Our first task this morning was to visit Valhalla, which has an entrance actually towards the back of Lowe's. Yes, it was time for our final entry in the Marvel Build and Grow program, our assignment being the task of building a sweet chariot for Thor. This one had quite a few pieces initially, but turned out to be one of the easier projects over all for Madison. As always, the stickers were challenging - but in the end, we had a reasonable chariot constructed for our hero.
Upon leaving, Daddy asked again for an Iron Man patch. Each one of these heroes this summer had a wooden project, and a patch given out once the craft was created. We were there for all of these, except for the first one which was Iron Man. As noted here earlier, we looked it up online, and this craft and the patch are available online from people who like to take stuff meant for kids and sell it for $50. So no, we didn't get a patch.
The thing about the patches is that they are each a slice of a circle. Get all six, and you create a perfect circle. But we didn't have that first patch, the one for Iron Man. And the patch alone is $15 online right now, which is crazy.
So once again, Daddy asked for a patch. There was a new employee here that didn't know to answer, "No, I don't think there are any." Instead, this employee actually looked for a leftover patch. The past few times I've asked, there hasn't been any leftover patch. BUT today, this last day, there in fact was. And it was an Iron Man patch. The last Iron Man patch, in fact. So there was much rejoicing from Madison as she now has the full circle of patches. Credit God for setting that up and blessing us with a little favor!
So Daddy went to work, and Madison did too - just on piano, some reading and speech homework. That homework is about to get more intense in a bit. Her load isn't so bad at the moment!
Anyway, Daddy did come home early, and we promised Madison that sometime this summer we'd take her to Chuck E Cheese once again. She has no memory of the first visit a few years ago, and her mind was picturing a place that is somewhere between Disney Quest and Stars & Strikes.
Part of the reason we went was a coupon, coupled with a deal for a certain amount of free tokens you earn for reading each day about two weeks. Madison definitely did that, so off we went with our reading chart and our coupon.
Where to begin with Chuck E Cheese? Do we start with the fact that the mascot is a rat? Okay, let's skip that. Let's just get to the vomit. There were kids throwing up in various places. It's about as gross as you are picturing in your mind right now. Basically, it comes to this: it is not a good idea to mix a lot of greasy pizza with running around a lot. There was a little tap dance to avoid a few areas where kids got sick, but then your mind got to thinking: how many times does this happen per day? And where? And man, I need to go wash my hands!
The games there are all designed to reward kids with tokens. Which on the surface level might seem like the same old fun you find in other areas. But there were a few games of chance there, including a giant spinner, and the thought occurs to you: this is all legalized gambling for kids! Seriously, you've got this big wheel to spin, and you could win 125 tickets or you more than likely will just win 2. But either way, you're popping two coins in there - fifty cents. And it's just like a giant slot machine.
We wound up following Madison around as she was pretty indecisive on what to put her tokens in. Sure, she got some for free, so that helped. But she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. Fortunately, there was a fish harpooning game she seemed to like - and a bigger moment came when she found - sure enough - another sit-down version of Sea Wolf there. This one was set up to be over with quickly, and yes, they gave you tokens if you did well enough. I think it would be better if we could play longer and not worry about the tokens, but apparently they're doing well with the token thing.
Anyway, the pizza came after nearly a half-hour. And it was good, actually. We ate a little, played some more games, and even got a photo booth picture taken. Then it was off to redeem all those tickets we got. Thirty-five tokens won us … two Tootsie rolls, and a sheet of four "Frozen" stickers. Madison wasn't about to get the stickers, because the girl behind the counter was told not to give that one sheet away. But when Madison started to give her the teary eyes, the girl behind the counter relented. Yes, that trick usually works on Daddy too!
So, as you might surmise, Mommy and Daddy weren't overly impressed. In fact, we felt like we needed to bathe right away. But Madison had a good time, and that's something she was looking forward to. She did agree that it wasn't as good as Stars and Strikes, and of course not even close to Disney Quest. But it was worth going to for a night.
Another few stops while down in Buford: we dropped by Barnes and Noble, which has a great program for reading also. Madison filled out another chart, describing books she's read, and turned it in to Barnes and Noble - and got a free book. Last year, she got a book about Neverland. This year, she picked up "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda." That's the first book in the series, which is of course the best. She was so happy to see that was one of the choices, and there it was on the end cap. So she snagged it right away! Anyway, this was great. Thanks to Barnes and Noble.
On the way home, we stopped by Toys R Us, which was a paradise for Madison. She was amazed to see all the stuff there, and instantly she was calculating how long her Christmas list would be. We were there to pick up a present for an upcoming birthday party, but at the same time we were watching Madison to see the things she was into this year. Of course Monster High is still there, as is Ever After High School. I think the Descendants doll series might be on the way too. All of these - all of them - are around $20 per doll. Disney Infinity: $15 per figure. LEGO Dimensions… $15 per character. Alone, not a big deal. But if you want to collect 'em all, we're talking about hundreds of dollars here! I know it's been years since Daddy was a kid, but toys seem to be getting more and more costly. Like… a drastic upswing.
Anyway, it was a full Saturday, obviously. We had fun, and Madison really had a great day today. We'll have another great day tomorrow though - KidPak is going to be awesome tomorrow…
Upon leaving, Daddy asked again for an Iron Man patch. Each one of these heroes this summer had a wooden project, and a patch given out once the craft was created. We were there for all of these, except for the first one which was Iron Man. As noted here earlier, we looked it up online, and this craft and the patch are available online from people who like to take stuff meant for kids and sell it for $50. So no, we didn't get a patch.
The thing about the patches is that they are each a slice of a circle. Get all six, and you create a perfect circle. But we didn't have that first patch, the one for Iron Man. And the patch alone is $15 online right now, which is crazy.
So once again, Daddy asked for a patch. There was a new employee here that didn't know to answer, "No, I don't think there are any." Instead, this employee actually looked for a leftover patch. The past few times I've asked, there hasn't been any leftover patch. BUT today, this last day, there in fact was. And it was an Iron Man patch. The last Iron Man patch, in fact. So there was much rejoicing from Madison as she now has the full circle of patches. Credit God for setting that up and blessing us with a little favor!
So Daddy went to work, and Madison did too - just on piano, some reading and speech homework. That homework is about to get more intense in a bit. Her load isn't so bad at the moment!
Anyway, Daddy did come home early, and we promised Madison that sometime this summer we'd take her to Chuck E Cheese once again. She has no memory of the first visit a few years ago, and her mind was picturing a place that is somewhere between Disney Quest and Stars & Strikes.
Part of the reason we went was a coupon, coupled with a deal for a certain amount of free tokens you earn for reading each day about two weeks. Madison definitely did that, so off we went with our reading chart and our coupon.
Where to begin with Chuck E Cheese? Do we start with the fact that the mascot is a rat? Okay, let's skip that. Let's just get to the vomit. There were kids throwing up in various places. It's about as gross as you are picturing in your mind right now. Basically, it comes to this: it is not a good idea to mix a lot of greasy pizza with running around a lot. There was a little tap dance to avoid a few areas where kids got sick, but then your mind got to thinking: how many times does this happen per day? And where? And man, I need to go wash my hands!
The games there are all designed to reward kids with tokens. Which on the surface level might seem like the same old fun you find in other areas. But there were a few games of chance there, including a giant spinner, and the thought occurs to you: this is all legalized gambling for kids! Seriously, you've got this big wheel to spin, and you could win 125 tickets or you more than likely will just win 2. But either way, you're popping two coins in there - fifty cents. And it's just like a giant slot machine.
We wound up following Madison around as she was pretty indecisive on what to put her tokens in. Sure, she got some for free, so that helped. But she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. Fortunately, there was a fish harpooning game she seemed to like - and a bigger moment came when she found - sure enough - another sit-down version of Sea Wolf there. This one was set up to be over with quickly, and yes, they gave you tokens if you did well enough. I think it would be better if we could play longer and not worry about the tokens, but apparently they're doing well with the token thing.
Anyway, the pizza came after nearly a half-hour. And it was good, actually. We ate a little, played some more games, and even got a photo booth picture taken. Then it was off to redeem all those tickets we got. Thirty-five tokens won us … two Tootsie rolls, and a sheet of four "Frozen" stickers. Madison wasn't about to get the stickers, because the girl behind the counter was told not to give that one sheet away. But when Madison started to give her the teary eyes, the girl behind the counter relented. Yes, that trick usually works on Daddy too!
So, as you might surmise, Mommy and Daddy weren't overly impressed. In fact, we felt like we needed to bathe right away. But Madison had a good time, and that's something she was looking forward to. She did agree that it wasn't as good as Stars and Strikes, and of course not even close to Disney Quest. But it was worth going to for a night.
Another few stops while down in Buford: we dropped by Barnes and Noble, which has a great program for reading also. Madison filled out another chart, describing books she's read, and turned it in to Barnes and Noble - and got a free book. Last year, she got a book about Neverland. This year, she picked up "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda." That's the first book in the series, which is of course the best. She was so happy to see that was one of the choices, and there it was on the end cap. So she snagged it right away! Anyway, this was great. Thanks to Barnes and Noble.
On the way home, we stopped by Toys R Us, which was a paradise for Madison. She was amazed to see all the stuff there, and instantly she was calculating how long her Christmas list would be. We were there to pick up a present for an upcoming birthday party, but at the same time we were watching Madison to see the things she was into this year. Of course Monster High is still there, as is Ever After High School. I think the Descendants doll series might be on the way too. All of these - all of them - are around $20 per doll. Disney Infinity: $15 per figure. LEGO Dimensions… $15 per character. Alone, not a big deal. But if you want to collect 'em all, we're talking about hundreds of dollars here! I know it's been years since Daddy was a kid, but toys seem to be getting more and more costly. Like… a drastic upswing.
Anyway, it was a full Saturday, obviously. We had fun, and Madison really had a great day today. We'll have another great day tomorrow though - KidPak is going to be awesome tomorrow…
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