Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Backed-up Blog post alert.

Summer 2015!

Keaton was looking for THIS photo ...

I suggested he look on the blog, labels of Summer or WaterFun ... but it wasn't there. He did find my end of year (2015) post and I realized this was one of those topics I'd never gotten around to getting up. Bad mommy! So, better late than never?

Our old "water balloon fillers" had taken a beating over the years and Grayson decided to build a new one. Industrial strength! It wasn't cheap with all the parts, but it should last a while. The kids sure enjoyed it.

The "garbage can" dunk is a remnant activity from my childhood ... 

We also went bowling several times this summer.

Taking advantage of the 'Kids Bowl Free" program.

It's not really free. The kids get two free games a day. You still have to pay for shoes, and of course the kids want food (which I only splurged on once) and to play in the arcade after.

Sometimes I'd just drop the kids off. Occasionally I'd stay and play a game too. 

I have my own bowling shoes! 

I think it was "Ckeetin" who came up with the creative spellings here.

Look at me (Mumm) - Top score. Over 100!

I may have had bumpers on ...

What else did we do in the summertime?

We bought the boys passes to the nearby Rec Center for the summer ... and they used them! Almost every day, I'd drop them off and they would play basketball for a few hours. The pass also included swimming, but they never got around to doing that. Too busy ballin! I don't know that they ever complained of being bored ...

Jacob was a constant companion to the Blackham boys all summer long.

This happened too ...
They were playing baseball.

Five active boys,
and only one broken window in all these years.
Not too bad, right?

Colton - 9

Lost in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays ... Colton has a birthday. Nine years old and never had a "friend" party. If I'd thought ahead and tried to get invitations made before school was out Christmas break, we might have tried to have one after Christmas. But alas ...

I was feeling uber guilty about it, as I do every year. Poor kid, he's such a good sport about it too. He did express and interest in a bowling party, even if it was family, not friends. We quickly threw one together. We did invite Jacob, and Callahan's girlfriend Amanda came too, so it wasn't just family. Maga, Ana and her boys came and it was a lot of fun.

We ordered pizza and punch, and after bowling we let the kids play on some of the arcade games. I think Colton had a good time. He'd asked for "shirts with sarcastic sayings on them" and he got quite a few (he's wearing one in the pictures above). 

We did the usual cake and ice cream too. Many of the boys prefer the chocolate cake from Sam's Club, but Colton said he wanted the white with buttercream frosting. That's MY favorite, Grandma's too. She and Grandpa came out for cake and to wish Colton a happy birthday and play some games.

I LOVE looking back at baby photos ...

Love this little boy.

See all the pictures HERE.

Happy Birthday Colton!

Bowling Blackhams

 ... I need to work on my picture taking skills with the iPhone, or take my actual camera! Sorry about the blur :(  (I did better with the other pictures, but the boys weren't really in a posing mood to try and retake this one). It's off-track time for the three Columbia kids. We didn't do ANYTHING last off-track, so we decided we'd better get out and have some fun. In the past, the boys always went bowling during their off-track time. The local lanes offered an off-track class for a couple hours every Tues/Thurs. But they stopped doing it a few years ago, and we hadn't gotten much bowling in since.   The boys had fun (even though I won) *Ü* 

 They enjoyed some pizza

 ... and the arcade.

I think they like the arcade better than the bowling!

Tons of tickets

We'd actually been stuck at home for the first couple off track days. Landon's truck was in the shop, and he had the suburban at school. So this was our first day of fun ... but not our last!

Beyond Basic Bowling

I've posted previously about Blackham Bowling ... off-track time or as a family, it's something we've enjoyed. Recently, we've had other "bowling" opportunities too, beyond the basics. While at Grandma and Grandpa's house, the boys started up the WiiSports. Cooper was pretty impressed with his score here (a strike, followed by all spares) and wanted me to take a picture. Since then, the boys have come home and started playing WiiSports here too. I don't think they had played it in over a year, but it's once again a favorite for everyone. Funny, the cycles kids go through.

For Easter, we got this little bowling game, and the kids (and friends) have really enjoyed it. I'm surprised it hasn't broken yet! It's been out since Easter and is in daily use.

And then back to Allstar Lanes ... not for off-track bowling, but to try their "After School Bash" which is quite the deal! Available Mon-Fri from 2:30-5:30, for $7, kids get two hours of bowling (including the shoe rental), a small drink AND a card to use in the arcade with $5 worth of credit on it! Callahan commented "I don't know how they make a profit" ... then he went to play in the arcade, came back just a few minutes later saying he had spent all his credits and could he have more money, and could I buy everyone something to eat. Therein lies the answer, but it still is a great deal. The kids really only did one and a half games of bowling. The half was because there was an error and we had to start over. Callahan was NOT happy, because he had started on a streak, a TURKEY (three strikes in a row). As we moved to the new lane and started over, he didn't do nearly as well and he was pretty frustrated. It's just a game ... I pretty much just aim to break 100 if possible *Ü*

Just one final "beyond bowling" tidbit ... if you haven't seen Jim Gaffigan's bit on bowling, it's pretty funny (and he's quite clean for a comedian!) Gray and I went and saw him a couple years ago when he came to Utah.

Off Track Activities

Bowling Boys

Off track ... this Spring it was for FOUR weeks! But we kept busy. Of course there was off-track bowling. The Blackham Boys ALWAYS go bowling when they are off track. I'm not sure how many years we've been doing it now, but it's been several. In addition to the three Blackham Boys, we took friends Travis, Ryland and Ridley. For Cooper, it was broken arm bowling AGAIN (he's getting good at his bowling left handed). This will be Callahan's LAST time participating in the off-track bowling as he will be going to middle school next year (but Colton is looking forward to joining his older brothers ... he did get to go with them on the first day as his preschool had a break).

Park Play

We also went to the park to play. Again, we took friends Travis and Jacob, and met friends Mara, Marc and Tony there. It was wonderful weather, not too hot, and not too crowded.

Inflatable Fun

And then there was Jump and Bounce (previously "JumpingJacks ... we hadn't been since it changed ownership and we were surprised at all the changes). I had purchased a Groupon for a month pass a while back, and thought this off-track time would be the perfect time to redeem it. We went the first week the kids were off track and the boys had a blast. We planned to go several more times ... then Cooper broke his arm :(

We did still make a couple more trips in ... once taking Travis (above), another time taking Jacob and Bailey (pictured below). Even Landon went ... he's not in the picture below because he is an ornery teenager and doesn't always obey his mommy, especially when it comes to cameras. Just FYI ... when we went a couple years ago, Landon broke HIS arm jumping off one of the large inflatables. This was the first time Landon had gone back... luckily, without incident.

We also went once in the evening, meeting friends Mara, Marc and Tony there... it was less crowded than during the day, which was surprising to me. Our month pass still has a week left, so hopefully we'll get in one more visit after school hours.

Cooper still went with us after he broke his arm. He was a good sport, and sat waiting with Mom in the lounge. I brought books, puzzles, Ipods, etc. to help entertain (yes, in the picture above he's playing a game on one Ipod touch while a movie is playing on another one). To reward him for his patience, Mom and Cooper went out to lunch at Golden Corral, one of Cooper's favorite spots ... although I think he'd be happy with just the dessert bar (just the ice cream in fact!).

So, we probably would have done a little more during the off-track time, if we didn't have the broken arm to deal with. I did drop off the older boys (plus Ryland and Travis) at Nicklemania one day. We thought about a movie, but that didn't materialize. The kids were pretty happy just playing and hanging out. The Wii got a workout, and the basketball hoop was in fairly constant use. And while the boys are great kids and I don't mind having them around, it will be nice to get back to school and back to a routine to finish up the year. I just hope we can get up in the mornings after sleeping in!

Bowling Buddies

So we hit our first off-track time of the new school year. With Cooper's broken arm, we had initially planned on him sitting out this session. But then, buddies Ryland and Ridley asked if they could catch a ride and go bowling with our boys (we've got the room in the car, so why not?). Well, if Cooper's best buddy Ridley was going to be bowling, then Cooper wanted to go bowling too, broken arm not withstanding! It actually went great! Cooper says maybe he'll still bowl with his left arm even when the cast comes off. He even won the coveted "trophy" (bowling pin) again (yea, now we have three bowling pins around the house).

It was very fun bowling with friends. Allstar Lanes also redid the arcade section, making it bigger, and using a "credit card" rather than tokens. You can even count your tickets and upload them to your card (rather than saving them like we did in the past). The kids LOVE playing in the arcade, and they are given a few credits as part of the session, so they always spend the last few minutes playing until they are picked up. Once, as I walked in to get them, I found Ryland surrounded by a PILE of tickets ... he had hit the jackpot. The older kids tend to save their tickets for a big purchase, while the little guys usually would spend that day's winnings on small items each day.

Thanks again Allstar Lanes (and Ana, the teacher!) for another fun off-track bowling session.

Bowling Boys

Now I have to say right up front that I don't care for year round school ... it's hard enough trying to get the kids on a schedule with homework, reading and bedtimes (and getting up early!), but it seems that once I think I'm there ... it's time for OFF-TRACK time. Luckily, there are several off-track options to help keep the boys busy when they aren't in school. A favorite one we've found is bowling at All Star Lanes. Twice a week I can drop the kids off for a couple of hours and they get to bowl, eat lunch and play a little in the arcade. There is some instruction, and then "free" bowling. The last day, it is usually "Cosmic" bowling, where they bowl in the dark with black lights and strobes and a fog machine. For the past few sessions, they have also had a small competition, the winner getting a wonderful bowling pin trophy. This last session, we came home with two of them! My boys love off-track bowling. This was actually Cooper's first time going, as he's generally preferred to stay home with me before. We also look forward to summer, when All Star Lanes offers the "Summer Safe Pass" which lets each one of us come for one free bowling game a day all summer long. We made it in several times last summer. Thanks All Star Lanes!

Blackham Bowling

With our year-round elementary schools, we have several two-three week breaks spread throughout the year. One thing we do during the kids "off-track" time to stay busy is bowling at All Star Lanes. Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 -12:00. It's a decent deal; it comes out to $7 for each visit, it includes bowling, shoe rental and lunch (the boys love their pizza and hot dogs). Callahan and Keaton were attending, and I told the two little boys that on the last day, we could stay and bowl too. So that was the plan ... but when we walked in, it was PACKED. Every lane was taken. I guess Bingham High has some sort of bowling program, and there was also a big group of handicapped folks come to play. Allstar had it pretty well set up ... I couldn't believe all the shoes! Anyway, I took my little guys to play in the arcade for a bit (which they like just as much as bowling), we were about to give up and go home when a lane opened up.

Cooper is such a cute little bowler. As he stands and watches the ball roll down he twists his little body trying to WILL the ball one direction or another. He got a few spares!

With Colton being so small, we used to use the help of the rail roller ... but not anymore. He just picks up the ball and flings it down. The timing worked out perfectly. We finished our games at the same time the older boys finished theirs. A little more skeeball, basketball and air hockey in the arcade and it's bye bye bowling until the next off-track session. Thanks All Star Lanes! *Ü*