Bowling Party for 5 Year Olds!

The lace weaving workshop in Salt Lake City began on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9 AM and would go until 4. So that meant that I was going to miss out on all the fun at my grandson Jack’s birthday party which was going to start at 2, but Grandpa Bobby would be there to help and hopefully take some pictures and help hand out cake and ice cream.

This year Jack’s birthday wasn’t going to be celebrated by a massive gathering of family and friends, both adults and children, that spill out of the house into the backyard and involve a cookout meal with a birthday cake and ice cream and the opening of a huge pile of birthday presents. The camp director mother, my daughter Carlee, was ready for a new challenge. So when Jack said that he’d like a bowling birthday party, Carlee’s creative juices started running. Much better than the ice skating party he was first thinking about--all those bumps and bruises on the little knees is not something you want to think about as a hostess.


First, an envelope with a round black bowling ball with silver writing behind a clear cellophane window came in the mail inviting us to Jack’s party. Then I heard from Dustin, our graphic artist son, that Carlee had talked to him about designs for T-shirts. She came up with something on her computer as the end result was 16 small T-shirts with this emblem on the front and a larger emblem design with the saying, “This Is How I Roll” on the back. In the process of ironing on the designs she managed to put a small crack in her granite counter top from the heat, which sent her into a mild tail spin. When she heard the crack she knew what it was and panicked. Luckily, the repair man said, the crack didn’t go all the way through, and he only used super glue to repair it. This all happened before we arrived and we had a hard time even trying to see where the crack was in the dark granite countertop.

Grandpa Bobby was disappointed that he didn’t get a T-shirt, but that’s life. The shirts actually worked out well as favors. The shirts were put on as the kids arrived at the bowling alley and it turned out to be a good way to keep track of the little 5 year olds. The photos tell the story of the fun the kids had at the bowling alley, even sister Kate, who is two got to try bowling. The ball is almost as big as she is. Her Uncle Peter helped her roll a pretty good ball from the looks of the picture.




There were “teams” of about 5 children with one adult on each lane, with bumpers in the gutters to prevent the infamous gutter balls. After the single game of bowling which I heard seemed to go on forever, the keglers had pizza and a special birthday cake which Carlee baked in the shape of a bowling alley, shown in the photo below.

The party wound down about 4 o’clock and parents arrived to pick up their children. Jack and Kate were still raring to go, however the adults were wiped out. When I got back to the house from the lace weaving workshop the adults were slumped on the couch and easy chair, barely moving. Another successful birthday bash.