Celebration!

I can't even express how happy I am that this week is over. Not because it's been spring break for the kids (we've had a really good time this week!) but because Tony took his prelim test this week. This test is a major rite of passage for PhD students. Not until you take your preliminary exam can you begin working on your dissertation. Tony has been studying for this one test since Fall 2009. This test takes 3 days--4 hours per day--and is very intense. But as of 12:30 Friday afternoon, he is mostly done (he still has his oral defense on the 16th, but that's not nearly as intense).

So naturally we wanted to celebrate. The kids were all for going to Chuck E Cheese's and no matter how many times I said that's not really fun for Dad or Mom, they wouldn't budge. Until we mentioned bowling. So we loaded up and headed to the bowling alley. Here are a few pictures of our celebration!

Tony helping Gracie roll her ball down the lane. It usually took a while for the ball to reach the pins.

Hallie dancing after sending her ball down the lane.

William preparing to roll his ball.

After Tony and I took turns pushing her around, Clara finally fell asleep.

Our final scores. You can't tell from this, but Tony was one point ahead of me in the 9th frame. Then he got a strike and a spare so I thought all hope was lost. But miraculously I got 2 strikes in a row! I was able to beat him by 5 points. (Keep in mind that these are our scores with the bumpers!)