chuck e. cheese - boys only

when i asked the boys what they wanted to do before school started - a quick and unanimous "chuck e. cheese"!  we have been having a very difficult time with the boys' behavior over the past week or so and i wasn't sure that we were going to be able to go, but they have turned things around dramatically this week and today was the day.  madelyn was hysterical that we were going without her (i told mason not to tell her but he slipped up.  it wasn't to be mean at all either).  he came up with the resolution of using tickets to bring madelyn back a 'prize'.

we took madelyn to school and then ran a quick errand before heading over to chuck e. cheese.  we were there a bit before they opened so we ate a few snacks and waited.  we were the first ones in and probably had the place to ourselves for almost an hour!  as an added bonus, an employee started telling us the 'tricks' to the chance games and we were able to use them a few times too.  it was also a lot less stressful to be there with no one else; the music wasn't super loud and any kid sounds were from our three.   

manning was in heaven and had to climb up on everything.  he was too excited about everything to ever look at me during any pictures.

 maddux apparently has a gift for games of chance.  seriously, the kid is crazy lucky and hit a few 'jackpots'!

mason was able to hit a small 'jackpot' too.  i think today was the best the kids have ever done for tickets!

when a second family finally arrived, chuck e. cheese came out and the boys had fun dancing and singing along.

manning started getting a little too excited about everything and wouldn't stay with us, so i strapped him in to this 'ride'.  he wasn't really sure what he thought about it...

the boys loved playing air hockey together!  and they were fairly evenly matched.  i was 'crunching' tickets while they played (because i had so many in my pocket that they were falling out) so i didn't get to watch who won each game but i would check the score it was almost always tied (mason did have one that wasn't even close).  they must have played 8 games before i suggested we do some other games.

manning could actually get the tickets into the machine!  he wasn't fast and sometimes he would just push them hard to try and make them fit, but most of the time he could do it.

we left to go home and eat some lunch after playing for about an hour and a half (it surprised me that the kids had no problem with not eating there - they are always begging to eat in restaurants).  it was so much fun with just the boys (and in a lot of ways easier).  we picked out some prizes - they both got foam 'rocket launchers', maddux added a laffy taffy and mason added a giant, plastic gold coin.  for madelyn, i picked out a rubbery pink bracelet.  she was disappointed not to have two prizes.  sigh.  love.