Turkey Bowling

Last night I went to my first "turkey bowl" and actually did pretty well for myself. I made it a goal to break a hundred every game we bowled and I succeeded!

Faith, a woman with bowling in her blood (her relatives are very good!), won both games we played, but I was a close second. She was the one who really kept me competitive and made the game more interesting. The other women in my group wanted to chat and bond. Seriously...so overrated! ;) Faith and I kept poking and prodding them whenever it was their turn...

People in a bowling alley seem to come up with the most interesting ways to knock down those pins. Here are a few I observed:

• Sometimes the bowler will fling their arm straight back before swinging it forward again releasing the ball. Let's just say whenever they bowl, be sure and stand off to the side, just in case the ball happened to slip!

• Other times the bowler will lightly throw the ball down and stand there watching it with their arms down at their sides and hands pointing outwards, bent at the wrist, almost as though anticipating the moment when they can spring outward and celebrate a strike!

• In the lane next to us was a family who decided to use every technique known to man to get that ball down the lane. The little girl would sit on the floor with her lavender-colored dress and push the ball down. She would watch it from this position until it struck the pins. SO ADORABLE!

• On the otherhand, her brother would throw the ball and then spin around and kick his legs in excitement! But he wouldn't throw it down a lane, but down the middle of two lanes where the workers normally walk to retreve stray balls or fix pins. Needless to say, his technique left his ball stuck a few times!

• Their older sister wound up and tossed the ball to where it would make a resounding crack as it hit the wooden floor quickly rolling either into the gutter or into one corner pin. She would toss her head and shug, not really minding the low score.

Overall it was a fun night. Lessons learned?

-Paying by the hour is crap...it's so much better to pay by the game. You can't anticipate how long a game will last!

-Getting a strike after you've gotten a gutter ball sucks cause it only counts as a spare...sadly this happened to me twice. :(

-Playing with your small group is amazing!

-Be sure and choose your ball first! It's hard to find those ten pounders once the families have settled in!

Belly Dancers and Raindrops

After France we walked passed Morocco. What a funny experience. There was a belly dancer swishing her hips to the music, and I noticed that as people passed, guys would glance over, quickly do a double-take and then completely stop and stare transfixed at the dancer! It was hilarious!

Next was the Oklahoma booth. We shared seared buffalo. Man was it tasty! I found out later (from my co-worker who is an Oklahoma native) that buffalo is actually more healthy for you than beef! Oklahoma is celebrating it's 100th birthday as a state in the union, so Epcot decided to celebrate with them! This was the only time that a U.S. state was featured at the Food & Wine festival. They mounted pictures of famous landmarks, people, and historical figures that made up Oklahoma's history on three large walls. A band even began to play, complete with two fiddlers. Towards the end of their show they played a waltz and offered a spot where anyone could dance. No one moved. Dan looked at me and asked if I wanted to dance...I thought he meant where we were (in the back), so I said sure! But no, he escorted me down to the spot in front of everyone and we waltzed for the whole song! Afterwards everyone clapped and the band said we looked "beautiful." It was seriously awesome! Yay for the Dancing Chapman's class we took! And yay for a boyfriend who gently pulls me out of my shyness!

Australia was next and boy was that the best food we ate! We shared the grilled lamb chop with carmalized onions...a definite 5+++ on our taste scale. I seriously wish we could've had a whole plate full of those little morsels. Lamb has to be the yummiest thing you can cook on the barbie! After savoring every flavor of that delicious appetizer we decided to mess around in Italy, taking funny pictures by the Poseidon fountain and the wine barrels.

While Dan and I stood in line for our German cuisine the clouds decided to release their burden...all over us. Being the gentleman that he is, Dan waited in the rain for our food while I took cover under one of the awnings near the booth.

Once we got the food I realized why my friend Melissa recommended Germany. So tasty! Especially the one I picked: debriziner sausage with sauerkraut in a pretzel roll (definitely a 4). Dan's spaetzle with creamy mushroom earned a 2 because it was something we could make.

Next up: South Africa

Traveling from the Emerald Isle to the Republic of France

Ireland was next and boy was the food delicious scoring solid 4's on our scale.

I tried the chilled potato leek soup with an Irish cheddar cheese stick (yes a ridiculously long name). And he tried the boxty with bacon chps and kerrygold garlic and fresh herb butter.

We wanted to share a frozen Bailey's irish coffee...both for refreshment and to ward off the humid air, but alas, their ice-maker was broken.

After that we visited Nemo and friends. I've never been to this part of the park before so it was extra fun for me. :) We saw dolphins, sharks, clownfish, blue tangs, and even a scuba diver in a tube.


Then we were off to England taking pics in the telephone booths, swinging from the light posts, pretending to enter closed cottages.

We visited on shop that had a bunch of Alice in Wonderland items in it...and who should be there but the only woman who is "practically perfect in every way". Mary Poppins! :) She was beautifully dressed in what I call her "painting outfit" the one she wears when she, the kids and Bert jump into his chalk painting.


Crossing the bridge we made our way to France stopping to watch a mime show. Which I actually had a small part in! The mime chose me as his "chair sitter" until later on in the show when he used that chair to continue his trick. It was fun!

Dan bought us coupe de sorbets champagne which we didn't really like that much but it was a nice frozen treat while I watched the show.


Next: A Moroccan distraction

September 29th: My Fun-Filled Date With Dan

Where did we go you might ask?

To the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival of course!

I've always enjoyed Epcot, but now I love it even more! They successfully combined two of my favorite things: international flair + food. And what's more, I experienced this lovely festival with my favorite person...my boyfriend Dan. :)

After donning our newly purchased outfits, Dan with his faux-hawk and me in my green conductor hat excitedly entered the park. Yes, we totally worked the "prep" look!

Disney music greeted us as we strolled to the International Marketplace. Once the song turned into a waltz, we couldn't help ourselves. Dan stopped and asked me to dance. So we waltzed right there in the middle of the sidewalk. It was so fun! We even received compliments and smiles from people passing by. That's when I knew it was going to be a fantastic day. :)

First stop: Argentina

We bought both main dishes and shared. I chose the spicy beef empanada and he got the grilled beef with chimichurri sauce. We saw on the menu that underneath each entree it listed a wine and gave a price...we both thought, "oh you get a discount when you buy the item with the wine." FALSE. You pay for both, as in the wine itself is another $3.50! Disney is ridiculous.

After finishing our food, we graded them. It was then that we decided the only true way to experience this festival is to come up with a scale: 1 (troll), through 5 (outstanding). Yes, I just used Harry Potter OWL references... I know, I know, I'm a book worm, but J.K. Rowling uses such perfect descriptions I couldn't resist! My dish received a 2, and his a 3. To me both wines were gross, so he graded them and both scored lower than a 3.

Mexico was next on the list but instead of eating there, we took a boat and floated through Rio del Tiempo. I have to say that they changed the ride to include more Disney characters and flat screens...didn't like it much, sensory overload! Before it explained Mexican history and now you travel through Mexico in search of Donald Duck...not as interesting. What did I learn about Mexico? They enjoy having fiestas...all the time.

Up next: Visiting the Emerald Isle.