{...a breezy life} at briemarisa.com

A few weeks ago, with the President's Day holiday looming, Pete and I talked about what we could do on our day off. It was a rare day off for everyone and we wanted to do something we don't do every day.

We finally settled on bowling. I had taken PJ once before and he had a great time so I was eager to revisit it. Lifting the ball is great heavy work for PJ, and having to take turns and cheer on others gives him a little discipline and works on his social skills. Plus, he loves to throw stuff and knock things down, so there's that. Bowling for the win!

We also had a birthday girl to fete! Our niece Riley (Pete's Goddaughter and kind of the reason PJ was born) was celebrating her 10th birthday, so we were lucky enough to bring her along for some bowling and cousin time with PJ.

Click on the shoe to read more about this shoe!

The whole day was perfect timing, because I received the fun opportunity to try out bowling shoes from BowlingShoes.com. This site, offering convenient online shopping for all things bowling, is for real bowlers, and it's for the amateurs, too. As it turns out, it's even for the truly awful bowlers like myself. I was invited to choose an item from the site to try out. I was surprised at how much fun it was to peruse the shop, and finally settled on these stinking cute bowling shoes. With my inordinately tiny feet I am sometimes a little iffy about ordering shoes online, but these were a perfect fit, much to my relief and surprise. Super comfy and not too narrow, like the rental shoes can be. Plus, there's the whole only-my-feet-go-in-here factor, which is an automatic win. You all know how I feel about feet. {shudder} At any rate, BowlingShoes.com offered a complete novice like myself a great shopping experience. Now, if it turns out that they sell clear bowling balls with a rose in it, a la Ernie McCracken, I'm in! :-) As someone who is not an avid bowler, I was afraid I would find BowlingShoes.com overwhelming, but even a complete novice like myself had no problem shopping. With PJ enjoying bowling and my VERY OWN SHOES, we may hit the lanes more often!

We found a lane, ordered drinks (by the way, who invented wait service at bowling lanes? Standing ovation to whomever that was!) and got to bowling! Bowling alleys are so fancy now, we could program for the bumpers to pop up for Riley and PJ and then be retracted for Pete and I, leaving is free to score many, many gutter balls. None of us are stellar bowlers (the fact that two of us were four and ten, respectively) but we had a blast taking our shots and cheering each other on. I am always so touched and filled with gratitude when I see how gentle and patient Riley is with PJ, and always so happy to see PJ sharing experiences with his "big" cousins!

Getting pictures of a bouncy PJ is a pain! {blurry}

I love these two!

Disclosure: I was lucky enough to work with BowlingShoes.com to learn more about their site and products. I was provided the opportunity to try out an item from the BowlingShoes.com store for free in order to provide a review of my experience. All of the opinions expressed in this piece are my own honest experience. Please, always feel free to e-mail me with any questions!