Family Fun Night: Charles F. Cheddar

Weird title? Yes. But I was trying to think of a spin-off name for this. =)

I was pretty pumped about this theme, which was inspired by one of the items I scored for free at the recent toy swap I coordinated. I had never seen a toy version of this fun arcade game, so I snatched it up at the swap. That game was the catalyst for the rest of the evening. We also did two other games: timed basketball shooting (30 seconds to see how many times you could score while standing behind a marked line) and animal bowling (using a little set we already have).
Eric's brother, Ryan, joined us for the evening (that's him above), which added to the fun. However, I endured some teasing from both brothers for my enthusiasm about the details! Eric, for example, said at one point, "I definitely married Monica's sister!" Thanks--that's a compliment!

We kicked things off with (What else?) pizza, and then I gave each of the 4 players 3 tokens--one for each of the three games mentioned above. I did a practice run of each game in advance to come up with a little scoring system, because they earned tickets based on how well they did. (Obviously, the games were modified for Natalie, but she did quite well!)

After everyone competed in the games, I had one more activity for them while I set up the prize area: I hid some pieces of candy in a box filled with balls, and each person took a turn (blind-folded!) at digging through and finding a treat. As for the prizes, I had fun coming up with a set of kid and adult prizes I hoped they'd all enjoy.
For the kids, I found 5 books/toys that I've been saving. Some were gifts, and I found the map puzzle for a dollar last year. For the guys, I bought a few things I thought they'd both like. The cake mix and cereal include a coupon for me to make that treat upon their request, so of course, those were the first prizes to go! =)

We finished the evening off with a special dessert of mud and worms, which was obviously a big hit, as was the rest of our time. I think this night will become an annual tradition!