A CRAZY little outing!!

Yesterday after MOPS the boys and I decided that we would treat ourselves to a lunch outing. Of course, the top two contenders were Chic-fil-A and McDonald's due to the play areas which both venues offer. The McDonald's nearest our house was completely leveled last September and a brand new one reopened this past week so that was the boys #1 choice. I was curious to check out the new "digs" as well, so off we went. I am not exaggerating when I say that I had to circle the parking lot THREE times before I found a parking spot. It was like Christmas shopping all over again. I had to watch where people were heading as they left the restaurant and try to race other cars to get to the parking spot when it opened! I knew that the inside would be crazy, too, but we were really in no big rush and I knew that the boys really had their heart set on checking it out. Once we got inside the lines moved pretty quickly. It would have been better if I had not gotten behind the woman who needed to special order everything and ask lots of questions. I mean really, this is McDonald's. Most of the menu doesn't change much, so how many questions can one woman have? As luck would have it, after maneuvering through a busy counter and drink area with a tray of food and two little boys following along a family was leaving their table as we were walking by. We snatched that table up fast and sat down to enjoy our lunch. After we ate and the boys had a bit of time to explore the packed out new play area we decided it was time to head home. As we were heading home I asked Braden what he thought of the new McDonald's. He said, "The old slide was faster." My assessment was that the "adult area" seemed a bit small, but had more of the cozy coffee house experience with flat screened TVs, etc. that I am sure they were trying to create. The "kids" area had more seating area. The play area was almost completely see through which is a great feature for when you want to keep track of your kids without having to actually climb through the tubes yourself. In the end it is still McDonald's - a place that kids will love and mothers will tolerate from time to time for a bit of a sanity break!!