COVID-lyfe Chuck E. Cheese review: They're trying!

I'd promised Mal that I'd take him to Chuck E. Cheese today after his doctor's appointment (just a spoonful of sugar and all that jazz). I'd been following the emails explaining what they would be doing to try to mitigate spread of the coronavirus, and it didn't sound like it would be too imposing. The actual result is just a little sad, though.

First, I asked Malcolm which location he wanted to visit; there are two equidistant between the doctor's and our home. He chose the one where we had his 4th birthday party because it has his favorite game, where you get to be a truck driver and pull on the horn. Now, I DID know that they'd said they were going to close some games down to keep people distanced. I didn't think about that when Mal was getting so excited about one specific game.

We arrived just at the arcade opened, and immediately there was a problem (for me; probably not for you). If you read my previous post, you now know that I'd left my phone at home. Instead of doing the blacklight-visible stamp on each person's arm, to cut down on physical contact, they now have you take a selfie with your kid(s) so you can show it to them on the way out. Just as the lady was calling a manager to see what to do (answer: bracelets), I remembered that I had not one but two actual cameras in my purse. So we took a selfie and went in.

I was wearing a mask when I was interacting with an employee, but since there were only two other families (dad/son, mom/two kids), we were able to keep plenty of space between us and I did not when we were playing.

Mal cried when he saw that the truck game was one of the ones that got axed for social distancing. Then he HOWLED when he saw that the Caribbean pirates shooter game was also closed. I showed him that the Spongebob game was live, but when we activated it, it was SO LOUD that Mal ran away from it. Also, it wasn't working right, not registering "whacks" for points and therefore tickets.

I was about to ask if they could cancel my pizza order (a last cheese hurrah for Malcolm before the dark, dairy-free days ahead), when we saw Monkey Ball, another of Mal's favorites. We started to play it... AND IT WAS SO LOUD.

I asked the attendant if there was any way to turn the games down at all. She said there was not. There actually is; I've had employees do it for me before. Regardless... I went back out to the car to get Mal's headphones.

I don't know whether the games just seemed loud because so many were closed and the ambient noise was lower, or because we just haven't gone anywhere in three months, so we've gotten used to a more quiet life. Regardless, I could have used headphones.

The two-player games were all only working on one side (except for air hockey, since that would be pretty pointless).

When I realized this, we went back and looked at the Caribbean game. One side WAS open! Mal played that about 30 times.

After maybe 20 minutes, both other parties left, and it was just us inside of Chuck E. Cheese for about an hour and a half.

The playground areas were off-limits.

Anything was for more than one person and couldn't be halfway shut down was just closed altogether.

I do hope they'll keep the drink spacing this way for all eternity. I swear, no one's going to die of thirst if they wait fifteen seconds for the person in front of them to finish filling up those communion cups that Chuck E. Cheese gives out when you order a soda.

One weird thing: They didn't have any lids or straws out. I have straws, and they might give you a lid or a straw if you ask. But they weren't out. And the napkins aren't on the tables anymore; there are many fewer napkin dispensers and they're placed in a common area. I'm sure that saves time cleaning them. It's another thing I think would be great to keep permanently, even after we have a vaccine and this thing passes in seriousness fourteen years from now.

Chuck isn't making in-person appearances, which is fine with Mal. Mal is freaked out and hides from the mouse (rat?) every time. This location does happen to still have the old animatronic thing that did come to "life" a couple of times. They also played a KidzBop-style cover of "Sorry, Not Sorry" at least three times in the two hours we were there.

This Chuck E. Cheese is on the border of Austin and Round Rock; I'm not actually sure which one it is in. I'm guessing Austin? Anyway, Austin has recently passed a resolution that goes into effect I'm not sure when (maybe already) that masks are again mandatory in public. Although our illustrious governor has said that private citizens cannot be given citations or arrested or punished in any way for not wearing masks, he has now said that it's fine for businesses to require it and enforce the wearing of masks. And the city has said that if businesses are not enforcing it then THEY can lose their business licenses. This whole thing is bass-ackward. Some dude making $11 an hour at Chuck E. Cheese shouldn't be the one trying to get idiots like me to wear my mask except when I'm physically eating or drinking. If it's mandatory, then it should be, like, an enforceable law. It's an individual's responsibility, not a business's (for their employees? yes).

Regardless... just as we were cashing out our tickets to go, three or four families came in at once. The manager, who hosted Mal's birthday party, actually, came over to us with surgical masks and asked if we were going to hang out. I said no, and he said, "Okay, because you're going to have to wear masks now." I told him we had masks and put mine on. I didn't make Mal because, again, he wasn't talking to anyone or getting close, and we were on our way out. The guy was super pleasant.

I support wearing masks. I know that restaurants and bars are exempt from the mandate, but that's supposed to be after you've been seated. At Chuck E. Cheese, that's only like 1/5 of your time there. So I get it.

However, between so many games being closed and then the idea of having to be masked the whole time... it was just kind of not the full experience. We'll probably wait until that vaccine seventy-two years from now to go back to places like this. I also canceled our reservation for tomorrow for Urban Air. If they have to require all of their guests, including jumpers, to wear masks... meh. (I mean, also, it's likely that Mal's digestive stuff will be iffy tomorrow - see previous post - so that and trampolines don't mix.)

So, even though it's sweltering and indoor places to play would be nice, we'll stick to visiting family and playing in water until it's safe to get back out/in there.

Review: Clear Lungs Herbal Supplement

This is just a cut-and-paste is a review I left on Amazon, but I needed to share it with you! The link to the product, called “Clear Lungs” is here https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Lungs-Classic-Label-Capsules/dp/B00014CZV2: . You’re welcome. 

I'm one of those people that doctors constantly scold about over-using my Albuterol rescue inhaler. I do this because the maintenance asthma inhalers are ridiculously expensive, even on my insurance. So, though I'm typically skeptical of herbal solutions, between the effectiveness of Lysine when I feel a cold sore coming on and the strength of these reviews, I tried this.

I took it for a week and felt a little difference, but still had to use my inhaler twice a day (down from about 6 uses), first thing in the morning, and right before I went to bed. Otherwise, I was wheezing through the night. I decided to try to add back in a daily allergy pill (in this case, the CVS version of Zyrtec), which hasn't been effective as an asthma deterrent in the past. After a week, I wasn't using the inhaler on a daily basis, or even at all.

I have three cats, and I'm allergic to cats; I live in central Texas and between the "cedar" and other beautiful but pollen-rich greenery around here, every season is allergy season. But I'm able to do strenuous housework, go for a brisk walk, and even clean out the pigeon loft with the dusty straw and not require a puff to finish the task! It's amazing!

Two weeks ago, I went out of town for one night and forgot to take the pills with me. By the time I got home, it seemed too late in the day to take the pills, so I decided to wait and take them again the next morning. The following two days were BRUTAL. I sneezed, my chest seized up; it was actually WORSE than it had been before, or maybe that's what I had gotten used to? It took three days for the supplement and allergy medicine to build back up in my system, but now that I'm back on track, I'm NEVER going to miss another day again!

It's truly incredible!

Quick Thought About "Dumplin'" the Movie, a personal note

If you haven't watched Netflix's recent movie "Dumplin'", do yourself a favor and do. The most negative feedback I've read is that it's not as good as the book, and movies never are, so I waited to read it until I'd seen the film.

There is a lot to love about it. For me, the lion's share involved the portrayal of female friendships (mostly among high-schoolers). In almost every movie where you have an "outcast" (fat, nerd, jock girl, etc.) and then "normals," one or the other will be framed as basically evil, and one or the other will spend much of the movie plotting revenge or hating the other.

None of that in this movie. The main tension is between the title character and her mom, though there is some cursory idiot teen guy bullying (there are plenty of great guys in the movie, though; the jerks don't get much screen time or character development).

The young women in this movie are kind and supportive of each other. They might disagree, and even argue, but there is an underlying good will that pervades. I feel like this is a much more genuine picture of my experience with girlfriends.

But here is one thing that really struck me about the movie:

One of the story lines (not the main one) is of a male co-worker who is interested in the title character. He is conventionally good-looking, and straight-sized. The main character is also attractive, and is fat.

When it becomes obvious that he likes her and she sees a beauty-queen-type flirting with him, she becomes upset and tells him that they don't work "in the real world." She tells him that he should reasonably be with someone like the pageant staple girl (who, by the way, is an absolutely guileless character; not demonized at all, which, have I mentioned, I LOVE?!).

This was NOT my experience in high school.

I blame my lack of a real high school boyfriend on two things: I was fat (and, really, I wasn't *that* fat). I was not having sex. Maybe also that I'm a dork, but whatever.

I was never flummoxed when a guy liked me. I was always thrown off when a guy DIDN'T. No matter how many times it happened. No matter how consistent it was, and how much self-esteem-damage I had, and how much I hated my body. I was repeatedly crushed and incredulous when a guy in whom I was interested wasn't having it.

I seriously thought, "Do you KNOW me?! I'm super cool, and fun, and funny, and smart, and you'd love hanging out with me!" I might have felt like a flabby monster compared to my closest friends, but I KNEW I could hold my own in terms of personality and having so much to offer a relationship.

I am sure there are plenty of people who feel like Willowdean did: That if you look a certain way, you don't get the "Patriarchy Prizes" (h/t to Virgie Tovar). I'm very sad for those people, and am ready to build a world where this isn't the case. But for me, it never was. I always assumed I was worthy of love and respect and companionship. I'm going to credit my parents for that.

I've still spend a stupid amount of time in my life trying to diminish my body to fit into the ridiculously tiny box considered "desirable" by people who truly don't deserve my efforts. But somehow I've always seen that part of my struggle as separate from the person I am, who deserves good things just as much as my birthday twin, Cameron Diaz.

Are the "Must-Haves for Disney" Truly MUST-Haves? Our assessment...

Before our travel, I went through several lists of "must-haves" for a trip to Disney. Some things, like a Smart phone and a camera and a change of clothes for Mal, we would have taken even without outside forces hadn't suggested them. But I'm going to address a few things that we just didn't use at all, and a couple of things that were indispensable.

1) Plastic baggies of various sizes. USED THEM! A lot. We had clothes that needed to be rinsed out when we were out and about, and a couple of times had a left-over cookie (about which I forgot and which then got pulverized in my bag) or other snacks. Every day, I had two each of the gallon, quart, and sandwich-sized bags, and I used many. Just replenished at night at the hotel. Oh, we also used them for disposing of wipes (which we use, because it's easier to get a kid clean with wet wipes than just TP) so as not to stink up the hotel room. Recommend.

2) Ponchos. DID NOT USE. It rained every single day on our trip, the majority of which were when we were in the park and running around. Many people put on ponchos, wore them for 20 minutes, and then either had to stow them or toss them. I'd gotten very inexpensive disposable ones, because I didn't want to have to deal with folding them up and trying to tote them after if we did use them, but we did not. We actually left them in the hotel room because we ran out of room in our luggage. I hope someone was able to use them rather than their just getting tossed. Unless you're going when all day rain or severe storms are expected, don't bother. What we DID find useful...

3) Compact traveling umbrellas. USED! We each had these umbrellas that come in what looks like a glasses case. These aren't huge, but they'll keep your head and shoulders dry, and they dry out very quickly after use. They were easier to access and utilize, then stow again, than the ponchos would have been. Plus, you always get wet when you take a poncho off, right? The umbrella would also have been good to keep the scorching sun off, if you're there and not pushing a stroller. Now, I have one in my purse and one in my car for unexpected weather events. Recommend!

4) Portable phone chargers. DID NOT USE. I know, I know. "Everyone" says that your phone battery WILL die when you're in the middle of a Disney day. Mine never did. James's sputtered after he'd put it into a waterproof bag during the rain, and I think it overheated. But in terms of use, we just didn't use our phones enough to kill the battery on any day. I only got below 50 percent the day our a/c went out and I was using the Messenger app and texting a whole lot. I DID use My Disney Experience, and opened it often to check or change or add plans. But I shut it down when I wasn't using it, so it wouldn't run in the background and drain the battery. I also had all apps closed, including Messenger, for the same reason. I wasn't posting to social media or taking pictures with my camera in the park, so pretty much used it as a clock and for planning. We never waited in lines long enough to utilize Play, and we didn't do Agent P's in Epcot, then we were never in the parks more than about 7 hours on any given day, so we just did not need to recharge until we were back at the resort. We both have our chargers now, which might prove useful in the future. But we just did not need them at all when traveling. I certainly can see how you might, if you have a good phone camera and use it, plus post to Instagram, plus just leave the MDE app open and habitually turn to your phone in down times, etc. So use your judgement on this one.

5) Quarters and pennies for pressed penny machines. Sadly, DID NOT USE. My first kid would have blown through all $20 in quarters that I'd brought, but this kid was not too into the whole thing. He chose maybe 2 or 3 the whole trip. And you know what? When you have rolls of change in your carry-on luggage, the TSA's equipment can't tell what it is, and you have to let them go through your bag. Then when you don't use the change so you still have it at the end of your trip, they check it again! My purse is really heavy now. I suppose I could go to the bank and get paper money, but I never have change for the carhop at Sonic, so I guess I'll hold on to it.

6) My Disney Experience. USED A WHOLE LOT. Guys, I get that some people aren't planners. But I can only imagine that it's very difficult to tour Disney with a small child without at least a little bit of a road map. We used it a lot in the parks, to help us find bathrooms and such, and also to make new FastPasses and to verify times when we'd set other stuff up. But I used it and the Disney website at length before the trip. We'd set our dining reservations the day we were able to (180 days in advance) and, though I changed several around at the last minute, we could not have gotten in to Be Our Guest if I hadn't. And Tusker House was full fairly far out. We also set the maximum  number of FastPasses we were allotted 60 days in advance. Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey (which, to my surprise, was 115 minutes compared to FoP's 75 minute wait), and Slinky Dog Dash would have been impossible without the FastPasses, because I don't wait in lines for more than 20 minutes. Furthermore, we saw people on the elevators heading down to the pool who didn't realize our pool was under renovation until they got there. We talked to another family on the pool shuttle to the other side of the resort who said the same thing. I can't imagine not having that information before leaving, just to mentally prepare and have a plan. Disney gives you tools to help make your trip easier. I recommend using them!

Also, there were a lot of FastPasses we let lapse without using, because Mal wasn't up for it, or we didn't feel like whatever it was going to take to get there. One time, it panned out really well for us. I had made a FastPass for Goofy's Barnstormer, an exceptionally short kiddie coaster in Fantasyland, the night of the Halloween party. But we knew by then that Mal was not going to be ready for ANY coaster rides on this trip. Turns out they had to close it due to weather, and they gave us an "open" FastPass for anything from 5:30 PM until 9:00 PM that day or the next. I didn't see the free pass until much later, but we were able to use it to ride Test Track the next day, after having made our Tier 1 FastPass for Soarin' (you can only make advance passes for one of those two). So if you think, "I only need two at this park," just make one for the heck of it.

7) Another app I'd used before the trip, in conjunction with the website, was Lines by Touring Plans. My Touring Plans subscription really helped me decide when to go for sure, what days to hit which park, and to lay the foundation of how we'd make our way around the parks, by giving me an idea of how long it takes to walk from here to there, how long they expect the waits will be, and then how long the experience lasts. There's an app you can use to update plans in the park and to check actual wait times (which vary from posted wait times because Disney uses the wait times to direct traffic flow just as much as it does to kind of give you an idea how long you might have to wait). Well, after the second day, I deleted the Lines app from my phone. Once you had completed a step in your plan, you click "done" and it moves it off of the top, going on to the next item. OH MY GOSH, it takes forever to do that. Like 10 seconds or so. Which sounds like a petty grips, but when I'm trying to do it on the fly, and we've done 8 of the things... I really don't feel like waiting for my app to process everything. Definitely recommend the website and yearlong subscription. Maybe have the app for an outline of your plans, since MDE only has the FastPasses and meals? But I wouldn't plan on it helping too much in the parks, unless I was doing something wrong or had crappy hardware (it's a ZTE Axon, but other apps function fine on it).

8) Wipes. Yep, USED THEM. Ever since D was too old to need wet wipes for cleaning up after toileting so I didn't carry them anymore and then a pigeon pooped on D's dad's shoulder while we were waiting for the San Antonio River Walk boat to fill up so we could take off and a lady on-board with us had a wipe to give, I've thought that wipes are just a good idea to carry around, anyway. And with snacks like cotton candy and super melting Done Whips, wipes are a lot better than dry napkins. Recommend!

BONUS: I don't know whether this is on any lists, but we also utilized and loved the packing bags that act like vacuum bags, but you don't need a vacuum, you just press the air out with your weight. I suppose it helped us fit more into our small bags, but even if it didn't, I was able to organize clothes by days so unpacked several days at a time as we needed clothes and then pulled more out as we freed up hangers. Also, in case anyone had needed to go through our checked luggage, we wouldn't have had any cases of a pair of underwear falling out and getting left behind, or caught in the zipper, or anything. Maybe they did go through our bags. I have no idea. It was all tidy when we opened them.

BONUS THOUGHT ON THE DINING PLAN: As I mentioned, we got the dining plan for "free" ($300ish upgrade to make our park tickets Park Hoppers, which we never used) and, in that case, it was well worth it. There was a 25% discount on our room at the time, too, but financially, taking advantage of the free dining made more sense. Whether it makes sense to purchase the dining plan when it's not offered gratis (and rumors are that the gifting times are almost over) depends on several things. For instance, we had a table service meal for every night of our stay, or the equivalent as we skipped one day but ate at Jiko, which uses 2 table service credits as it's considered Signature Dining. In every case but the one I just mentioned, the tab for the three of us usually came to right at $140-150 before tip. The dining plan is roughly $75 per adult and $25 right now, and assuming the we ate other food throughout the day, it seems like, yeah, we'd easily spend $180 per day on food.

However, with the dining plan, you can get specialty drinks and, on table service meals, dessert. James might have splurged on a neat cider or something, but while I enjoyed the beverages I got, if we'd been paying out of pocket, I would have just ordered soda. Also, given how our child is about eating, there likely would have been several meal times when we would not have ordered him anything at all. And we were always full, so likely would only ever have eaten desserts as a snack, never to end a meal. So, on our own dime, we actually would not have spent quite so much on food. It was fun not to worry about how much a dish cost, and just go for it, though, so I can see the benefit of that. For our family, though, I would not purchase the dining plan. It was super fun stocking up on goodies to bring home at the end of the week when we hadn't used a bunch of credits, though!

Disney Pixar Cars Movies and Music, Entry 3 of 3

It's interesting: The third installment of Disney/Pixar's Cars franchise is easily my favorite. The soundtrack is probably my least favorite. One reason might be that for this outing, they didn't include the score, so the run time is only half an hour and a lot of our drives are that long or longer, so it feels even more repetitive.

Digressing a moment, Mal really enjoys listening to the scores. He wants to know the name of each movement, and then later when he plays those scenes at home, he also hums the score.

That's a couple of bars... repeated... from the final race scene in the first Cars movie (yes, he's playing with Cars 3 vehicles).

I would recommend Cars 3 to literally anyone, but it will pack the greatest emotional punch if you've seen the other two movies. It will pack maximum gut-wrenching if you've viewed the other movies multiple times and these are starting to feel like people to you, and how much longer until we move on to the next thing I think I'm going crazy

...

Where was I? Oh yes... Even as a stand-alone, this movie has very ambitious and relatable themes, especially to those of us of a certain age.

I'm going to digress AGAIN, because it seems like my wont this evening. I've read extremely disparaging reviews of Cars. One mentioned that the entire franchise is a victory of marketing over art. I think that art is subjective, but in my experience, Cars is every bit as emotionally-satisfying as, say, Toy Story, without being quite as "Hey! I'm tugging on your heart-strings right here! Feel it!" (And we won't talk at all about "Up," which I like, but good gravy.) And maybe I feel protective of it because my child loves it so much, but here are some things we've discussed because of the movies:

1) That "bad guys" aren't always "mean." He notices that ***no spoiler here*** is extremely personable throughout one of the movies, and asks me, "Is he a nice bad guy?" So we've gotten to talk about how people who have bad intentions can be charming and seem nice, but that doesn't mean they're good people.

2) Death. Oh, gosh, death. Probably because Paul Newman died, Doc Hudson dies between Cars and Cars 2. Mal has told me that Cars 4 is about when McQueen is dead, and Cars 5 is about when Sarge and Carla Veloso are dead. I've had to point out that Doc doesn't "come back," even though he makes appearances in the third movie. He's represented on old film and in McQueen's memory. Mal understands enough to know he doesn't want to die. He's asked about James's and my grandparents. He's being able to work through these scary and complicated issues because of a few animated films.

3) Concentration and frustration and anger are different emotions but might look the same on someone's face. This comes up from the way the cars look when they're really racing hard. There are times McQueen is having run racing, and his concentration is underlied by joy. But sometimes, he's just trying his hardest and it doesn't look great... Oh, also, somehow animators MAKE A VEHICLE HAVE THIS RANGE OF "FACIAL" EXPRESSIONS, so you can pipe down about "artless." Anyway, we've talked about how to think about a situation to try to figure out what a person (er, automobile) is feeling. In other words, empathy.

There are other things, like the scenarios he creates when he's playing with the toy Cars. Like he'll make good guys decide to be mean, or bad guys take a new lease on life and are kind. Or one car will give another one a pep talk to get them to do something they're scared of. Again, it's all play/work through some pretty deep experiences. I'm grateful to the franchise for those opportunities.

Back to the actual Cars 3 installment...

Lightning McQueen isn't as young as he used to was. He finds that the newer-generation cars are simply physically faster, no matter how hard he pushes himself. After a huge set-back that causes McQueen to miss out on the end of a racing season, he is faced with the reality that his career might be over, and has to decide where to go from there.

After having seen the movie once, going back and watching his training scenes and realizing what is actually happening... I'm seriously tearing up writing this. It is so simple and elegant and beautiful. The relationships that develop among several generations of cars throughout the story are hopeful. Comforting. The things McQueen learns about his mentor, and the end of his racing career... whooo. I can't. I can't talk about it. Let's move on.

Nathan Fillion is in the movie, too, so there's that.

I've seen reviews that talk about how this is an interesting examination of how aging athletes deal with their futures, but, I'm telling you, it's applicable to every career, to everyone. I can't say anymore because I'll spoil it.

This is too long for me to go into much detail about the soundtrack, so I'm just going to list it and then share my favorite song.

Kings Highway - James Bay
Truckaroo - Brad Paisley
Thunder Hollow Breakdown - Brad Paisley
Glory Days - Andra Day
Ride (feat. Gary Clark Jr.) - ZZ Ward
Drive My Car - Jorge Blanco
Freeway of Love - Lea DeLaria

The two songs by Paisley are instrumental, and a lot of fun. It's amazing how different "Glory Days" sounds from the 1980s song it covers. "Ride" is the one Mal started singing first, and he loves it best. I was skeptical of an Aretha cover, but "Freeway of Love" is pretty good.

My favorite song I have been unable to find a correct lyrics listing for anywhere online. But the parts that mean the most to me are at the beginning, when he speaks of feeling the "outstretched hands of time" with foreboding. Then he decides that he's going to be purposeful and do what he has to do, so everything changes. "I shake the outstretched hands of time." Then later, the bridge: "When I lay on my pillow at night, I think about what's still going right and thank the stars up above there's still things left that I love." <3 <3 <3 Same, man. Same.

When to Visit Kids' Spaces if You Have a Sensitive Kid

Twice now, we've made unfortunate timing decisions in visiting local kids' destinations.

First, last month, when school was still in session, we tried to visit the Austin Aquarium on a Friday (May 11, specifically) at about 10:30 AM. Oh my goodness. Well, we waited in line while two field trip groups checked in, then bought our admission, and went into the first room.

Cool cool... but no sooner had we looked at this first tank when a whole school group came in and circled one of the displays. A tour guide with a mic and speaker started talking to them, and Mal ran for the gift shop. It was SO LOUD.

We hung out in the gift shop for a few minutes, but the spiel didn't seem to be winding down, so we decided to go in the "exit" side of the loop to see what we could see there.

See these fish? This is how it felt. Unfortunately, we found that every single display area: sting rays, sharks, these guys, the birds, etc. had a school group so kids were packed in with no room for us to look at anything. Also, more guides with more amplification systems.

I'm not overly-sensitive to noise, but the volume both in terms of sound and of people nearly made me cry with panic. There was no way to navigate the space in a stress-free way.

Finally, I appealed to the admissions desk, who told me my admission was good for the whole day, and I could come back. When I explained that I had afternoon plans, they were gracious enough to give me two tickets to come back another time. 

I've learned that if this is what we see outside of a venue, we might as well keep driving.

Incidentally, that was two of four ISD buses, and there were at least four day care/private schools there, as well.

Our intent is to try to go back next Monday, after 3 PM. Google has a great feature that is hopefully accurate. We're going to test it and will let you know.

We do have reason to be skeptical, however.

Because today we tried to go to Mt. Playmore for the first time. We got there at about 11:15. Good. Gravy. Okay, first, here's what Google says about Saturdays.

Which is why we never do any of these things on the weekend.

And here's what it said about today.

No. Maybe that was just during the school year and they haven't had a chance to factor in that it's summer.

There were HUNDREDS of kids there. So many kids in matching T-shirts, part of schools or summer camps or day cares. And then there's a reptile show on Wednesday, so that lady had her, of course, mic and speaker up loud to talk over the hubbub. Then we got there at around lunch time, and a bunch of the child care people were trying to get kids out of the play structures and over to the eating area for lunch, so they were walking around YELLING AT TOP VOLUME into the tubes to get the kids out.

GOOD LORD NO GET ME OUT OF HERE.

So we cheated a little.

There's an area called Kiddie Kanyon that has contradicting signage regarding the height limit. Several signs say 42 inches (we're good there, but barely) and several say 36 inches. Thing is, there's a measuring stick that SAYS 42 inches, but it's at the 36 inch height, because it was much shorter than Mal, who is probably right at 40.5=41 inches.

Regardless, the toddler area wasn't busy, and they do allow bigger siblings, and it was quieter in there, so we happily killed enough time to make the $6.95 combined admission not seem like such a waste in there.

We plan to go back to here literally never, as it's 35 minutes away on a low-traffic day, and if we're driving that far, we're just going to go to Catch Air, which is HUGE but somehow manages not to be overwhelmingly loud, and is much cleaner and more imaginative in the general play area. (This toddler area is a lot more decorated and fun-looking than the general play area, which I did not photograph because I was running away as fast as I could.)

Another fun facet about our trip to Mt. Playmore is that the girls' restroom was out of order. They had two single-family-use family restrooms, but that was it. So when Mal needed to go and the family rooms were occupied, I sent him into the boys' alone. He emerged a few moments later having not gone and generally freaked out. I'd seen the only kid I'd seen walk in come out, so I just marched into the guys' room with Mal and helped him use the urinal. When we walked out, a kid waiting in a LONG line for the water fountain said to another kid, "Look! That girl and that lady just came out of the boys' bathroom."

I have two bonus thoughts to add: If you decide to go to Catch Air in the Austin area, the one in Round Rock is larger, quieter, and seems better maintained than the one on Anderson Mill. There's a lot more to do, and neater options in Round Rock.

Also, I get a little weird feeling in my stomach when I see kids all dressed the same and waiting in lines for literally 10 minutes before they can change activities and who are involved in loud, constant activity. I know it's summer and they're out of school and parents work, and I'm glad there are options for kids to get out and do stuff... but, man, it was overwhelming for us for an hour. I can't imagine either of my kids being able to handle that for hours a day all summer long.

I'm sure not all kids are as sensitive to stimuli as mine are; I think it's rubbing off on me, because it not only makes me nervous for them, it's starting to stress me out of my own accord!

If you have sensitive ones like I do, I've found that once people start getting ready for lunch, public kid spaces clear out a little. So at about 12:30-1. Then again, after 3:30ish when day cares need to get their kids back, and families are heading home to plan dinner. We just have to remember to plan to get out and about then instead of doing things earlier in the day.

Here's to a peaceful summer!

Kemah Boardwalk, Space Center Houston, Microtel, and a spacey McDonald's

Greetings from Nassau Bay/Clear Lake City!

About a month ago, a lady posted to an unschooling group that she was wanting to visit Space Center Houston, but that tickets were $30 per adult. She said if she could get a group of 20 people together, it'd just be $10 per ticket... so we jumped on it. Now, we also decided to make a weekend of it, book-ending the discounted day with nights at a hotel, so we did spend more than $60 total, but we really needed a little family getaway! It's been about a year and a half since our last trip. Our teenager stayed home to cat- and house-sit, which also saved us some money.

First, we headed out from west of Austin at our own leisurely pace. We visited Brenham first, stopping by the Funky Art Cafe to get lunch to take to a park. I'm glad we had planned on picnicking, because that place was PACKED!

The famous pumpkin burger, vegetarian. From the menu: pumpkin, wild rice, corn, jalapeno, cilantro, & jack cheese; served on a whole wheat bun with chipotle sour cream spread, avocado, lettuce & tomato.

The Don't Knock It Until You've Tried It wrap, also veggie. A wrap "dressed with savory tahini poppy seed spread then filled with roasted sweet potato cubes, avocado, red onion, shredded jack cheese, lettuce & tomato,"

Those were both ridiculously good. If you're taking out, I highly recommend calling in your order. It took about 20 minutes for our food to be prepared. TOTALLY worth the wait, but we ended up spending $30 on a construction utensil and plate kit at the adjoining specialty store.

We ate and then played at Fireman's Park in Brenham. Lots of fun stuff to do. We happened to hit it just as a school group (three buses worth) was finishing up lunch, but we got to play on the playground alone for a bit before sharing.

You can't visit Brenham without visiting Blue Bell, so we did. They don't offer guided tours like they used to (before the listeria thing), but you can still look out from an observation window at the packing area, and you can get a very generous scoop of ice cream for $1.

We had one more obligatory stop before we reached our destination:

We checked in to our hotel which is, I guess, in Nassau Bay. The address is Houston. We're RIGHT across the street from Space Center. But I'll get to that in a bit.

After we got our bags to the room and settled in, Mal and I took a trip across the parking lot to CVS for some sundries while James heated his knees. Then we were ready to drive out to Kemah for the evening.

We went on a Thursday night, and it just wasn't too busy. There was a sign that said "free parking under the bridge; free shuttle" but we parked literally right beside the roller coaster, and we didn't pay anything.

Mal was super excited to be at the Gulf of Mexico, and beside himself while we waited in line for tickets to a few of the rides. He was less excited when we started to board the Century Wheel, but he ended up liking it a lot.

He liked the Hypnospin (aka Tilt-a-Whirl) SIGNIFICANTLY less, crying most of the time we had the most fun, i.e. spinning like crazy. Later, I think it was because he'd hit his head, but he was coping with the stimuli by tilting his head to put his hand over his ears, and that just makes the spinning worse. But there's no explaining that to a hysterical 3-year-old.

Once we got back onto the boardwalk, he was pure joy again, dancing to the "beautiful music" and chasing seagulls around.

This playground just behind Flying Dutchman is great. Super soft ground, and plenty for little kids and bigger kids. Mal burnt off steam before and after dinner.

The entire boardwalk is pretty much owned by Landry's, and the Aquarium Restaurant is part of it. The prices weren't overblown, and the food was really delicious. I got grilled shrimp tacos, and James got Cajun tilapia with shrimp, crawfish, and scallops. Mal got macaroni and cheese, and even though fries aren't listed as a side dish for kids' meals, they have "fish and chips" on the menu, so we asked for them.

There is plenty to keep a kid visually occupied while waiting for food, plus they bring you some delicious, mushy soft sourdough slices with soft butter. 

As we left the boardwalk, which was pretty much shuttered except for the rides by 8:30, we were able to give our three unused tickets (which Mal would not deign to use for one more thing, lest it was terrifying) to three tween boys in line waiting to get their own tickets. They were pretty excited.

Now I'll tell you about the Microtel. It's located literally across the street from the Space Center. In fact, here's a zoomed-in picture from our room's window.

For comparison, here's a zoomed-in picture of our hotel from the second level of the Space Shuttle tower.

We had breakfast included in our stay price, which was just at $100 per night for a mini-suite. Breakfast options included Texas-shaped or "half dollar" waffles, bagels, English muffins, toast, muffins, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee, instant oatmeal, and cereal... but ponderously no milk to be seen. It might be that they run out of stuff and just don't restock.

We realized that this is the perfect place to stay if you're taking a little kid who might tire out to the Space Center. By midday, when Mal was done, James just walked back to see more stuff while I stayed with our child. Then James walked "home" and I spent a couple more hours at Space Center.

There is a small outdoor pool, a (very busy) Luby's and a CVS right in the same parking vicinity. There are plenty of restaurants around, both chains and local places. And I'll get to that in a moment, too. So, our impression of the Microtel Houston is a positive one.

We were able to walk over and get some pictures we wouldn't have gotten from the car. Then we met our contact and entered right as Space Center was opening. The lines look daunting at 10 AM, but people process quickly through security and disburse through the building. The same cannot be said for parking, which seemed to have a constant line until about 3:00 PM (the center closed at 5 PM the day of our visit).

Most important tip: If you want to do the tram ride, queue up for that immediately upon opening. Space Center used to do "timed tickets," where you'd reserve your ride. They have stopped that within the past month, so it's first-come/first-served. James tried to get in line at 1:20 and was told that he was too late for the last shuttle tour, which was to leave at 3:00 PM. Who wants to spend two hours of their day in line for a 90 minute tram tour?!

So get there early if you want to see "backstage."

If not, the first place you should head is Independence Plaza, which is the big Boeing airplane with the "high fidelity" Space Shuttle mock-up, Independence. We toured it at around 10:50, and when I went back alone to review a couple of exhibits, it was standing room only. I couldn't move around freely, but had to be herded with the crowd. So if you're planning to take time and really enjoy this exhibit, and I think that the interactive elements here are much better than the ones in the kids' area inside (and less beat up!), the morning definitely beats 3:00 PM.

Here are some highlights from our morning.

Midday, we just walked practically next door to a cool space-themed MdDonald's.

There's an Indian fusion place next door, between McDonald's and Space Center, where my husband got a veggie burger to go and just brought it to McD's, where our kid blew off some steam in the play area.

Walking to lunch is a great way not to have to pay $5 to reenter the parking lot, if you decide you don't want to eat whatever they're serving at the center. Also, you can't take food inside of Space Center, but they have a lot of picnic tables outside, so you can keep food in your car and eat on the cheap.

This was when Mal decided he wanted to go back to the hotel and chill. James walked back to the center and we walked "home." Then a couple of hours later, the grown-ups traded places.

Final thoughts: If you like space, you can easily spend a whole day, especially in this slower period when they're only open 10-5, at Space Center. Getting our tickets for a third of the price probably helped us feel like we were having a great time at a bargain, and actually the picture at the top of this post cost more than our entire entry did (because Mal is 3 and was free). And, yeah, I know his eyes are closed and there is hair in his face, but immediately before and after the photographer snapped this picture, my son had his finger in his nose, so this was the premium take.

I can't believe some people made this a day trip from Austin, and I'm glad we didn't have to.

Review: Hot Dog on a Stick Veggie Dog and CHEESE DOG

We were at "the failing Lakeline Mall," to borrow a phrase, today. It was the first time we've visited since the Disney Store closed, and we learned today that the only other toy store there is going to close soon, too. There are so many more empty storefronts than there were before Christmas. A lady at the Round Rock outlets Cinnabon said the mall was really struggling; they *just* opened up a new AMC theater, but maybe it's just not bringing people into the mall itself.

However, there was bright spot in our trip, besides just the hanging out with my kiddo. I haven't gotten Hot Dog on a Stick in decades, probably since I left Arkansas and used to get corn dogs at Central Mall in Fort Smith.

Two items on their menu that I'm sure were not available 20+ years ago caught my eye: a veggie dog, and a cheese dog with the choices of American or Pepper Jack cheese. Also, they have a "2 for $5.55" menu which includes them both, as well as a couple of other offerings. Individually, the dogs would have been a bit over $3.50 each, so it was a no-brainer.

Of course, they batter the dogs and fry them on the spot. This was the cheese dog. I notice that although they don't wear the ridiculously tall hats anymore, they do have them available for the children.

This kid was just coming out of a spin when I took this. The hat apparently makes him do circles.

Chow time! The cheese dog, I opted for American, is on the left. Use the process of elimination to locate the veggie dog.

Both had a satisfyingly crunchy outer shell. There was extra batter on the cheese, which I am sure is so it wouldn't explode in the fryer. I tried making fried cheese a few weeks ago, and it was a disaster. The cheese here stayed fully contained. I'm guessing they use something akin to Velveeta, because the cheese was molten, even when it wasn't super hot.

The veggie burger was good; I don't think there's much sense in using a stellar hot dog for a corny anyway, since it's all about the batter and frying, but this one held up nicely to the expected corn dog flavor.

But the one I'm going to be dreaming about until I can go back and get another was this cheese dog. It was perfect. Kind of how you want mozzarella sticks to be, but they often aren't because people don't cook them long enough and the cheese stays hard so the coating falls off. Not here. The coating is actually the structure, and because the American cheese doesn't have a super strong flavor profile, you can really enjoy the salty sweet crunch of the cornbread batter.

Hopefully I'll get to enjoy at least one or two more before time runs out. Delicious.