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Chuck E Cheese Coupons verses Just Going to CiCi’s For Even Cheaper

October 5th, 2011

Here is a CiCi’s coupon good until Oct 9 2011: Click here

Chuck E Cheese pizza in Tyler is one of those places many believe Tyler is so lucky to have. I have been to Chuck E Cheese in 2011 5 times so far and this has been 5 times too many. When I was a child living in Wichita Falls Texas my parents pretended the place was not even there and I totally understand why. Now as an adult I feel like sound pollution from this pizza place is a form of torture but yet I still take my kids here sometimes because I know they love it but yet they love the Chick Fila kids play area and the Cici’s arcade just as much. So why do I or any of us have to be tortured by the big mouse robot? Honestly the mouse is pretty cool but like I said the noise is too much for even my son. If you are one of those that likes this loud kids arcade you can save a lot of money by getting their online coupons but you can get by cheap and still have fun at Cici’s too with coupon even.

If you want Chuck E Cheese coupons just go straight to their website as they offer them right there. You don’t even have to print the coupons as you can pull it up on your phone and show the employees from your phone as we have done this numerous times.

For a better idea why not save money instead by choosing Cici’s pizza. The pizza is better, it is not as loud, and kids under 3 eat free.

As a kid I loved the mouse and I often got confused regarding if the robot mouse was alive and just very still because he would sometimes roam around greeting kids. As an adult I am not confused about Chuck E Cheese, I know what mouse is robot and what mouse is a pizza guy. I still love the mouse but I don’t like how loud and crazy it is.

The only downside to going to CiCi’s is not having a robot mouse and greeter and not having the awesome playground area. I think your kids will still have a lot of fun going to CiCi’s instead as I have seen no complaints from my nieces, nephews, and my own kids.

If you must still go to Chuck E Cheese you can access their coupons on your phone here: http://www.chuckecheese.com/coupons/ You must select your city and click on Submit or simply use the coupons from the Tyler Texas area…they should work pretty much anywhere: Tyler TX Chuck E Cheese Coupons

Memories of Brookshires Grocery Store in Tyler Texas

December 7th, 2010
Downtown Tyler TX Brooksires Grocery Store

Brookshires Grocery in the 1920's

As a  child in the 1950’s, we used to spend the whole Summer with my Grandparents in Tyler.  My Mom grew up there.  I have wonderful memories of Tyler, but part of it is when my Grandparents or Parents would take me and my cousins to shop at Brookshire’s!

Having no air conditioning at their house, we LOVED the cold air and floors there!  Back then we used to go  barefooted, and the cold floor felt WONDERful!  (I don’t know if kids do that now)   Our special treat was to each be able to pick out a comic book if we were good, and my Grandma taught us to each pick out a DIFFERENT one so we could trade and read 3 different ones!

Even though I lived in Brooklyn, NY, and my cousins lived in LA, California, we loved that time of year when we would live as one Family together in my Grandparents’ house on the State Park Highway, and play with our Texas cousins for the whole Summer!!!  What a wonderful world it was for me…to this day, I feel that it was “therapeutic” as I was growing up, and I hope to go back one day.  Cheryl

Brookshires Grocery Store Olden Days

Brookshire's Tyler Texas 1940

Finishing My Nielsen Ratings Poll… Sort of

November 17th, 2010

About a week and a Half ago I wrote about my participation in the Nielsen ratings poll this fall. I have to say, at the risk of coming off as lazy or forgetful, that I found it somewhat difficult to keep up, particularly when it came to my son’s viewing. As a single parent I often to rely on Nick Jr. to entertain the boy while grade papers, do homework, clean the house or write, (which by the way is exactly what’s happening right now). Now before all you perfect parents out there tisk, tisk me for using TV as a baby sitter, understand that I’m not hiding in my study somewhere. I’m at least in the same room. I just can’t always name the all the half hour shows he’s watched in the last two hours. And this is really the problem I’ve had with the ratings method. It requires me to keep a log of what I / we’ve watched on one particular TV. The poll actually ended a few days ago and I have yet to fill in a couple of days. Will I be able to remember everything we watched? Absolutely not! I’ll do my best but the Nielsen group will just have to make do with partial information.

I still think it’s a good idea for good people with discriminating standards to participate in the polls as much as possible. And as I’ve stated in my previous article, I’ve never been asked to take part in this poll before so I feel a bit like I’ve missed an opportunity to express an opinion. Hopefully there are others in the Tyler community who will do a better job than I did of expressing and reflecting what it is East Texans want to see on television. To read my original piece on the ratings system, look for the title Participating in the Nielsen Ratings, located elsewhere on this site. For more information on the Nielsen Company visit the following website: http://en-us.nielsen.com/content/nielsen/en_us/industries/media.html.

Tyler, Texas Commercial Properties

November 3rd, 2010

 

Tyler TX Commercial Real Estate Properties

Tyler TX Commercial Real Estate Properties

Moving your business to eastern Texas can be a daunting task.  Thankfully, real estate professionals can help you as you look for Tyler, Texas commercial properties.  Tyler is a booming town with a wide variety of people; those who enjoy the arts, senior citizens, parents who have chosen Tyler for its excellent school systems, and university students all call Tyler home.  Aside from Tyler residents, many tourists flock to the town each year for vacation.

Find a real estate agent by searching for Tyler, Texas commercial properties on sites such as TylerTXHomeSearch.com.  Talk to several until you find one that you feel you can work closely with.  Your Realtor will be able to walk you through the process of obtaining a commercial loan, will show you properties that meet your specifications and may be able to give you tips and advice on what types of people frequent which neighborhoods in Tyler. It is best to find an agent that specialized in one particular part of town as they will know everything there is to know about the location you are considering.

Whether you are hoping to open a hotel for tourists, a diner for young families and college students, a sports store for active adults or an arcade for children, you can be successful in Tyler.  With such a wide variety of available Tyler, Texas commercial properties, you are sure to find something suitable for your chosen business.  Soon you can be one of the many who call Tyler, Texas home.

Brookshire’s World of Wildlife Museum & Country Store

September 28th, 2010

Brookshire’s World of Wildlife Museum & Country Store

1600 W.S.W. Loop 323 and Old Jacksonville Highway

Tyler, Texas

(903) 534-2169

www.brookshiresmuseum.com

Since the Caldwell Zoo started charging admission there just aren’t a whole lot of places in Tyler that are both fun for the whole family and free. You could go to the park, I suppose, but that’s more fun for the kids than the parents and besides who wants to hang around outside when the temperature is into triple digits for most of the summer. But at least there is one place left in Tyler that can interest both adults and children, has air conditioning, and is free – Brookshire’s World of Wildlife Museum & Country Store.

Brookshires World of Wildlife Museum

Brookshires World of Wild Life Museum

Our family has been to Brookshire’s Wildlife Museum several times now and we have always enjoyed it. When you enter the building you just sign your name in the guest registrar book and your good to go. There is always a friendly lady around the front to greet visitors and to answer any questions you might have. Then you can begin your tour of the place. The Brookshire’s Wildlife Museum has three main sections to it. The first is the Wildlife Museum of course. The second is the old country store. And the third is a little gift shop.

The wildlife museum takes up two rooms in the museum and has more than 400 animals on display. Many of these animals were caught on safari in Africa by Wood T. Brookshire and his wife Louise. They obtained special game permits for many of the animals with the agreement that they would use these animals for educational purposes. It was the Brookshire’s desire to make these animals available to the general public who would never get to go on safari or view these exotic animals in the wild. Thanks to the Brookshire’s you can get up close and really study the animals. And since they are all dead you don’t need to worry about them breaking out of a cage and mauling you to death. Other parts of the Brookshire’s animal collection was donated by other families and the sum total is pretty impressive.

In addition to the many exotic wildlife specimens from Africa (lions, hippos, rhinos, wart hogs, gazelles, giraffes, leopards, zebra, crocodiles etc.) there are also many examples of North American Wildlife (bears, wolverines, badgers, hummingbirds, fish, hawks, deer, mountain lions, bob cats, buffalo, raccoons etc.) and animals from other parts of the world like polar bears. Many of the animals have been placed in displays which show what their natural habitat looks like. One of the coolest one shows a lion with it paws outstretched and its teeth bared, about to take down a deer. It is kind of funny though because the deer appears almost bored. He is just standing there as though he has no idea there is a lion right behind him.

I also love standing by the ten foot polar bear and imaging what it would be like to be face to face with it in the wild. It’s claws are huge and it’s mouth looks big enough to fit my head inside. The most fun display shows four monkeys dressed in grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts playing Monopoly. They all have tropical drinks with umbrellas in them. One monkey is pointing at another one who has his hands raised in surrender and is holding a “Go To Jail” card.

The wildlife museum also has on display several artifacts from Africa such as carved wooden statues, shields, spears, drums, and more. Another cool feature of the museum is a long log which has several holes cut into it. A child can reach his hand into it and feel around. Inside are things like bear fur and deer pelts. It’s fun for kids to feel around inside, guess what it is they are touching, and then pull it out and look at it. Unfortunately the people at the museum haven’t labeled the holes so sometimes you are not sure what kind of animal fur it is even after you have removed it from the log.

My oldest son has been a huge nature and animal lover ever since he was a baby so he is happy to spend a lot of time looking around the whole wildlife museum and talking about the animals. His two younger brothers also like the museum but they don’t like to spend near as much time in it as he does so we usually end up rushing the older, trying to slow down the younger two, or just splitting up for awhile.  One part of my strategy for helping the two younger boys to wait was to sit down with them and watch the short video that the museum has on a constant loop. The video is shown on a TV in a little alcove with one bench where three or four people can sit. It features Louise Brookshire and tells how the museum came about, its history, and its mission.

When the boys just can’t wait any longer we head into the old country store. The country store is a life-sized replica of a 1920’s grocery store. This is my wife’s favorite part. She is as much a lover of history as our son is a lover of nature. She loves to museums and things which show what life was like in the past. The country store shows in detail what grocery stores looked like and sold eighty to ninety years ago. It even has antique display cases and cash registers. There is 1920’s era candy, sewing machines, meat carvers, cameras, food, soap, gum, coloring books, a malt-machine, baking powder, and much much more. My wife would spend two hours in the country store carefully perusing all the items if we let her. But of course we never do. The boys are always in a hurry at this point to get to the last part of the museum – the gift shop!

The gift shop has lots of souvenirs from Texas and the Tyler area such as t-shirts, glasses, and post-cards. They also have wildlife souvenirs and stuffed animals. But what our boys are really interested in is the candy. Besides lots of modern candy the gift ship also sells candy and gum which would have been sold in the 1920’s grocery store. We always let our kids pick out a little bit of candy or an ice cream treat if they behave themselves. The gift shop is a good deal for parents because there is a section which has several jars full of a variety of candies and the best part is that they are only five cents. So you don’t have to spend a fortune to make your kids happy. Outside the gift shop, besides the very necessary bathroom facilities and water fountains, there are more antique items such as old Coke machines and bottles, typewriters, a juke box and more.

Outside of the wildlife museum there is a nice park area which is great for picnics and letting the kids run around (if it’s not too hot). Besides the playground equipment there are also a few interesting vehicles at the park. There is a circa 1950’s LeFrance fire truck which I believe was once used in Dallas. The kids can crawl all over it and pretend to be firemen. I had fun goofing around on it with my boys and seeing all the features up close on an old fire engine. There is also a restored railroad caboose. This is also pretty neat to go through, play in, and look over. Unfortunately, the caboose was locked up on this visit. I don’t know why but I think maybe it had something to do with the heat. Then there is a 1926 McCormick Deering farm tractor. My youngest son loves tractors he calls them track-a-ders) so this is pretty cool for him. We’ve got some great pictures of him on this tractor and in the country store. We dressed him in some vintage looking clothes so he looks like a little boy from the 1920’s and fits right in with that store and tractor.

The museum is open on Tuesdays thru Saturdays from 9:00am to 5:00pm from March 1st thru September 30th. The museum is open from 10:00am to 4:00pm from October 1st thru February 28th.

I highly recommend the Brookshire’s World of Wildlife Museum & Country Store to all families, lovers of wildlife, and lovers of history. It’s definitely worth at least one visit and hey its free. You can’t beat that.