We made good use of beautiful fall weather last week to take an afternoon off and play miniature golf. It was a three-generation affair, with my husband and me joining our daughter and 7-year-old grandson at the nearby Rogue Valley Family Fun Center. The complex boasts bumper boats, go-karts, batting cages, a video arcade and a three-story indoor play structure in addition to the two 18-hole miniature golf courses. With Halloween approaching, spooky décor  was scattered around the grounds,   giving young Sean the chance to play Frankenstein.

We chose to play the Castle Course, with Sean and his mom, Sarah, teamed up against my husband and me. Because it was a weekday afternoon (no school for Sean because of parent-teacher conferences), we nearly had the course to ourselves and didn’t feel rushed as we enjoyed the lovely day.

I appreciated the fact that the facility was clean and well-maintained; no torn “greens,” peeling paint or weeds in sight. There were lots of water features, neatly trimmed landscaping and some pretty tricky holes. .     It was only the second time Sean had played miniature golf, but he putted with confidence and enjoyed running ahead to the next hole to “practice” while the grownups finished up at the previous one. He really wanted to get a hole-in-one and finally got his wish towards the end of our round, with a tricky shot that went into a bait shop storefront and popped out a tunnel underneath it and straight into the hole. He was still jumping around and celebrating when I followed up with an identical shot, and we proceeded to proclaim our prowess for the rest of the game.

When we totaled up our scores at the end of the round, it turned out the old folks’ score beat out the younger team, at which point Sean declared he’d like to change teammates, but his disappointment proved temporary. We all had such a fun, relaxing time in the sunshine that no one really cared about the outcome.

With another course to play and those bumper boats calling, I’m sure we’ll be back soon for some more family fun.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor