The Place Where Adults Realize They Have a Problem

Nicholas has been repeating a popular slogan all day to a place we were headed. Somewhere he (the kid) can be a kid. See, we had challenged him to meet a certain goal. At the time we issued the challenge, it seemed like this particular goal (which will remain unmentioned) was never going to be met. But, he proved us wrong and finally achieved it this week! The reward was a trip to the place with a big mouse as their mascot – not the one in Florida.

Nicholas practically squealed with delight as he walked in the door and saw all the games. Unfortunately, it took a little time to find out which games fit best with his height and ability. Evan and I found ourselves drawn to our favorites though. In fact, we occasionally forgot that we had a child. That’s when we realized that this was not a healthy place for us to be. We became focused on seeing how many tickets we could get.

At one point, I was playing a game while Nicholas and Evan were playing another. I was just about to press a button when a little 4 ½ year old’s hand came out of nowhere and pressed the other button. I ended up winning 7 tickets instead of the 25 I would have won. Don’t worry. I took it well.

One of my favorite games

Now here's a segment called, "Where's Our Child?":

Not here

How about here?

Not here either

There he is!

We proudly stuck to our $15 budget though and Nicholas was happy with the toys he was able to pick out with his ticket winnings. I see most of these prizes making it to my trash can in the near future. In fact, one of them only lasted an hour.

Evan's got our winnings (or Nicholas' winnings)!

 

What to choose . . .

 

All his junk treasures

 
 
We finished up his special day with a trip to a new frozen yogurt place. We were able to choose our flavor, add in whatever toppings we wanted all by ourselves. The catch was that you pay by the weight of your cup. Thankfully, we knew this ahead of time! I think everyone agreed that it was worth the trip.

We’re so proud of Nicholas for reaching his goal! It was great that we could all celebrate together!