archery

Last week, for his birthday, my dad took everyone to an archery range.
I'll admit it. I was skeptical.
{Plus, I wasn't sure they'd let a pregnant woman shoot. Doesn't the big belly get in the way?}
But I was wrong. The second I walked in, our instructor barked, "Hey, I've heard about you. Take your scarf off. Tie your hair back. Get a bow and get over here."
Yikes. Gulp.
I nick-named him "Drill-Sergeant Andy." {in my head}
But trust me. He was super nice. And really, really passionate about archery.Here's Andy:
{He was tickled pink that my dad brought his whole family in for archery lessons on his birthday.}

Introducing the two sharpshooters in our family:
{My brother was really good. He was popping balloons with his eyes closed. Ridiculous.}

Can you tell he's impressed with her shooting?
I'm the second one from the left. {You know. In case you couldn't figure it out yourself...}
A few things I learned from archery lessons:
1) Even if his ideas sound sketchy at first, always trust your dad's instincts.
{He was sure we'd have a great time... and he was right. I never knew we'd have so much fun popping balloons with killer metal arrows.}
2) When shooting a bow and arrow, make sure you've got your arm guard on nice and tight. Mine was not. And I still have the welts to prove it.
3) Since last week, I've been asking myself this question: How am I as passionate about something, anything, like Andy is about archery? {The guy was really inspiring.}
4) When you're the last shooter on the line, and you don't say "line clear" after you've shot your last arrow... you will get the death look from one very serious archery instructor.