Duck Pin Bowling

Yup! You heard me correctly...Duck Pin Bowling! That was are adventure last week. Since moving to RI all the locals we have gotten to know have said "You have to go! It is very Rhode Island!" and Rhode Islanders love doing anything Rhode Islandish. So we called up some of our friends and made it a group date!



So the basic rules of Duck Pin Bowling are that the ball is smaller, about the size and weight of a shot put. There are ten pins, probably half the size of normal bowling pins. You get 3 chances to roll the ball. If you knock down all the pins it is a strike. On the second roll, if you knock down all the pins you get a spare, just like normal. The third roll is just to up your score so if you knock down the rest of the pins you get a pat on the back and just a normal 10 points, nothing extra.

The bowling alley we went to was classic! Probably build 50 years ago. We had to keep score manually (yeah it took us a while to remember how to score strikes and spares!), push a button to reset the pins at the end of our turn and push a different button to get rid of deadwood, or the pins that fall down during your 3 rolls. Chris was having a blast pushing buttons.



Duck pin bowling is deceptively hard! We waltzed in there assuming we would blow everyone away. I mean come on an extra chance to bowl, we were going to knock down all the pins every time! Boy, were we wrong!

That ball is so small that if you throw it too hard it is like a bullet and it just plows through one single row pins. Too slow and it rolls into the gutter. The key was a medium speed so that the ball curved slightly and would roll into multiple rows since the pins don't really do a good job at knocking each other down. Putting spin on the ball is hard too since it is so small and there are no holes for your fingers you simply palm it.



Overall, we had LOTS of laughs and LOTS of fun. We'll definitely be back for more bowling! By the time we leave RI we plan on being experts!

One Year Older and Wiser Too...

A few months ago my amazing husband asked what I wanted for my birthday. Since he had some time off for work we could go for a long weekend somewhere. Excitedly I answered...HARRY POTTER WORLD! He laughed a little and then said..Let's Do it! Let's Go!

Little by little our plan evolved to include his little sister and my little brother and all of Universal Studios Florida. The weather was warm (except when we were soaked from the water rides) and we had a blast! It was also a great family bonding experience because we only got one hotel room. Crazy I know but we're on a budget! So I shared a bed with Lauren while Brendan and Chris got to cuddle in the other bed. Needless to say our sleep arrangements cause for some very hilarious conversations and memories. Lauren confirmed that I do like to sleep with my butt poking out and taking up half the bed while Brendan and Chris did everything possible to avoid touching each other, including a wall of pillows and sleeping on the smaller portion of bed ever. Chris decided that stealing the covers is a Wells family trait and had a 'Who can make the smelliest fart? Contest' with Brendan. We all suffered. It was all in good fun but I was very happy when I got to fall asleep on Chris' shoulder again! I missed waking up and his face being the first thing I see.

Here are a few stops we made during our trip...

Stop 1: Pirate Minature Golf! No trip to Florida is complete without mini golf and this course was challenging! We had a blast! Needless to say everyone made a Hole in one but Brendan pulled it off in the end.





Stop 2: Hard Rock Cafe....delicious as always and rockin! The waiters performed Michael Jackson's Thriller, I got a free birthday dessert and an embarresting song. We got to play on a giant (we're talking wall sized) touch screen computer that had a little info card on every piece of memorabilia in all the Hard Rocks all over the world. We discovered you could flick them and send them flying! Then off to explore more of the Universal CityWalk.




Stop 3: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! As soon as we entered Universal Studios Islands of Adventure I made our group run to the Harry Potter section. It is perfect! It felt as if we had walked into the movie! I got my very own wand, drank Butterbeer, went shopping at Zonko's and rode the castle ride 3 times (easily the best ride in the park!) While waiting in line for the castle ride you wind through different classrooms and parts of the castle that are very familiar to anyone who has seen the movies. All the portraits move, the Sorting Hat talks to you, and you truly feel as if you are wandering through Hogwarts. It was magical!






Stop 4: The rest of Islands of Adventure....including water rides where we got soaked thanks to stupid people who shot us with water guns, some awesome roller coasters, and playing in Suessland! Brendan and the Grinch got along great!






Stop 5: Margaretaville for some disappointing wait time and food.



Stop 6: Seeing Real Steal at Universal CityWalk. We saw this movie solely on the recommendation of some friends and they were right! It was good! My personal favorite part was the last fight where the camera scans the crowd and you see an advertisement for XBOX 720 and instantly both my husband and brother go..."Sweet! XBOX 720!"

Stop 7: Bed

Stop 8: Universal Studios.... We had a blast! We went on tons of roller coasters! Chris killed us all in the Men In Black Alien Shooting game, we rode the Mummy ride 3 times in a row (outside of Harry Potter World there was barely anyone in the park), almost got eaten by Jaws, and survived a Twister.






Stop 9: Back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for some more Butterbeer (yes it really is that good! Imagine cream soda with caramel whipped cream on top.) Another quick castle ride and some last minute shopping.






Stop 10: NASCARworld none of us are Nascar fans but we had heard the food was good and it was! Then with our feet about to fall off we made our way back to the hotel to pack and get a good night's sleep before heading the airport early the next morning.

It was a great trip! I can't wait to go back! I think I even made a Harry Potter fan out of Chris (such a good husband!)