a friend of ours, so we decided to go on a cheap date, and invite his brother, Don, and his wife, Cindy to join us. Our coupon was for two free hours of bowling, shoes, and drinks for up to 6 people. We thought this was a pretty good deal, and hey- all it would cost was the gas to get us to and from the bowling alley. So we look up where these bowling alleys were in relation to us in Maple Grove. There is one in Eden Prairie, about 19 miles to the south of us. There is one in Brookyln Park, just about 7 miles to the east of us. And there is one in a town called Blaine, about 22 miles to the northeast of us. Obviously, we decided to go to Brooklyn Park. However, we find out that they are closed for a private party the night we are going, so we decide to make the trek south to Eden Prairie.

Everything was arranged. We went over to pick up Don and Cindy, and put Miley to sleep at their house with their oldest daughter Kayla, in charge of her, and her own brothers (the first time I have left Miley with someone younger than me!). So we headed out around 7:10, figuring we would get there around 7:30, and get home around 10.

We get to Eden Prairie, ready to get on our awesome bowling shoes and ready for some stiff competition. Only there is a two hour wait. WHAT?? So we call up the Blaine bowling alley to see what kind of a wait they have there. They say, an hour to an hour and a half. Awesome. We will get there, and by the time we are there, maybe the wait will only be half an hour. So we jump back in the car (about 7:45 pm) and start the 33 mile drive to Blaine.

We arrive at about 8:25, only to find out that they now have a two hour wait. So we have driven around all night, and we could have been 45 minutes closer to bowling in Eden Prairie if we had stayed there. But we are now back at square one. A two hour wait. To bowl for two hours. At this point, I was ready to give up, but the guys decided that we would wait it out. So we put our name on the list, and went to a Culver's nearby to get some food and try to kill some time.

You can tell how thrilled I am to be waiting some more...

We hung out at Culver's for an hour, and went back to the bolwing alley. We hung around, watching other people bowl, looking at some video games, etc. until FINALLY it was our turn to bowl! It is now 10:15 pm. So it didn't take two hours....only about an hour and 50 minutes. :)

Cindy and I trying to kill more time by taking pictures of ourselves.

Once we were finally under way, we had a blast. And yes we stayed the whole two hours (we had to, in order to make up for our hours of waiting!) and finally made it home at about 12:45. Yikes. You know you are getting old when you are still recovering from the night for a few days after. But, it ended up being a fun adventure, with good conversation, and people who were able to laugh about the whole situation. Plus, I bowled a 120, which may just be an all time high for me. :)

Cameron's form, that overtakes the WHOLE lane!

Cindy making her approach....

Don in action!

Me, very seriously deciding on a strategy for my next bowl...

The guys waiting for their turn.

Yes, Cameron did roll up his pants and bowl with a pink bowling ball. Nice.

Lessons learned:
1) Don't go bowling on a Saturday night
2) If you do go bowling on a Saturday night, go at about 6....then maybe you will be bowling by 7:30
3) if there is a two hour wait one place, chances are the waits are equally as bad everywhere else. So stay where you are!
4) Make sure you have enough gas in your car...we went from over half to under a quarter.
5) If you plan on a cheap date (as in free) chances are you will have to spend some money...either killing time at a Culver's or by filling up the almost half tank of gas you burned through.
6) And the silver lining....if you have to wait till 10:30 to bowl, you get to enjoy the cosmic bowling with disco lights, loud music, and fog machines!

7 Month Lessons

Miley is 7 months old! She is growing up! It seems like she is learning new stuff all the time, as well as developing her own little attitude and personality. I thought I would highlight some of the things she has learned in the past month....

Miley has learned that she is pretty cute....well, maybe not, but these were some cute pictures so I just had to post them anyway. :)




She has learned that crawling is fun, and is on the move non-stop now. If I turn my back for one minute she has already somehow gotten to the other side of the room. She also thinks it is fun to follow me around, and she thinks it is fun to crawl under the coffee table.




She has learned that maybe baby food isn't ALL bad. While she still won't dive for the food, she at least eats it now. As long as we mix in some crackers or some Gerber puffs for a little variety every now and then. :)




And finally, she has learned that her arm makes a wonderful lovey, or something like that. We can't quite figure out the appeal of her arm, but all of a sudden it is Miley's comfort that she has up by her face several times a day, and anytime she is going to sleep!



We can't wait to see what lessons will be learned in the coming months!

Lucy Hope Bowen

Our newest niece, Lucy Hope Bowen was born yesterday, January 20. Unfortunately, she is all the way in Arizona, so I don't know when I will get to kiss those cute cheeks in person! Congrats Lindsey and Michael!

Clark Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Who Wants to Come Visit??

For all of the family and friends out there....Minnesota had it's coldest night last night in five years, and it's coldest morning in four (according to the news this morning). Yes, we woke up to -21 degrees with a windchill of -41. So who wants to start looking for tickets to fly up here? Any takers? :)

6 Month Stats

Well, I just got back from Miley's 6-month well-child visit. She was so cute the whole time...."talking" to the doctor, smiling at everyone, and being a happy girl overall until those dreaded shots! Unfortunately, the office was also out of one of her shots, so I have to go back again later this week to have her get that shot! Anyway, here are her 6 month stats:

Height: 25 inches (25th percentile)

Weight: 13 pounds 10 ounces (10th percentile)

Miley grew two inches, and gained two pounds in the last two months....her biggest growth spurt to date! She is still in the same percentile for weight as she was last time, but last time she was also in the 10th for height, so we are happy that she is now only slightly below average height-wise. :) The doctor also couldn't stop talking about how advanced Miley is for her age. She said she is developmentally above what most 6 months are, in regards to her eye-hand coordination, her "verbal" (babbling) and oral skills (all the things going into her mouth are good for something, I guess!), and her interaction. That is something that a mom always likes to hear. :) Other than that, the doctor also said I should start weaning her off of all of her night feedings except one (woo hoo!) and to start experimenting with food such as crackers, oatmeal, etc. since Miley isn't really taking to her rice cereal and the other baby food.

I am glad we survived another appointment, even though we have MORE shots coming up soon!

The appointment sure wore Miley out (these pictures are look pretty familiar...oh yeah! They are pretty much exactly the same as after her four-month check up!).

Day After Christmas

The day after Christmas, Miley decided she wanted to be a little more mobile to be able to reach all of her fun new things. So she officially did the "inchworm" (6 months and 4 days) to reach one of her new teething rings. Cameron was pretty excited and got it on our video camera, but didn't get any pictures on our normal camera. So if I can figure out how to post videos from our video camera, I will do so. :)

Miley and Bode had a fun time watching Miley's new Baby Einstein video that her Aunt Gelsey and Uncle Kipp gave her for Christmas. It amazes me how these simple videos can keep Miley entertained for so long! These pictures show how into it they were. Miley is also wearing her new outfit from her Aunt Lindsey....so cute! :)