Sun!

It stopped raining! We had sun! I took the kids out to the playground and went bike riding with them - and not a moment too soon. Last night they were feeling so cooped up that I made a mistake I don't usually make. Chuckie Cheese. Free to enter, and there are a few free things to do, but everyone had apparently had the same social breakdown and brought their children to the overheated noise pit. I could not hear myself talk. For those of you who have gone clubbing, it's like clubbing for the underage. The other children were climbing on the whack-a-mole and basketball toss games. Big kids were blocking the plastic tubes that others were trying to crawl through. In general, there was a sense that instead of a place where a "kid can be a kid", it was "where a kid can get away with murder". I held my tongue for the most part, because this is also a location where police have been called to break up fights between parents. Like I said, going there is a mistake that I don't usually make.
After about 45 minutes I had had my fill and tried to round up the munchkins, which was nearly as loud as the rest of the place when Daniel protested leaving. I had to carry him, while Catie was screaming "But we didn't see Chuckie!!!".
So you can see, I'm grateful for sunshine and the opportunity to play outside. I'd take that any day over Chuckie Cheese.