Are the kids making you crazy? Does the weather have you blue? You say there’s nothing to do; I say be creative! Quit complaining that it’s too cold to take your kids outside and take the family Bumper Bowling at Mahall’s Twenty Lanes!

My family and I recently met our friends there for an afternoon full of fun (and hilarious bowling of course)! Why hilarious? Well, when was the last time you took your toddler bowling? First, there are the shoes, ridiculously small but equally cute. The smallest sizes they carry are a 7, which fit both Ronan and Mia, the bowling toddlers, perfectly. And, unsurprisingly, even the lightest balls were a bit heavy and not so easily pushed down the alley without some assistance from mom or dad.

I think my favorite part was watching them jump for joy as they saw their ball actually knock over a pin. Oh, the delights of bumper bowling. The days of gutter balls are a forgotten thing of the past, at least for the toddlers (the adults still had a few of those going down). We were the only families there for about the first hour, which is a good thing because the actual interest in bowling waxed and waned while we were there, and Ronan and Mia spent a good fraction of their time either spilling popcorn on the ground or chasing each other around the unoccupied seats.

This actually worked out perfectly, as it gave us adults time to get a game in ourselves. My husband, Isaac, beat us all and was the only one to break 100. Hey, I didn’t say we were good at bowling; I was simply giving you an idea of something fun to do. I was next up as far as scoring goes, with our friends Naila and Roger swearing they wouldn't invite us again until they practiced their game. Baby Sasha had a good time too and was happy to be passed off from one adult to the next as we took turns bowling, keeping score, and cleaning up messes! This was not only a great way to spend a cold Saturday afternoon with family and catching up with friends, but it was also very reasonably priced. Each family only spent $12, and that included the shoe rental and the games; popcorn sold separately.

MAHALL’S TWENTY LANES

13200 MADISON AVENUE

521-3280

Right across the street from Madison Park