MY DEVISING: the birthday club bowls, eats, and then eats some more

Well, the season of The Birthday Club has begun. This past weekend, we celebrated Reese's birthday. Although I feel like we're probably running out of awesome and surprising ideas, we still try to keep the celebrations a bit interesting. Sara and I felt like kicking off the evening with a little bowling would do the trick.

It's funny that I didn't think twice about bowling and being 36 weeks pregnant. But I didn't have to think of it because the shoe lady did. She referred to my situation as "being in a delicate way" and that I needed to be careful. She asked if I'd been bowling throughout my pregnancy. I told her I hadn't, but that I'd been bowling many times in my life and that I'd promise to take it easy if I felt pain or discomfort of any sort.

Sure enough, there was some discomfort. Who knew throwing a ball abruptly down a bowling lane would use your abs? Even though I opted for an 8 pounder, I still had to sit several frames out, letting Sara and Reese bowl for me. I'm telling you - bowling with a belly is not only a bit of a strain, but it totally messes with your form. And, thanks to my bowling league days, form is very important to my bowling success. But I worked with what I had. And I mean, taking a few breaks wasn't that bad. It just means I probably ate more nachos and drank more Pepsi than Sara and Reese.

After ending up with a score of 84 (absolutely awful), we all turned in our shoes and the shoe lady seemed very happy that I didn't go into labor on her watch.

There was a good chunk of time before the next portion of our evening was to begin. So, naturally, we dropped by Bath and Body Works (where we got some really cheap aromatherapy bubble bath) and then took a gander at the animals at PetSmart. (This is the part of the evening where Claire just says, "Aw, yeah, he's cute. Aw, look at him," while Sara and Reese have legitimate discussions about adopting animals or fostering animals or buying more animals. I did not get the gene that makes you incredibly compassionate towards animals, BUT I'm really glad Sara and Reese did.)

Next was dinner at Guernsey Park, which was new for all of us. It was very unique and very good. I loved feeling full but not roll-me-out-of-the-restaurant full. I'd definitely love to go back again and try some sushi!

To top it all off, we went to Whiskey Cake for, duh, their Whiskey Cake. We sat out on the patio for around 2 hours eating, chatting, and solving all of the world's problems as usual.