Denny's. I didn't want to go there. I wanted a charming breakfast nook. The Sunday paper. Piping hot coffee. Crepes. A crispy salad. That's how I prefer to settle into a lazy weekend. But there was nothing around. The best of our dining out options was Denny's, land of the Grand Slam. This was Klamath Falls, Oregon and we were on a road trip!
So we went, following my parents through the double glass doors, past the gumball machines and the lilting potted plants to the brown formica of our table. Breakfast. Besides, the whole crepe-coffee-morning paper thing was just a dream in my everyday life as well. With two exhuberent 2.5-year-old boys in my life, enjoying a leisurely breakfast out was unheard of, except perhaps when we joined all the other families with young children at the sticky tables of our local Hobees.
We probably ordered a basic Denny's breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes for the boys. I remember my boys had the road trip crankies, so I must've pinned my hopes on the novelty of the kids' D-Fusion Rocketship cups as a mood enhancer for my tired kids. I think I negotiated with the server to fill it up with milk rather than whatever it was this drink came filled with, probably something like a chocolate chip shake. Just get me through the meal, I begged.
We left Denny's with our new rocketship cups. And my boys played with them and played with them and played with them. At my parents' vacation home, the rockets were plunged into the jacuzzi style tub. They filled the rockets with bubbles, with water, with soap. Into the rockets went tiny plastic animals, rocks and assorted trinkets. This went on the length of our 10 day road trip.
I should have bought MORE!
Two and a half year's later, my boys are still playing with these D-Fusion Rocketship cups. We've never used them to serve drinks, but many a famous passenger has stepped inside for a ride. Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman and mini-Lego figures like Darth Vadar have all had adventures within that rocketship cup. Barnyard animals, mini-whales, plastic insects, astronauts, and Playmobile people travel by way of this rocketship. It's been doused into pool water, bath water, colored water and foamy water. There is always something in those cups.
It's one of those toys whose whereabouts are always known. We've never lost it. It's our most enduring, most played with toy. (Not counting light sabers, that is.)
Who knew a toy from Denny's could prove to be such fun?
Original post to Chalk and Cheese Chronicles.
