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Chuck E Cheese Birthday

January 31st, 2011

Chuck E Cheese Tyler TexasA room of a dozen three year old children is stressful in the first place but when you put a dozen three year old children in an extremely loud and crowded restaurant and throw a giant mouse, bad pizza, and a few video games in the middle of the chaos, you get a Chuck E. Cheese birthday. I do not know what I was thinking when I had my little girl’s birthday there. I was not sure where I was going to do the party until due to Tyler unreliable January weather. When we decided to have the party indoors we called the restaurant and tried to get the package deal and reserve a table for the party. They said that they can not allow us to reserve a table so close to the party time, but they said to just come in and try to find an open table. We tried to come into the restaurant after the lunch rush but it was still really crowded. I wanted Chuck E. Cheese to come out and sing to my little girl for her birthday but they said that he will not come out and sing happy birthday unless we bought a cake. I did not want to pay a lot of money for a cake with bad icing piled on top of the cake. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that they would not go sing to a toddler.

I really recommend not having a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese if you can not reserve the package deals. If you do reserve the package deals, be prepared to have an extremely loud party that you can not hear yourself think no less have any conversation with any of your guests. The waiter and waitresses come out and sing to about six or seven kids at the same time. You might end up sharing a table with another kid’s birthday party. The chaos is too much to handle. After your kids have danced with Chuck E. Cheese and ran around the table a few times, you can let them loose through the restaurant and allow them play video games to their heart content. The video game area can be so crowded, when I bring my children there I feel like I am watching them like a hawk. The rule of Chuck E. Cheese is that you are suppose to get your hand stamped when you walk through the door, the stamp on your hand is suppose to match the stamp on the hand of all the children that came with you. Last time I went there I walked in and they did not stamp my hand and my daughter did. When I walked out they asked to see my hand and I just said that I did not get my hand stamped and he just let us out. I was glad that I was able to leave with my child but I was thinking in the bad of my mind if they would of checked stamps if my kids were walking out with someone else.

It is true that children love this restaurant. It is like a gambling hall for kids. They spend the twenty five cent token to win three tickets that are worth a penny each. At the end of the day parents spend fifty dollars on tokens so that their kids can bring home a two dollar toy. Kids do not see the fact that they are getting ripped off. They have fun playing the games and running away from their overwhelmed parents. I really do not like Chuck E. Cheese and will never again throw a birthday party there. It was days before I got rid of the pounding headache. It s fine to eat there during the week and allow your children to get their energy out, and have a fun day; but going during the busy weekends it is not really worth it.

Tyler State Park

September 24th, 2010

If you are looking for some good family fun that does not include a man dressed up in a giant mouse, or sitting in a dark room glued to a giant television screen, I recommend spending the day at Tyler State Park.

At Tyler State Park there is so much to do for the whole family. If you love to spend time on the water, here you can rent a canoe, or paddle boat, or bring your own. The park has an area that you can swim. Usually the beach area and swimming area are pretty crowded. The swimming area is roped off but it is easy to get to the rest of the lake, so you have to watch your kids closely while they are swimming. If you enjoy biking and walking, Tyler State Park is known for their great mountain bike trails. Some of the trails are pretty hard to ride and some trails are much easier. The walking trails are great for family hikes. It is great to have a place that is fun to take family walks and enjoy the out doors.

On a nice cool night there really is not anything that compares to sitting under the stars and around a warm camp fire. Tyler State Park has some really nice camp sites that include camp fire pits and grills so you can cook hamburgers or hotdogs. The camp sites are either shelter, areas where you can park your RV, or areas where you can put up a tent. The sheltered area is basically an empty building with screen windows, and cement floors.

At the park there are all different animals. The last time I was out at one of their camp grounds we were visited by a very curious fat raccoon. It was pretty scary that the raccoon would not run away after people chasing it away and throwing things at it to get it to get off our camping area. It is against park rules to kill the park animals. The raccoon was use to people and was really well fed. I recommend that you keep your trash bags off the ground while you are sleeping or away from your camp grounds, or else animals like raccoons will get into your trash and make a huge mess that you are responsible for.

So instead of putting your kids in front of the television, enjoy time with them playing on the playgrounds, camping, cooking marshmallows over the fire, or having a picnic at Tyler State Park.