Today's Worm.

Today we learned that the easiest way to come even close to an enjoyable time at Chuck E. Cheese is to get there early. We arrived at 10:00 am (they open at 9:00) and had the place basically to ourselves. Allow me to say, at this point, that I loathe and despise CEC. It is loud, lights flash everywhere - it is crowded... but basically I learned today that they actually play music at CEC. I was never able to hear it before this.

AND I did not spend a lot of money. I downloaded a coupon for 100 tokens for $10 - bought two refillable sodas for about $3 - so for less than $15 we were set. Additionally - we still have at least half of the tokens left for next time.

SO: To make the best of CEC: Sign up at their website for coupons and GO EARLY!! Next time we decided we would go to breakfast first and then arrive at 9:00 AM when they open - allowing us a full two hours before anything even STARTS to get ugly! This is handy to know because there CEC is a powerful motivator; as much as we hate it, the kids seem to love it. This way - everyone wins.

As a Post Script: we were originally supposed to go to Johnson's Farm this morning, but were deterred by the cold weather and the fact that one little girl in our party is recovering from Pneumonia. CEC was our plan B - but we all had a great time anyway...