Chuck E Cheese

In general it's one of my least favorite places to be, but a trip there is quite a kid motivator. After Isaac's first week of science camp earned him glowing praise for his excellent behavior and manners we decided a Chuck E Cheese trip was in order. We still had a cup full of unspent tokens and a mass of tickets from the last school sponsored Chuck E Cheese night. With the online coupons it's $26 for a large pizza, 4 drinks and 50 tokens (we never go without a coupon). So, we invited some of Isaac's friends and made arrangements to borrow a bigger vehicle.

Loaded 3 kids, the carseat and baby, the wheelchair and 2 adults into the van I felt like the Duggars. I was so excited to have a van full of kids on our way to have fun. I kept teasing Mike that we should pick up a few more kids. I'm serious I was sincerely excited. We arrived and each member of our group was stamped with a matching black light responsive number. The commericals would have you believe that parents can have a nice relaxing evening due to this "kid check."

Getting in the door, pizza ordered and a table without everyone taking off in opposite directions was the first of many hurdles. I mistakenly selected a table in the "toddler zone" thinking it would be quieter. It may have less traffic, but was not any quieter. The toddler tantrums, wailing babies and dirty diaper smell outweighed the initial appeal. I also had a great view of the exit. I started counting how many kids were leaving in tears for something to do as everyone was off burning through tokens while Riley and I held the table. I realized at this point it would be problematic to breastfeed facing the exit on one side and the huge window that faces the parking lot on the other.

When the pizza arrived I had no way to alert the troops, which in my opinion is the biggest problem with that place. If they had an efficient way to call people back to the table it would really help because it's impossible to hear a cell phone or your own thoughts in there. By the time everyone made it back I'd been hit up for tokens by a smooth talking kindergartner, lost my flip flop under the table and used 3 wipes between Riley and I after we touched the horrifyingly dirty "Chuck E. Phone".

I did end up having to nurse Riley in the wheelchair stall. The only thing grosser than the greasy germy games in the toddler area has got to be the bathroom. Ick. When Riley and I emerged the kiddos were feeding their tickets to the ticket counting machines. Remember when you had to know how to count to claim your prizes? The machines do make an adorable "munch, munch" sound as they eat the tickets, however.

We'd been saving our tickets for over a year and Isaac came away with a respectable 500. I'll have you know that after all the ticket hoarding Isaac had made it out of the glass case and onto the prize wall by the skin of his teeth. He picked a diary with some Disney show aimed at a female audience on the cover. His friends got a piece of candy and decided to save their tickets for next time respectively. I also think it's interesting to note that they now have signs proclaiming "1 Cent=1 ticket."

Then we gathered up our tired herd of dinosaurs and I remembered yet again why I hate that place.