Whippersnappers

It only took me a month of living here, but I found the coolest place in Bryant, Arkansas. Sorry, Lynn. It's not Larry's. It's Whippersnappers Candy Shoppe.

Whippersnappers has all the usual candy store stuff: a Pucker Powder dispenser, all kinds of gummy candy and every flavor of Jelly Bellies imaginable. But that's not what makes it so cool. That would have to be the Galaga machine. The old sit-down kind. What's even cooler than that? It's free. You just sit down and play. As much as you want to. The lady who runs the place said her husband found it on Ebay, and it was her birthday/anniversary/Christmas present a couple of years ago. I asked her, "You mean I could come in here and play Galaga all day long if I wanted to?" She said, "Sure, people come in here to do just that."

Let's review: M&M's. Jelly Bellies. All-you-can-play Galaga for free. Forget Disney. This is the happiest place on earth.

Jenna even played while I shopped. She lost all her ships pretty quickly, but she had a 47% shot ratio. Not bad for a two-year-old who was drooling lemon SAF-T POP (given to her FREE by the Galaga lady) all over the controls.

I was shopping at Whippersnappers for our good friend Tod Traughber, who had a birthday today. I got candy for him, his wife Jan (also our good friend) and their two boys (them, too). After Julia's soccer practice we headed to their house in Searcy for dinner, cake, ice cream and candy. We talked about the old days. And the new days. We didn't get home until 11 p.m. -- on a school night! Hey, we're allowed to be bad parents every once in a while.

So who's up for Galaga?