Chuck E. Cheese Party

Last weekend the boys had their first visit to Chuck E. Cheese for a preschool classmate's birthday party.  I thought it was so funny how quickly they learned what the tokens were all about and walked around carefully protecting the little cups of coins they were given.  Owen found his favorite ride, an orange boat, and settled in like a slot machine player with his cup of tokens next to him.  He'd take out the token for the next ride and methodically place it on the seat near the slot before putting one in for the current ride.  Almost as if he were making a statement to any onlookers, "I'm going to be here awhile"!  Spencer also camped out with his tokens on the train ride.  After about an hour of fun exploring the rides and games, it was time for pizza, cake and ice cream.  The boys were blown away when Chuck E. Cheese came out - I don't think they were expecting a giant mouse to come singing and dancing at the table!  Oliver was the most intrigued and somewhat frightened by Chuck E. Cheese, and as with some of the other things he thinks are "scary", he wanted to face his fears and check that mouse out up close...he even moved in close enough for a very quick high five!  He told me afterward that Chuck E Cheese might want some birthday cake too.  After all the eating festivities the boys were free to play some more and use the rest of their tokens.  Most of the kids from the party went home around then, but ours were still going strong and not ready to leave.  It was around this time they discovered the large climbing structure that led to a tunnel crawl up on the ceiling and ended with a big slide.  Spencer was just a tad too short to pull himself up the first part, but Oliver was nice enough to help him up.  Then out of desperation to continue on his own Spencer figured out a way to dig his feet into the net wall and boost himself up.  It was pretty late by the time we cashed in our tickets for a few little prizes and made it home for naps, but all three boys walked away in agreement that Chuck E Cheese is a "really nice place"!