Monster Truck Madness

If you had asked me four years ago if I'd ever in my lifetime attend a Monster Truck Jam, I feel quite certain my answer would have been a definitive "no".  But two boys later, things have changed (for the better) quite a bit!  At the office, several days ago, I was talking to my colleagues about the boys and their new found love of monster trucks.  I was telling them how I wished there was a Monster Truck Jam near us because I knew the boys (Adrey especially) would get a kick out of it.  The next day, Ray showed up at the office with THIS for the boys! 

Holy jack pot!  He has a son that's "outgrown" them.  We have hidden the bag and bring it out and use as incentives when need be!!  Also, the next morning, Kathy texted me with this..."I saw a commercial for Monster Jam this weekend at Naples Sports Park"   Holy DOUBLE jack pot!!  I immediately got online and confirmed Kathy was right!  How exciting!  We didn't tell Adrey until the last minute in case the weather got bad or something came up but when we DID tell him he was so SUPER excited.  The whole way there he said, "Are we at the Monster Truck Jam yet?  Are we there?"

It was held at the sports park where the Swamp Buggy Races are held.  The "stadium seating" (I use that term very loosely) was probably 100 years old... wooden bleachers that bent and wobbled with every step that you took and fencing lining the bottom to prevent all the drunk people from plummeting to the earth and a constant smell of cigarette smoke filled the air.  We got there about 45 minutes before it started, got our seats and people watched.  Wow.  I'd have paid the same amount of money just to people watch!!  They started out with the National Anthem.  I told Adrey to put his hand over his heart.  During the song, Adrey looked so adorable that I had to get some video.  When I reached down to grab my phone, Adrey said, "Mom, put your hand on your heart!".  Below is a close up of him doing it.  I realize half his face is cut off, but for some reason I can't stop looking at this picture because I find it so precious...

Click HERE to view a little video of the moment.   And after the National Anthem, the engines started and out rolled the Monster Trucks in all of their glory (click HERE to watch) and this was the moment Adrey thought he'd died and gone to heaven!!  It was really an AWESOME show!  You can't help but totally get into the moment when these enormous trucks with their loud engines go roaring by... we had an absolute blast!  Click HERE and HERE to view a little more of the fun!!  By the way, the last video there of the monster truck that looks like a dalmation... yeah, the driver is a girl!  YOU GO GIRL!!  And Adrey was doing THIS for the 2 hours we were there!  So. Much. Fun.  Charlie enjoyed every bit of it too.  He'd get a little restless during the couple "breaks" they had, but overall he completely enjoyed the event!!  I found it it's held every April so I was sure to put a reminder on my calendar for future reference!

A couple weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to pick Adrey up from school and take him to see a movie.  Didn't know what movies were playing, but I knew I wanted to do it.  When we got there I checked out the movie list and asked for two tickets to see "Dr. Suess's The Lorax"... $25, two pairs of 3D glasses (BONUS... had no idea it was 3D) and a popcorn later we were in this position...

The previews totally freaked Adrey out and he kept saying he wanted to go home.  For a 3 year old, I could imagine them being frightening.  I was so hopeful the movie would not be scary.  And it wasn't.  It was cheery and fun and the music was so catchy.  A really cute flick!

We can't leave our poor Charlie out!  These are just a couple randoms of our little man!  He looks so little on his changing table all by his onesies!!

GOOF!

Love capturing THESE moments on "film"...

Our dear friend Susan and her sweet baby Cam came to visit last week.  We were fortunate enough to be able to see them a few times while they were here.  On Friday, on a whim, we decided to head to the beach with them.  John was working so it was just me and the boys.  I packed lunches, our beach bag and then our car.  Then got there and unpacked our lunches, our beach bag and loaded up our buggy!  I had the brilliant idea to put Charlie IN the front compartment and it worked like a charm!  And he loved it to boot!

And I managed to set up "camp" all by myself (patting myself on the back)!!  I think I've only braved the beach solo with the boys one other time.  It's really stressful.  If the beach didn't have sand, it would be a breeze!! As soon as Susan got there, she jumped right in and helped.  Wish I had gotten pictures of Susan and Cam but, of course, I didn't.

Things at work are starting to slow down and I foresee lots more fun things in store for our family this summer.  Love this time of year.