And Now He’s Six - Bowling Birthday Revisited

Well, the bowling birthday party was a huge success, and our five year old is now a six year old. Among other things, this means that his time outs are now one minute longer, and his allowance just got a bit bigger. With regard to the party itself, the kids had a blast bowling. It was so much fun, in fact, that our son told us that “My birthdays will always be at the bowlin’ alley. At least as long as there’s a bowlin’ alley around.”

The key here was the bumpers alongside each lane — otherwise pretty much eveything would have been a gutter ball. The funny thing is that, even though we bowled for a full hour, the kids didn’t even finish one complete game… This was due to a combination of a lot of kids (six kids on one lane, seven on another) and the fact that the ball often takes a long time to get down the lane when it’s thrown by a kindergartner.

Once we were done bowling, we retired to the snackbar for pizza, juice, and birthday cupcakes, complete with the Power Rangers themed party supplies that we ordered from an online party supply store. All in all, it was a great birthday, with minimal preparation and fast and easy cleanup — everything got stuffed into the garbage cans and then we just walked away. If you’re looking for a quick, easy and fun birthday party, your local bowling alley is definitely worth checking out.