bowling

We have made it a tradition that on each of our children’s birthdays we will do a new activity or visit somewhere new. This year for Alder’s birthday we started our morning with coffee and pastries at Jet Black Coffee. Then it was on to the Circuit Bouldering gym for a quick climbing session before heading to our main event – bowling at Punch Bowl Social. 

Neil and I had visited Punch Bowl Social last year on a date night but our visit was quick and we had no idea that it had three bowling areas, tons of games and karaoke rooms as well as some really delicious food. We were all pretty excited to spend the afternoon bowling and eating especially since this was the first time Edith and Alder had ever been bowling.

We opted to eat at our lane because there was no way we were going to get the kids to sit down and eat when they knew that bowling was just a few feet away. So we ordered our food and drinks and after we convincing Alder that the lightest ball would be best for him even though it was blue (his favorite colour at the moment) we got down to bowling. 

One thing that I love about Punch Bowl Social bowling is that it’s by the hour versus by the game. This means we can bowl as many games as we can in our allotted time and we aren’t paying for each string. With two kids however we were lucky to make it through one game but either way still fun. I will note however if you are into some competitive bowling these lanes are not PBA approved but are just for gathering with friends for a fun time. 

Not interested in bowling? Don’t worry Punch Bowl Social is worth visiting for the food alone. All the food is made in house and is not the normal greasy, heated up food you find at most bowling alleys. This food is top notch and so are the drinks. I am still dreaming about the Superfood Grain Bowl it was legitimately one of the best things I ate all summer.  

The Superfood Grain Bowl has crispy farro (something I need to learn how to make), a bunch of great veggies and an incredible miso ginger vinaigrette. We also ordered the Black Eyed Pea Hummus which was was another amazing dish and we ordered the Boiled Peanuts which I was a bit skeptical about and the first few were hard to get down but the more I ate the more I liked them and even our five-year-old, Edith, couldn’t get enough. For drinks we went with a few of their homemade sodas which were all delicious but my favorite was the Season’s Soda.

After we finished up bowling we headed home to get ready for our mini birthday BBQ with friends. Since we had a big morning out we kept it simple with homemade slaw, chips, store bought cake (Whole Foods has the best vegan chocolate cake BTW) and veggie dogs. 

We kept our veggie dogs super simple with just a bit of Sir Kensigton mustard and ketchup but this weekend we will be jazzing up our dogs and I just might have a recipe or two to share with you next week. 

What birthday traditions do you have? What is your favorite birthday memory? I have to say birthdays for me are kind of a sore subject. I love celebrating others birthdays but I find that for some reason mine just never seems to be great. Oh well. I do have a great memory though when I was 13 or 14 my parents took me and a few friends to New Hampshire to go shopping and stay in a hotel.