Say CHEESE!

Chuck E Cheese that is. We were singing it... and shouting it after our very first trip into it's clutches this week. Let's just say that Luke is now a huge fan of the Cheese-man. He was a little weirded out by the creepy animitronic band, but he still found a safe space to boogy down in. Any closer and he initiated the death grip around my neck.

He was so enamored by the whole band-thing that he barely touched his pizza - which cost a pretty penny, mommy was not pleased.

But what he lacked in cost-effectiveness, he made up for in pure wide-eyed wonder. He was a whirlwind of activity and interest. We had to try everything, and many times we lost interest before the ride was over. But lets face it, a shaking car does get old very quickly.

And a trip to the fun-factory would not be complete without a mother having to go in to the playscape to retrieve her crying child. To his credit, he made it pretty far in what was arguably the world's highest and longest tunnel. I watched his shadow from below and tried to gudie him through with my voice. However, once the crying started I had to kick off my shoes and shimmy through that tiny tunnel only to grab my son and squeeze down an even smaller slide. It was a treat.

One of his favorite things was the carousel. It was slow and tiny, but he loved every swirling minute. I think he loved watching himself in the mirror more than he liked the ride but... whatever. And you can see him in all his vain-glory in this video. Watch him cheese it up in the mirror and repeatedly leave me hanging:

We managed to do my two favorite things, Skee Ball and Dance Dance Revolution. Luke loved the DDR, but couldn't get the hang of the Skee Ball. His ball ended up either on the floor or in the lane next to us, 90 % of the time and made it up the ramp 0% of the time.

By the end of the day we had 86 tickets which got us a whopping 2 crazy straws - just what we needed. It was a success and I think that I now have a new found respect for the mouse and his wacky fun house. Even though he isn't smiling in many of the pictures, I could tell by his squeals of delight that he found the place more than mildly entertaining. Until next time...