Eli & Cole - two boys, one big adventure: A big day

A big day today - Monster Jam, seeing "Real Grave Digger". That was the main event however we started the day with a wonderful walk. Tim picked up a new double stroller for me yesterday (love Craigslist!) and I enjoyed my first walk with both boys. It allowed me to get out with them and gave Tim time to shower and do a few things around the house while we were on our 2-1/2 mile walk. Cole took a cat nap and Eli & I talked the whole time. I did calculate going up a hill that I was pushing a grand total of 84 pounds - whew! After the walk, we came home and got ready to go to Monster Jam. The baby sitter came to stay with Cole so we could take Eli on his special outing.

Pre-walk

Post-walk: we got a little cold but both boys had fun

We first went to the Pit Party from 11a-1p to see the trucks up close, meet the drivers and take pictures. Not only did we get to see all the drivers, we also got to meet the motor-cross and quad-cross guys there. We talked to the cross guys and I was amazed that they make their living riding bikes all around the world. I knew the monster truck drivers did but didn't realize cross riders did too. After seeing all the drivers, we headed to our seats and then found ourselves some lunch. Eli wasn't interested in eating, he was too excited about the trucks. We had to wait about 45 minutes before the show started and it was a little challenging to keep Eli occupied and from getting out of control. We took him on a walk around the concourse that ended up being a run - he was everywhere!

The show was a lot of fun. Quite different than what you see on tv as there is a lot of down time as they have to reset for the different events and they are also very safety conscious so they make sure everything is perfect before a driver starts. The first event the Wheelie Competition. The drivers had a car stack and a table top to perform wheelies. Grave Digger won and it was cool that Gary Porter, driver, took the trophy into the stands and gave it to a fan. The second event was the course race where they had a certain route around the course and whoever was fastest won - Grave Digger again! Another trophy to a fan. Then they had a series of other wheeled events - bmx, some street stunt cycles, motor-cross and quad-cross. They performed in groups and then they were all out there free-styling together. That was sooooo cool! The motor-cross guys were jumping with the quad-cross guys and towards the end they actually started doing flips super high in the air. It was awesome to see in person. The third event, after intermission, was the freestyle event. Each truck got 75 seconds to do what they could do. Another Grave Digger win and another trophy to a fan. Eli was had so much fun watching them and he would cheer and clap when the rest of the crowd did. He was really into it before it was over. When we left, he wanted to ride on my shoulders and before we got out of the arena, I felt his chin on my head. It was 4pm, he had not had a nap and he was so tired. He fell asleep in the truck before we even left our parking space!!

All in all, it was a very fun and tiring day for all of us. Cole got to get out and about as well and had his own fun. He was napping when we got home but that didn't last long - guess he knew we were home. =) He woke up very happy and we had a great evening. Both boys went down fairly easy for bedtime and hopefully they'll sleep well after their busy days. Not too much planned just yet for tomorrow - maybe some errands and getting ready for the week ahead.