Last week, we were invited to a game of bowling at our local bowling alley, Hollywood Bowl in Avonmeads Bristol. As a mum of a toddler I instantly tought: toddler+slippery bowling alley+not being able to join in = disaster, but I was proved wrong. My mummy blogging friend Jacqui from Mummy’s Little Monkey had told me that Hollywood Bowl has special ramps and devices that enable even the youngest members of your family to join in and I thought those who dare win.

Iain from Hollywood Bowl booked us in for Friday and arranged all the organisational stuff for us, which was really helpful as I am slightly disorganised at times. This way, we just had to turn up, get our shoes and have fun. We arrived 10 minutes early and were greeted by a friendly young lady, who took our shoes and provided us with fancy bowling shoes. This might sound ironic, but I absolutely love bowling shoes. They are so comfortable that I could wear them all day. What I was most impressed with at this point was that Hollywood Bowl even provided shoes for Amy. She’s got relatively big feet for her age, but I still didn’t expect them to have shoes for toddlers. I was pleasantly surprised.

After a quick introduction to the set-up of the ramps, we started our game and Amy was absolutely fascinated by the lights, sounds and the whole surroundings. She loved getting the ramp out with daddy and giving the ball a big push before it rolled along the alley and knocked the pins over. There were even bumpers that stopped the kids’ balls from ending up in the gutter. Cheats! Amy had a blast and clapped whenever we cheered her on. It was just too cute to look at. She was having such a great time and you could really see that she was enjoying herself. Amy’s cousin Grace and Ben’s dad had joined us for the afternoon and they were having equally much fun. At Hollywood Bowl in Avonmeads, and I am quite sure this counts for all other Hollywood Bowl franchises, bowling really can be an activity shared by all the family.

We had a fabulous day that we finished with a complimentary meal of burgers and chips as well as a big pitcher of lemonade and some arcade games for pudding. It was such fun! I still can’t believe that my 18 month old girl went bowling for the first time. It’s such a great idea to get children involved in what I thought used to be an adult activity. The facilities were child-friendly and all the staff had a smile for Amy and Grace. We will definitely take the girls again, but next time we have to make sure that mummy doesn’t end up behind the toddlers again.

Disclosure: We were provided with a free game of bowling and a free meal for the purpose of this review, but as always my opinions are my own.

– Day 8 –

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