Katie's seventh birthday is rapidly approaching and we are trying to figure out what to do for a birthday party for her and her friends from school and elsewhere. One option (other than having it at our house) is to have it at a local bowling alley. Julie was invited to a birthday party there and it was quite successful, so Katie's been interested in the idea.

Except that I was explaining to her how they had the kiddie bumpers in the gutters to keep the bowling balls in line, because -- when you're five to seven years old -- that is just going to greatly reduce the frustration level.

Now Katie had never been bowling, but she was insisting that she did not need the kiddie bumpers. Right.

So I took her to the bowling alley today and we bowled a game each.

I rolled a 140, which wasn't too bad, given that I opened up the first three frames (including one ugly split) and later missed a couple of standing 10 pins.

Katie rolled a nine.

She positively reeked of unhappiness. *sigh*

I think we're going to go ahead and book the party at the bowling alley, but I will have to take her back for at least one more session with the kiddie bumpers before the party.

At least, I'll probably pick up my standing 10 pins...