The calling....

of the CLAW!!!

Okay, you can totally Laugh Out Loud right now because I definitely am.

It's funny how this little machine filled with the junkiest stuffed animals and toys EVER can provide so much laughter in this house.

Going waaaaay back, I mean BACK....to our college days at good old SIU-C and walks through the "mall" (back before noteworthy stores first made their appearance), Jason used to say that I couldn't pass up a turn on one of those gumball type quarter machines that sit in the middle of the walkways. Every time we'd pass them Jason would quietly chant, "Feed Me.....Feeeed Meee...." knowing that the machine would definitely get fed with any loose change I had. We'd stop, I'd drop in a quarter or two, pop the gumball in my mouth, and we'd laugh pretty much the remainder of our "mall" stroll....it really got to be quite comical...

Well, 15 years later, we still get to laughing at those silly machines and, especially now that we have kids, Jason has been one to succumb to the calling of each and every CLAW machine we walk by. It's funny because all my life I've thought that those machines were rigged to NEVER let anyone win (at least that's what I always told myself as I walked away empty handed), but since meeting Jason and watching him work his magic with those machines, my mind has completely done a 180. I can count on ONE hand the number of times Jason HASN'T won something....he ALWAYS seems to win and the kids ALWAYS get the biggest kick out of it. (Secretly, you must know that Jason and I do too!!!)

The "prizes" usually end up falling apart before the kids get a chance to play with them and I'm usually sewing animal parts back on within the first 2 hours of ownership. Items that have survived always seem to make great "give-a-ways" on our garage sale days and/or find new homes after being donated. It's not too much of a stretch to say that they really aren't worth the dollar or two that ends up in the machine, BUT the laughs, smiles, giggles, and fun we get in return are definitely PRICELESS......

Today, on our first day of Spring Break, we dodged the rain and headed to a pizza/game joint ready to use up Groupon vouchers the kids had gotten back on Valentine's Day.

Needless to say....many laughs and fun times were had around this machine, which is obviously the LARGEST claw machine and Jason's little own slice of heaven.....

And, in case you are wondering, YES, he beat this one as well. I'm not joking about him somehow being able to defy the Claw Machine odds....if only he had done this well on our Vegas trip a while back!!!

Trey also managed to hit the 1,000 ticket jackpot himself....(Which he excitedly traded in at the prize counter for two mini basketballs, two animal buddy punching bags, and four Fun Dips. Two or more of everything = plenty to share with his little sis!!)

Miss Ty had the most fun in the Go Karts and climbing up and down on the game stools. (Of course, Miss Tay "Ooooh-ed and Aaaahhhh-ed," spent the time watching the bright lights, and cruised around in the stroller...which she loves and just happens to suit her cute, little, ONE year-old self quite perfectly!!!)

What a fun, rainy, Spring Break day.....remembering old memories and making new!!!