Heave Ho!

So another return to the bowling alley this weekend, and as you can see, Madison has developed a very unique bowling form.  It's called the "Heave Ho!"  She grabs her bowling ball and runs to the line as quickly as she can - but rather than launch the ball from there, she comes to a complete stop.  This is all part of this remarkable maneuver.  Next, she draws the ball back - and does a fake throw forward.  She repeats this three times, and on the fourth back-and-forth, she tosses the ball airborne, and towards the pins at a remarkable seven miles an hour.  The ball meanders down the alley with the velocity of a glacier, as all eyes follow the path it blazes.  Ten minutes later, it strikes the pins with the impact of a meteor going in slow motion, knocking down nearly all the pins like dominoes.  Madison, seated at the line and watching the spectacle, quickly jolts up and turns to us, celebrating.  Next, it's time for the spare!

We met some friends for bowling this afternoon, making use of our family pass for free bowling this summer.  Although the bowling part is free, the shoe rental is still there, so it's ultimately about $10 for the three of us.  The other family we met has three members, including the young girl you see above (Lilly), and we wound up spending a couple hours there this afternoon.  It was fun!

Daddy was trying the old "velocity before accuracy" strategy for a time, but gave up.  Nothing seemed to be working.  Although he did get better as the afternoon wore on.  So did everyone else, actually.  It was a fun time at the bowling alley, and it was good to see so many people out wanting to bowl.

Earlier in the day, we said goodbye to Nana and Ba-Ba.  They left early enough to avoid all the significant rain storms on the way down.  It did rain a lot again today, but they managed to stay ahead of the weather somehow.  This was great news, of course, as we were concerned about the trip while the threat of deluges and heavy storms loomed.

As soon as they were gone, Madison and Daddy went off to Home Depot to create this!

We built this car above, one that required hammers, nails - and paint too!  This one was a little more difficult to drive in the nails with, but we more than made up for that with the painting:  Madison was in charge, and by the time we were done, she and Daddy had smurf hands.

Fortunately, they seemed to be prepared there with wet naps.  We painted it first, and then drove in the axles and the wheels, and then had fun with the stickers.  Madison got yet another apron, and even a "Despicable Me 2" pin.  It was a quick trip, but a fun one - Madison enjoys putting stuff together.

Tonight, we watched the first "Despicable Me" movie, sort of a preparation when we go to see the sequel this week.  None of us could remember anything much about the first one, other than the minions.  So we sat down on the couch together - Madison brought a small plastic minion with her, and sat it down next to the blue car she made this morning.  Together, we watched the movie and munched on popcorn, of course.

Outside, the thunder rumbled again.  More rain today.  But after the thunder rumbled, we could hear something else rumble:  fireworks.  I imagine we'll be hearing these the next few weeks, as all of those fireworks that could not be shot out on the Fourth of July are jettisoned into the sky at random intervals.  Indeed, there are plenty of rescheduled fireworks events one could attend in North Georgia, each one formerly scheduled all on one night:  July 4th.  But now, one could pencil in quite a few dates of the rescheduled fireworks displays, all the way until Labor Day.

Daddy did work today, and Mommy and Madison did some grocery shopping as well.  These are the mundane things, although Madison always makes everything fun.  Speaking of fun, tomorrow should be great - we've got a great morning planned, and in the afternoon, there's Hannah's family birthday party.  It should be a great time for everyone!