Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party!

I'm going to get all the birthday celebrations out of the way first and then go back and update our remaining Jan/Feb activities.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to plan parties.  I love practically every part...invitations, decorations, activities, food, party favors, all of it.  I had been spinning my wheels for a few months trying to think of this years party, talking to the kids and seeing what we could come up with.  With Timo's love of sports and Cameron's love of gymnastics...and the Olympics happening over their birthday, I had the genius idea of an Olympics Birthday party...Perfect!  Or so I thought.  The more I talked to the kids about it the more I heard "Why can't we have it at Pump it Up or Chuck E Cheese or House of Air, I want to go to (insert any birthday location in the Bay Area, we've been to most of them."  The more I tried to talk up the Olympics, the more they talked up bouncy houses and video games.  So after much searching my pride and realizing it's their birthday, not mine, I gave in and started trying to book a birthday location.  But apparently you have to book months out to reserve a party at venues.  Praise God I lucked out with a cancellation at Chuck E Cheese and we got in!  Chuck E Cheese was it, and Tiimo and Cameron we beyond excited!

As soon as we got there Timo was off!  Young couldn't get tokens fast enough for him and they both disappeared into the sea of video games.  Cameron was a little more selective, knowing some game gave out tickets which could be turned in for prizes.  So in typical Cameron fashion, she walked all around, looking over everything first before starting her play.

We couldn't find Timo and Daddy for a while and then discovered them in a very serious battle with aliens! Such a  "like father like son" moment...Timo was in heaven!

Cameron finally selected a few games she thought she had the best chance of getting the most tickets.  You can really see the differences between the twins in these cases...Timo goes for the experience, thrill of the moment, excitement of the game and will play the same gave over and over.  Cameron calculates her odds, looks for the one she'll have the most success at and get the most return from.  It paid off, at the end of the evening, Cameron had 150 tickets from games and Timo only had 35 (the shooting and driving games don't give out tickets).  Timo also used all the token in his birthday crown while Cameron left her token in hers forever b/c it made her crown look pretty...

The thing about Churck E Cheese is it's just chaos and you can't really see your friends when they all arrive. I stayed at the table to greet everyone and pass out the tokens to each child (each one got 25 tokens) Slowly everyone stated trickling in and occasionally we would run into a friend and play a game with them. Cameron and Matthew playing the water shooting game.

After 45mins of game playing games it was time for pizza and the birthday concert.  As much as I loath these "turn and burn" birthday venues, I have to say I was really impressed with Chuck.  Even though there were several parties going on at the same time, each host made your kids feel so special, like it was one big party just for them. (or maybe we just had an amazing gracious host).  After pizza there was concert on stage for the birthday stars with these fabulous balloon guitars!  Each birthday child got a crown, guitar, and a golden guitar pick necklaces.  Timo and Cameron relished their time in the spotlight playing air guitar.

Then Chucky came out to say hi but I kinda missed it because I was setting up their cakes...

And as if going to a venue didn't hurt my party pride enough, I crushed my pastry chef pride and bought cakes this year!  But in my defense, it's because Timo doesn't like cake or ice cream and he requested a sorbet cake!  So not having room in my freezer for two ice cream cakes (I insist on each child having their own cake) I called Mitchell's Ice Cream and ordered him a strawberry sorbet cake and Cameron a Rocky Road ice cream cake.  Timo and Cameron LOVED them!  I have to admit how easy and practically stress free this party was....all I really had to do was put the decorations on the cake!  I think I might start liking these kind of parties.  (did I mention there was nothing to clean up either??)

There was a joint singing of Happy Birthday and the kids blew out their candles...6 years old!!!

                                                                                                                                                                    They threw a ton more tickets off the stage for all the kids and it was a mad dash to collect as much as they could.  Then Timo was gone...he and his buddies couldn't wait to get back to the games.  My son was a crazy boy the whole party, so pumped with energy and excitement. I think he sucked down his sorbet as fast as he could b/c I didn't even see him eat.  Cameron savored her cake and hung around with her friends. Chucky came around for pictures and got Cameron with her best buddy at school, Jordan.  He and Cameron share a passion for dinosaurs.

Another perk for the birthday child is a chance in the Ticket Blaster.  It's 30 seconds of tickets blowing all around you as you try to grab as many as you can.  Our two had no idea what to do, they just enjoyed the tickets blowing all around them while a few landed in their hands.  But at least they had fun!

We all meandered around finishing up our last few tokens and enjoying our birthday guest.  Another perk...no goody bags needed, each guest got to turn their tickets in for a prizes on the way out! The downside of this party is all the parents were following the children around helping them, so we didn't get to visit with our friends.  But Timo and Cameron had a blast and have already said they want their party there again next year!

I have to say that Mike at Chuck E Cheese was top notch.  He did everything he could to make my kids' party happen even though they were booked for the date was wanted.  We became fast friends on the phone and I couldn't wait to meet him once we go there.  He ended up giving us the best table in the party section, on the side with plenty of space, away from most of the crowds.  We had the best host and they really catered to our every need...I honestly didn't have to do anything but show up.  And even though it was my fault for booking so late, I feel like we were treated like VIP...not to mention our host gave us a few discounts and didn't charge us extra for the two sets of all birthday items!  All and all it was an great birthday experience for me and most certainly for Timo and Cameron!