Beach Vacation Day 8

We ended up staying on the island one extra day because of frightening weather predictions for our home town and, in fact, for the entire route home of several hundred miles we have to drive: severe thunderstorms, hail, flooding, and possibly tornadoes. The news was abuzz for days with warnings about storm preparedness and how to take shelter. So, we reviewed the situation and decided to hunker down for one day and drive home with peace of mind the next day.

In the morning, I took the children on a neighborhood walk for about a mile and a half. It was overcast and very warm, and soon we heard thunder overhead. I turned us toward home, but we arrived back as four drowned rats. The deluge was as strong as if we were standing fully clothed under a shower going at full blast!

We dried off and hunkered inside with television and popcorn for a few hours.

Then we rallied and went bowling! We found the nearest bowling alley (off the island) that turned out to be modern, very clean, and family-friendly.

Poor Joseph, he is obsessed with balls and I forgot about that in making these plans. When we walked in, he began jerking his body wildly with anticipation, calling out, "Ball! Ball! Ball!" as he eyed racks and racks of brightly colored balls: his favorite thing! But even the lightest bowling ball is not safe for a 15-month-old. I thought I could let him stand there and touch the balls, but he was strong enough to pick one up, which could have fallen on his toes.

This my sweet baby spent the rest of our bowling time incarcerated for his own protection in his stroller . . . and he wasn't very happy.

Margaret's photo of Mama

Margaret

Mary and Daddy

None of us broke 100, but we had a great time.

We ordered some appetizers and I found myself training the current three-year-old about "no double-dipping." "Honey, dip your chip once only, and then eat it, okay?" After a while I looked over and Margaret had been taking only one bite of each chip, setting it down on her napkin, and getting a fresh chip.

We ended up getting dinner at the bowling alley restaurant before taking these pumpkins back to the condo for baths and bedtime. Our last adventure will be finding something easy and fun for Chris and the kids to do while I do a great cleaning job of this condo in the morning!