My little girl turned 4 years old last week. She woke up to a dozen helium balloons and a dozen roses in her bedroom. Ever since her first birthday I've given her roses, since her middle name is Rose. She was very excited to bring treats to her preschool class for her birthday. I also decided to make her a pancake cake for breakfast, after getting the idea from the latest puppet show at the library.
We let the kids choose where to go to dinner the night of their birthday. Chuck E Cheese seems to be the favorite. Not because of the food, but because a birthday is the only thing that can get me to be willing to go there. It's really not that bad, but I still dread it. I think Chuck E Cheese ties with Classic Skating for the worst pizza I've paid for. The salad bar is an extra $7 and it is the smallest salad bar out there. And there are too many kids running around, a good number of which should have their parents paying closer attention to them. On the good side--tokens are only a quarter and nothing takes more than one quarter. There is a very large variety of things to do from the regular skee ball and such games to the little car and carousel and other little kid rides. There is also a play structure (like McDonald's type) that is completely free. Our favorite is the picture sketch, although there's usually a line for this one. And I've never come across a game out of service when I've been there. And you can get some sort of coupon off their website at any point in time.
On our way to Chuck E Cheese we passed the Mayan. Last time we went we were pleasantly surprised and the kids really enjoyed themselves so Brodie suggested eating at the Mayan and then playing at Chuck E Cheese. At first I was against this, knowing it would take more time and have me staying up later getting ready for her party the next day, but as I thought about eating Chuck E Cheese pizza, I agreed. However, our experience wasn't as good as last time. The carnitas were dry and very fatty. And the shows were only every half an hour so we only watched 2. And they didn't seem to be as long or as involved. The worst part of it was that Spencer totally freaked out. They did the whole "monsoon" thing with lights flashing for lightning and thunder sounds and stuff and Spencer covered his ears and closed his eyes and started crying. He was so scared and just wanted to go home. His over reaction caused Clara to start crying and Tessa almost cried as she responded, "Maybe I shouldn't have chosen the Mayan because Spencer is so scared. Let's just go to Chuck E Cheese." But our food was on its way out so it was too late. Brodie and I both tried talking to Spencer in our own, very different, methods. He finally sat down and ate without screaming, although he jumped and almost over reacted quite a few more times throughout dinner.
We just bought tokens at Chuck E Cheese and the kids were off. First they played in the play area, climbing and sliding. Then they rode the little rides by the play structure. Clara LOVED the little carousel so much. We let her ride it a few times, then a couple more times at the end. Usually the other kids rode with her, as there are 3 horses.
Then we headed over to "win" some tickets. We played skee ball, squirting water at the targets, squishing the spiders, making the lizards knock over the flies, virtual bowling, tossing ping pong balls, catching bees in a basket, popping bubbles on the screen, having the bear catch the falling apples in his mouth, shooting the horse teeth down, and most of the other games there. Clara mainly loved the rides so the older kids sweetly obliged and rode in the car and jeep with her a few times.
Then we took our ticket receipts to the counter and let the kids go crazy with small, cheap choking hazards and candy. The kids had a lot of fun and can't wait for the next birthday so I have to go back there again. But we now set a new precedent as Spencer told us he wants to eat dinner at Chin-Wah and then go play at Chuck E Cheese when it's his birthday. We'll see...
No comments:
Post a Comment