My ego was severely bruised tonight as a direct result of attempting to bowl with Jim and his two nephews tonight. I was terrible! Now I've never been what you would call good, but I did decently enough to where it was nothing to be ashamed of. But apparently it's something I've gotten rusty at. We bowled three games, and I got 2 strikes and maybe 4 spares over all of them. To make matters worse, on two occasions I actually threw gutter balls on both tries! I was so embarrassed. The first frame was a big fat zero. Jim killed all of us the first game. The second game Big A and I tied with a not-so-stellar score of 101. The third game I won with a 99. Yeah, we all sucked. But I think overall I was the most erratic. I was saved by a couple of lucky strikes and spares.
It was our first time taking the boys bowling, and it was a really fun night. We kept them out way too late, but I guess that's part of spoiling 'em. It was after 11 by the time we got them home. They were both tuckered out by then and slept for some of the way home. I was actually quite surprised that they wanted to hang out with us tonight, since they just got a dog today. I thought for sure they'd want to play with him all night, but they were all excited about going bowling. Guess I still don't have a really good handle on how kids' minds work.
Little A displayed an amazing talent: throwing gutter balls WITH bumpers. I truly didn't think it was possible, but he managed to do it on three separate occasions. I was dying. Apparently I throw the ball all wrong--Jim and even Big A were weirded out by it. But it's how I've always done it, and with as badly as I was bowling, changing my method would have gotten me even more frustrated. Yeah, I know. I'm pathetic. Who gets competitive bowling with two munchkins? I just hate losing! I don't care who it is to.
Between the second and third games the boys decided that they were hungry, so we all shared a platter of nachos. I was a little worried about them at first because they came with olives, tomatoes, and green onions, but they munched 'em right up. They were admittedly really good. I swear it's not just a mental thing--red and blue tortilla chips have a different texture. I like the red ones best. Big A of course ate 95% of the sour cream Jim got on the side.
I was shocked when I happened to glance at the clock in the middle of the third game because the clock said it was after 9:30! I had Jim check his phone to see if it was accurate, and it was. I had no idea it was so late, but the boys were doing fine, and we ended up checking out the arcade. Little A chose to play a race car video game and Big A wanted to play air hockey. They each had their one game and then we went to Fenton's for dessert. We gave them the choice of either playing more in the arcade or going to get ice cream. Big A made the executive decision of ice cream.
Luckily for them, Fenton's stays open until 11 pm on the weekend. Little A immediately said he wanted the green ice cream, which was pistachio. I asked for a sample because I wasn't sure that he'd like it too much when he actually tasted it. I don't think he disliked it by any means, but he certainly wasn't raving about it. Big A tried the Apple Pie flavor, but they ultimately settled on a small cookie dough sundae with hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry. Actually, Big A was the one who selected both the flavor and the topping, and Little A agreed.
I brought the boys over to the dining area while Jim ordered a sundae for us. We decided on a regular sundae with hot fudge, chocolate peanut butter and chocolate coffee crunch ice cream, whipped cream, and a cherry. By the time Jim got to the table, the boys were on their last few bites of their sundae. Ice cream is about the only thing Little A eats quickly. That boy is the pokiest eater I've ever seen in my life, but not when it comes to his "cream."
The sundae Jim brought over to the table was absolutely massive. It was the next size up from the small sundae, but there was no comparison. I thought they'd be about the same size, as they were about 80 cents apart in price, but no way. It was probably close to twice as big. The boys tried our flavors, but Big A didn't like them and Little A was kind of full, so Big A wouldn't let him eat anymore.
Anyway, it was definitely a fun evening with the boys. They are so well-behaved and a total pleasure to take out.
Earlier in the day we went to Barney's for lunch. Barney's is a local chain in the Bay Area that serves "gourmet burgers." By gourmet, they mean that there are something like 100 different choices with regards to toppings, cheeses, etc. Jim's co-worker has raved about the place, and we've been meaning to try it for a while.
We went to the Barney's on Solano in Berkeley. Even at 1:30, we had to wait for a table, which was pretty crazy, but it wasn't too long of a wait. I was actually excited because of all of the veggie burger offerings. I had the choice of a gardenburger or a tofu burger patty. Naturally I went with the tofu because I haven't actually tried one of those before, and I chose a teriyaki tofu burger, which had stir fried veggies in teriyaki sauce. SO good! There were mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. Loved it!! Plus my burger came on a whole wheat bun, which made me feel all healthy and stuff.
Jim, of course, had to go with a 1 pound cheeseburger (cheddar) that was served on a sandwich roll. I saw it cooking on the griddle and was completely appalled at how ridiculously large the thing was. It really didn't shrink down significantly during the cooking process, either.
We split a half order of shoestring fries, which ended up being a really big basket anyway, and a blackberry milkshake. The fries didn't have any salt on them and Jim thought they were McDonalds-like. I kind of agreed, but they were about 100x better quality and taste-wise. The milkshake was super creamy and sooo decadent. I really liked it.
I think my tastebuds were somewhat off, because the food in general tasted a little bland, even the milkshake. But the food was still good. I don't know. I'll have to go back there and try again.
Afterwards, we went to Whole Foods in Berkeley because they were supposedly having an enormous sidwalk sale. I was completely underwhelmed and disappointed at the lack of selection. But we ended up getting some tri-tip that was an awesome price and a few other things.
Guess I recited the day backwards, but it's all there!
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