On Rappel's suggestion, we met up yesterday for Sunday afternoon bumper bowling at Lincoln Square Lanes. (8 of us total now, damn.) It was the first time for all 3 kids and they loved it. J loved it so much, he didn't want to stop.

I found what worked best with Charlie was to get the ball on the ground and then roll it together. I let him roll unassisted a couple times, but he needed more oomph. One time the ball came to a standstill halfway down the lane, so I figured help from dad was fine.

After we sent the ball on its way, he'd usually ask, “Is it going to hit the pins?” 30 seconds later, after the ball finally made its way to the pins, we'd count how many were left, and he'd happily report back to mom, “I got 1-2-3-4-5!”

We've found a new weekend activity.