Bowling for Ianite

Last night, I picked up Ian from school for our weekly outing. Elaine had a work function in the evening, so it was just us. As is often the case, Ian wanted to go to Frankie's.
On the way, a guy in a BMW bumped us from behind, but it was such a low speed impact that there were neither injuries nor damage. No one seemed more relieved than the other driver. I deduced from a couple of old scrapes on his bumper that he is perhaps not the most skillful driver. It took a while to explain to Ian what had happened. I said that there was no damage, and had to explain to Ian what damage means. This happens a lot: he also asked me what "fortunate" means (completely out of the blue, while we were walking into Frankie's) and what "available" means. I think he hears words, and if he can't figure them out from context, stores them up for an opportune moment.
The first thing Ian wanted to do was Skee Ball. He can't really get the ball past the gutter, and sometimes can't even get it there. What I have noticed, though, is that he is getting good at reacting to balls that come back. They used to just fall off the ramp. Now, he catches them deftly. He still can't pick a thrown ball out of the air, but it's only a matter of time. Speaking of reacting, he has suddenly gotten good at air hockey, too. He stops the puck with his paddle, and the smacks it back. He can't carom it, but he can hit good, solid straight shots right on target.
We did our normal go-cart and mini golf. At mini golf, there are three 18-hole courses, numbered 1-3. I asked him to identify these courses from their signs, which he did. He said, "I have these numbers at my 'chool, Daddy." On the sixth hole, I asked him what hole we were on. He looked at the sign and said, "The sign says 6, but I thought we were on number 1 (i.e. course 1, which he had chosen)." I explained the concept of each course having many holes. Another thing I noticed is how he picked both balls out of the hole with one hand, then came over and released just my ball into my hand. His fine motor skills seem to be getting much better.
We ate dinner at the sit-down restaurant they have there ("I want to eat here, Daddy. I don't want to go to a different restaurant."), and then went outside to put the leftovers in the car before a final couple of games. I pointed out that it was getting dark, so it was almost time to go. He said, "It is dark, but it is blue-dark. It isn't black-dark yet." I just love his turns of phrase; he invents his own language to describe things, and he is so good at conveying what he is thinking. Of course, his greatest of all time is the soda description.
Before leaving, we bowled a couple of mini-bowling games. I had wanted to try earlier, but it was too 'cary. This time, there were other kids bowling in other lanes, so he agreed. He rolled a few right down the middle before I got the idea to take a video. He bounced these off the bumpers, but it is still cute. The Amy Grant song makes me nostalgic.