Cynthia writes...

My father is a member of the Kiwanis Club. He never does anything halfway, and apparently neither do any of his cohorts. When he said that the club was going to run a miniature golf course at the Comfort Suites and asked whether we wanted to sponsor a hole, I couldn't turn him down--but I admit I didn't know just how cool the course was going to be. I've grown up with this man. I should have had it figured out from the beginning.

I'm not going to tell all, because it's much more fun to be surprised, and the Kiwanis Club is planning to do this next year again. But I'll give you a few glimpses of what these people built.

After the first hole in the elevator, everyone came into a suite that I decorated for the second hole. I created the obstacles, too. There's nothing like fat-quarter packs and a couple of skeins of yarn to intimidate people:


When I was done with my decorating, a few friends joined me, and we got to play the course.

Now, I actually like miniature golf. (The cheesier the better; I still need to get to a course somewhere with giant dinosaurs.) I don't win at many games, but this is one where I have a fighting chance. And today, I was the champion among our group of four. Look. You can see the fire in my eyes as I calculate my angles:

My friend Alice claims that most champions do not play golf with a purse around their shoulders. But she said that early on, before she had fully grasped the level of my skills.

Some of the holes we played were incredibly creative. I particularly liked this one from a realtor:


And someone apparently likes flamingos:


(As do I.)

The coolest hole of all was across a swimming pool:


Who can resist such a challenge? So I recommend that next year at this time, you go out and play some golf.

And if you don't want to wait, there's always the pancake breakfast in April. See you there, dad!