Cousins at Chuck E. Cheese

Anna Claire has been wanting see Ellie for a long, long time! Ellie is Anna Claire's second cousin, and they are almost exactly the same age. She is my nephew, Jared's, little girl. I don't guess the girls had seen each other since Anna Claire's birthday, back in June.

Kristen and I took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese. I did not have fun, I'll be honest. I thought it was tiring and stressful! But the pictures tell a different story! The girls obviously did have a lot of fun, with the exception of a few minor meltdowns. ;)

Anna Claire must have ridden this merry-go-round seven or more times! I'd say it was a hit! And not too big to be scary.

Riding with Ellie this time!

Love this pic!

Having a ball!

Ellie is much braver than her cousin. I couldn't get AC to ride many rides at all. She would want to, then  change her mind once I lifted her. I love how you can really see how much fun Ellie is having in this pic!

I loved that they had a slide for little kids, that didn't have been kids running up it or playing too rough.

Finally, a slide that isn't scary!

Brave Ellie, again, willing to try anything!

On a little simulated roller coaster. I love this pic!

I have definitely learned some lessons from this trip, and things I would do differently next time:

1) bring Larry so one of us can chase her, and one of us can finish playing games she doesn't want to finish playing so that we get all our tickets.
2) allow at least 2 hours, so we can eat there as well
3) pick prizes I know AC would want instead of picking what I think she is pointing to (she was so mad at me for picking the "wrong" thing!)
4) remind her that she will have to have her hand stamped by a man before going in and that she needs to be nice to him!
5) toddlers don't necessarily need you to put tokens in the machine to feel like they are playing!
6) ditch the camera and don't bring in any bag or coat. They were a pain to carry.
7) expect a meltdown, and be cool when it happens.