Where a Kid Can Be a Kid

The Greenes gave me a birthday lunch today. I was told I could pick anywhere I wanted to go, so I picked IHOP. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a decent stack of pancakes?

So since last night, I'd had my heart set on lunch at the IHOP. I even knew what I wanted: a sausage and cheese omelet with three pancakes on the side. Even now that sounds really good.

We arrived at the IHOP to find a parking lot full of cars and the building full of hungry people. So I was sent inside to find out what kind of wait we could expect. Remember, it's not just a small party when I'm with the Greenes. It's seven and a baby. When the hostess informed me of the 40 minute wait, I decided that IHOP might not be the best choice for lunch, especially since we were all hungry.

For about five minutes the kids had been chanting "CHUCK E CHEESE" since we had passed it on the way to IHOP. So I said Chuck E Cheese was fine. And I was really looking forward to that omelet too.

So we got to the pizza funhouse. I'll give him this, Chuck makes a pretty good pie. Not the best around, but still not bad. But, of course, part of the fun is the plethora of tokens you get with the pizza. Once we divided everything up, I had 30 tokens to spend on my own. I spent one on Ms. Pac-Man, one of the greatest video games ever made.

Why is Ms. Pac-Man superior to the original Pac-Man? Because she's quicker, there are more levels, and there are cut scenes between stages. I remember when Chuck E Cheese was Showbiz (much better back then). They had a Super Pac-Man and a Baby Pac-Man. Super wasn't too special, but Baby Pac-Man was a pinball/video game hybrid. Pretty awesome.

My other 29 tokens were spent on SkeeBall. I was bound and determined to get the jackpot of tickets that you could acheive by getting a score of 450,000. The closest I got was 360k. So close, yet so far away. I did wind up with 145 tickets though. Just enough to get that squirting spider ring that I've always wanted.

So a quick thank you to the Greenes for making my extended birthday weekend even more special. So now that's two birthdays at Chuck E Cheese. What will I do next year? Probably lazer tag (which is something I wanted to try this year, but didn't work out). What I'd really like to do is go to an amusement park, but none of them are open at the beginning of March. Anyone have some pull at Kings Dominion? Carowinds? Six Flags? Look into that for me. You've got about a year to get ready for me.