Win $100 Chuck E. Cheese GC from BlogHer

Bloggers were asked to visit their local Chuck E. Cheese's and have fun with their famlies and friends.  Read their reviews below and enter for a chance to win a $100 Chuck E. Cheese's gift card!

Chuck E. Cheese's provides entertainment for the whole family, with different games for all ages - from toddlers to big kids - in a safe and clean environment. Get several hours of quality family time and enjoy a great meal at a very affordable price.  For more information, visit Chuck E. Cheese's website and stay connected by liking Chuck E. Cheese's page on Facebook.

The BlogHer Be a Kid Sweepstakes run from 9/4/2012 through 10/4/2012 and are only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States and are 18 years or older. Click here to read the official rules.  Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Good luck!

Things I Look For at a "Play Place"

I was excited to take a recent trip to Chuck E. Cheese's to write a review! My son has never been so happy that I'm a blogger! We are already fans! Needless to say, my kids had an all out blast there. They have games that are geared toward the younger kids and ones that are more advanced. (Ahem. My 15 year old nephew was quite enjoying himself there last time he went). There is a huge variety of games and a play place that can entertain them for hours-literally. With yummy pizza and "free refills" added on top of that, my kids would do about 500 chores for the chance at going there.  

Nice Place For Dinner During The Week

As most of you know, I have a couple of ridiculously adorable children. No, it's true. I'm not just saying that because I'm their mother. It actually is ridiculous how adorable they are. It should probably be illegal. Every now and then I like to do nice things for them, just because. Everyone likes surprises, right? I think that's a pretty good thing to remember as a mother. Surprises make people happy. And I think we all know that it's ideal to keep the children fairly happy, because their face holes emit some god awful noises when they're angry.  

Fun and Worry-Free!

As the parent of ONE child, I can tell you that there have been many times over the years that he has been BOOOOOORED with no one to play with. I stayed home with my son until he started kindergarten, and there were many afternoons during those first years that I just wanted a minute to think. To relax. To maybe have a few friends over and visit without being interrupted every four seconds. To let my kid play while I sat down and didn't worry about what he was getting into. Enter...Chuck E. Cheese's!!  

Friday Fun Day

This summer I have been doing "Friday Fun Day" with the kids every Friday. It is SO stinking hot in AZ, so the kids tend to get bored REAL fast. This way I have something for the kids to look forward to every week. We always try and go out and do something really fun. I don't usually spend a lot of money and we always have a great time. I have loved bonding with my kids and watching their relationship bloom. Some days we go to the pool or splash pad and other days we'll go to the zoo or Children's museum. Last Friday we decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese's. 

Need to be More of a "Fun Mom"

I have been thinking lately about the art of homemaking and how it relates to family life. And I have come to the conclusion that I need to be more of a “fun mom.” Yes, I read to my children, teach them to do chores, cook with them, drive them everywhere…but after vacation ended this summer I haven’t had a lot of time to play together with the kids. We have been on the go with various tennis and piano lessons, parties and other summer activities. In the last couple of weeks the time has slipped away for play. And I felt like we needed a few more of those moments before school started.  

I Love Chuck E. Cheese's

Even though it is almost September and we should soon be busting out our fall decor, those of us in Arizona are still experiencing triple-digit heat! And there is only so much you can do when the sun is dancing around the summer sky; swimming is a favorite of ours, but other than water activities, staying outdoors is not safe nor practical. Which is why I am always looking for ways to beat the heat indoors, and why I love Chuck E. Cheese's almost as much as my kids do!  

Let the Adventures and Fun Begin!

Last week, when the FedEx man arrived at our door, my children were thrilled for the thin envelope that arrived. You see, it was in the moment of opening the envelope that our Chuck E. Cheese's adventure (and fun!) began. (It was in that envelope that we received what we needed for several hours of fun at one of my kids' favorite places to go.) Of course, you probably won't have a FedEx man coming to your door with a card to go to Chuck E. Cheese's. That's okay. Usually in my house, the anticipation actually starts with me printing out some Chuck E. Cheese's coupons.  

There Are Tickets To Be Won!

I am an avid Sunday couponer, and one of the coupons that I get a lot are family meal deals at Chuck E. Cheese's. Even before this review opportunity came up, I had been saving the coupon every week for a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese. We finally had the chance to go as a family one night a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, it was totally worth the coupon! For $24.99, we got a large one-topping pizza, two fountain drinks, and 35 tokens. Which is just about perfect for our little family!  

Having As Much Fun As Our Son

I haven't been to a Chuck E. Cheese's since way back when, when it was Showbiz Pizza. Back then I remember the animatronic rock band, tons of fun arcade games, and pizza! The few times I got to go with my school when I was a kid, was like winning the lottery for me. Now that my son is older, and into arcade games, I wanted to share some of that same fun with him. So last Sunday, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese's for an afternoon of fun, games and pizza. 

Affordable and Fabulous

Last weekend we took our kids (5, 3, and 1) for their first visit to Chuck E. Cheese's for an end-of-summer family outing and they loved it! As soon as we walked in the door their faces had that I'm-so-excited-I-can't-be-still-or-stop-asking-if-I-can-play-RIGHT-NOW looks. I love that. The first thing you do when you go to Chuck E. Cheese's is get a little stamp on your hand. Everyone in our group got one and I didn't have any idea what it was for until I tried to go out to the car with Linus to get something we'd forgotten.  

Something for Everyone

I hadn't been to Chuck E. Cheese's in a long time. And by long, I mean the past 25-ish years! My last experience with Chuck E. Cheese's was in elementary school when my parents took me to play as a reward for getting good grades. A tradition I'd like to continue with my kids for sure! I was always so excited to play skeeball even though I sucked at it! Of course, I was on the kid end then, and I thought it was really fun. As an adult with a 3 and a half year old (or as a friend calls it, Threenager)...I wasn't sure.  

Such a Great Time

As we are wrapping up our Summer, we are trying to squeeze all of the last minute fun in before School starts! This includes going to one of our daughter's favorite places - Chuck E. Cheese's. Do you remember Chuck E. Cheese's growing up? Gosh - I do. It was one of my favorite places to go, I remember begging my Mom - absolutely begging her to take me to that wonderful place for kids where I could run around and have fun! Which make it no surprise to me that our children would love it just as much as we did.  

Celebrating the End of Summer

Chuck E. Cheese's has been around for as long as I can remember. I even have a Chuck E. Cheese's token from the year I was born. True story. As a child, Chuck E. Cheese's was my favorite place to eat (besides the place with the golden arches). The best part for me, was the dancing and singing bears. Do you remember them? I used to think they looked SO real! I also remember the fun mirrors and rides like these. I remember the seat belt being a lot looser though. It's good to know they're improving the safety of the rides.  

Family Fun

This weekend we had the chance to do some family fun! We were long overdue for quality time together and the girls soaked up every second of it. I have to admit, I'd never been to Chuck E. Cheese's before, and I really didn't know what to expect. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! We got there and everyone got stamped with a special number in invisible ink. The employee at the Kid Check area asked if I'd prefer Ella's stamp to be on a sticker instead of her skin and I quickly said yes. She told me she always asked for the babies and I was very impressed I got the option.