Friday field trip: IT'Z Family Food & Fun

Bubby is a big fan of the pizza and game room restaurants, the kind featuring food and fun geared to the younger set. One such center Bubby doesn't have in his home state is IT'Z Family Food & Fun. So while he and Mac visited Gramma and PawDad earlier this summer, we chose to visit IT'Z rather than the local location of the chain he frequents at home.

It's unfortunate there isn't an IT'Z location in Bubby's state as it is now his very most favorite of the pizza/gaming centers. In fact, Bubby loved IT'Z so much that when he received a child's digital camera from Aunt B days after our afternoon at IT'Z, we had to make a special stop at the center just so Bubby could capture a picture of the awesome spot on his camera, to remind him of the fun place he loved when he returned home.

And there's plenty to love at IT'Z. First off was the food. Pan after pan of varied pizzas—Bubby's favorite food in the world. Plus, there was an extensive salad bar, a pasta bar with mac & cheese for Mac, and a dessert bar featuring not the usual soft-serve ice cream but three different kinds of slushies (which Bubby had), crispy bars (which Mac had), and other goodies more likely to please an adult palate (like the cherry cobbler I had).

Bubby and Mac enjoyed their pre-gaming lunch in the brightly colored dining area, which had one big-screen TV plus a couple smaller ones, all playing the Cartoon Network. I'm not sure if it was the eating in front of a humongous TV or a testament to the quality of the pizza, but Bubby ate three whole pieces of pizza—quite a feat for a finicky kid who typically announces "My belly's full" after just a few bites of anything, including his fave food pizza. Good stuff, for sure.

The good stuff continued with what took place in the game room, where we took our time spending the $15 worth of tokens on the game card we purchased with the meals. There were plenty of rides for little ones on up to big ones (a few rides Bubby wasn't tall enough to ride), games for little ones on up to big ones, plus a soft play area with slides and a bouncy house and more, there was no shortage of fun for Bubby and Mac to choose from.

IT'Z was a fantastic deal, costing around $30 total for the unlimited food and drinks and fun for Bubby, Mac, PawDad and me. We spent nearly three hours at IT'Z, making the cost per hour of fun one of the best bargains I've come across.

Turns out IT'Z can be an even better bargain on Tuesdays, when they offer $2.99 all-you-can-eat buffets and $.99 drinks. Considering how great the pizza was—and that you can choose to enter only the dining room and forego the gaming room—I have a feeling PawDad and I will be visiting there without grandkids on a Tuesday sometime in the near future.

In addition to the fun and value IT'Z offers, they seem to be a caring company that makes a positive difference in the community. When the Waldo Canyon Fire displaced thousands of Colorado Springs residents and burned nearly 350 homes, IT'Z offered a completely free evening of fun for all those affected by the fire. I have no doubt those kiddos and their parents appreciated the diversion and enjoyed IT'Z just as much as Bubby and Mac did.

Interested in visiting IT'Z Family Food & Fun? Find details on locations—in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado—on the IT'Z website.

Today's question:

Which would you be most happy to fill your plate from—a pizza bar, a salad bar, or a dessert bar?

The cheese on my pizza

var linkwithin_site_id = 103414; When I first learned I'd be a grandma, I knew my new grandbaby would take possession of huge chunks of my heart. 

I also knew the baby would command my reserves of physical energy -- for hugging and rocking and playing and dancing and ... Well, you get the picture.

What I didn't know was how much of my mind the grandbaby would take over, how much of my thought process would be consumed by the little one. But since Bubby's arrival in the summer of 2008, I think about him all the time.

I never expected this. I was never told by other grandmas about the mind-jacking the little munchkins perform. I never read about it in any books of grandmother tips/advice/lore I consulted.

But Bubby is always on my mind. Always.

When I hear a song on the radio, I imagine bopping around with Bubby. When I cook up some sweets or try out a new recipe, I wonder if Bubby would like it. When I'm at the craft store, I seek out crafty things he might want to do. When I'm out and about, I see things I'd like to point out to him: the deer, fox, squirrels, dogs in the neighborhood; the great big truck (he loves trucks!) that just drove by; the loud airplane overhead; the sweet and squishy Valentines Day stuffed animals in the stores.

I think of him all the time.

I'm not crazy. Honest. I do think of other things. I work, I read, I sing, I write, I engage in a few not-so-grandmotherly activities (I'm talking shots and such here, folks -- get your mind out of the gutter). I do have room in my little peabrain for thoughts other than those of Bubby.

But, like I said, Bubby is always on my mind -- just not always top of mind. He's always right there, sometimes just below the surface of more pressing thoughts, waving and saying "Hey Grandma (or Graya)! I'll just be over here, smiling and dancing and playing my harmonica while I wait for you to come out and play."

(Okay, I admit, I do sound a little crazy.)

I've tried to think of an analogy for the way Bubby has taken up residence in my mind. A way to express how he's sometimes the only thing I'm thinking about; other times he just makes whatever else I'm thinking about more interesting ... or at least more manageable. But I suck at analogies -- and metaphors and similes and all those other "writerly" things that a writer should know -- and the only thing I could come up with is cheesy. Literally.

Here's my analogy: Bubby is the cheese on my pizza. Sometimes he's the only thing, the most important thing, the tastiest thing on my mind and in my life. My cheese pizza.

Other times I have a topping or two -- an idea or two, an experience or two ... say, a ham and pineapple sort of life, enhanced by the cheese. I love the ham, I love the pineapple, but it's made even better by the cheese on top of it.

And during the very best of times, I have a meat-lovers supreme pizza with extra onion and green pepper (hold the mushrooms). Lots of flavor, lots of good things going on. Mmmm. mmmm, mmmm. But most important of all, those supreme pizzas demand extra cheese. The topping that tops all others. The special addition that makes it the best pizza ever. Loads of ooey, gooey cheese.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Yep, silly analogy or not, Bubby -- who makes everything more palatable, more enjoyable, more knock-me-down-filled-to-the-brim-with-love -- is definitely the cheese on my pizza!

Today's question:

What's YOUR favorite kind of pizza?