The Girls Meet Mr. Chuck E. Cheese

  It's the place...where a kid can be a kid.  And a grown up can be a kid, too, as I found out this past Friday.  It was a super nasty day outside, my dad had the day off, and an all-day meeting my mom had scheduled was cancelled, so Gram and Papa loaded the girls (and me and Maci, too) up in the car and we headed for Chuck E. Cheese's.  I overheard my mom say at some point, that she had been wanting to do this since May 25, 2008...the day AB was born.
  The trip was quite humorous starting off.  There were 6 of us going and we all drive 5 passenger vehicles.  So we borrowed my grandparents Empala that had a middle seat up front.  We loaded up with me in the middle in the back, between the girls.  Then I decided that wasn't a good idea in case I got car sick.  So Maci got back there and, in the process of climbing over Lynnsie, mom decided to move the front seat back, ultimately knocking Maci over and nearly smishing Lynnsie ("smish" is a term our family uses).  All was well.  I ended up in the middle of the front seat. 
  We get just down the road and Dad realizes he didn't pick up the camera.  Now, you know grandparents can't go anywhere without the camera, but it especially has to be taken on the first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's!  When AB realized we were headed home, she asks "Why are we going to Gram's house?" We jokingly tell her the trip is over.  She looks at us like we are crazy.  Then she smile and says, "I wanna go again."  Too funny.  We are crying-laughing at this point.
  We finally get to Chuck E. Cheese's!! I must say, I was quite impressed with 2 things: 1) the child-security they now hae and 2) they got rid of that disgusting ball pit...ew!!  Lots and lots and lots of tokens were purchased for the games and little "rides" they had for the younger ones.  Lynnsie was her normal, mellow self and just kind-of took it all in for a while.  She mostly enjoyed the little rides.  I think there was a Clifford the Big Red Dog, an old car with one of the CE.C characters in it, and then a red convertible where you could sit beside Mr. Chuck E. Cheese - and it even took your picture!  She also really liked watching the "show" up on the stage.
  AB was very funny most of the time.  She would start a game and while me or mom or dad were helping her, she would lose interest and move to another game...with someone following her, of course, and someone finishing up the game.  Can you please just try to imagine 3 adults trying to play a game that is developed and sized for children 4 and under?  I would have laughed at us!
  Of course, the adults got into the fun, too.  We played lots of ski ball...but it's called something else now.  I tried to show AB how to play and even let her stand up on it, but she really didn't grasp the concept of rolling the wooden...it was launched several times and I was sure we were going to crack the hard plastic window that protected the buckets at the top of the game.  Oh, and they even have this HUGE Operation Game...remember that game?  Maci played it, but I never made it to that one.
  The show still goes on....complete with Justin Bieber songs and other tweenie singers who I have no idea who they are.  And the pizza.  Oh, the pizza.  The pizza is worth every token and penny spent!  At the end of the night, the girls ended up with a rubber ball (that's not so good for bouncing), a purple bracelet, and some nerf-style rocket thing.  I would say we made it out of there with a minimal amount of "junk" and a wealth of laughter and good memories!