Monster Jam 2012

Doing things without Aiden are becoming increasingly difficult.  I'm not exactly sure why it's any different than it was a year ago.  Maybe because we used to do more stuff in Galveston and that's where our babysitters are?  Not sure.  So when I had TWO nights in a row without Aiden this weekend, I started to feel pretty guilty. 

Saturday night, Travis and Aiden went to a monster truck show with Chris and Blair.  They left before 5 and didn't get home until almost midnight, I believe. 

I was ecstatic to learn Aiden chose to wear the ear protection courtesy of the Ramby's.  Travis has a pair of adult ear muffs, but they are as big as Aiden's head.  No wonder he was willing to wear these, but always refuses ours.  We might need to invest in a pair before the next loud activity.  It sounds like Aiden had a blast.  Travis probably had as much fun as he did.  He came home with tons of photos and videos on his phone.  When I asked Aiden what he like the best about the show, he said the Spiderman truck (of course) and the popcorn.  I don't ever let him have popcorn because I'm irrationally terrified he will choke on it.  Meh. 

The next day, Aiden spent a good portion of the day driving his monster truck toys all over the place.  He has the Gravedigger monster truck, which I didn't realize was an actual truck.  Gravedigger was at the show, so that worked out!  Travis showed him how to run over his other matchbox cars with the monster trucks.  Oh boys.

I, on the other hand, suddenly had a free evening and wasn't sure what to do with myself.  I decided I wanted to do something I can't normally do when I have Aiden.  I ended up going to see a movie with a bunch of girls from work.  We saw the second Sherlock Holmes movie at one of those theaters where they serve you dinner and drinks at the same time as the film.  None of them had ever been to a theater like that, so it was a lot of fun.  A bunch of us got a Groupon that included one ticket and a large popcorn for $5.  GREAT deal.  I shared my popcorn with a girl who didn't get a Groupon because a large popcorn is entirely too much for me.  It would be perfect for Travis and I.  My friend and I barely made a dent.  Granted, we also ate other food.  I got bruschetta and she got cupcakes. 

After the movie, everyone came back to my house and we chatted for an hour before they continued on the road back to the island.  I had a really good time.  I only went to the bathroom three times while we were there.  HA.  One of those times, I saw a man walk into the men's room carrying a mug of beer.  I decided he must not have wanted to leave his drink unattended.  You know, roofies and all that.

At the end of the movie, the servers brought out the bills for everyone.  An elderly woman in the row in front of us whipped out a lighter so she could read and pay her bill.  I don't know why, but that seemed so absolutely outrageous to me.  Did she not have a cell phone to light her way?  Perhaps it didn't cross her mind?  Or was the first thing she thought of her tinderbox?

Before Travis made plans to go to Monster Jam, I had arranged for him to keep Aiden Sunday night while I went to a friend's house for a birthday dinner.  We had Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr Day, so we opted to celebrate on a Sunday night.  Our plans were quite dorky, so try not to judge too much.  We all brought food and planned to watch Aladdin. 

Aladdin was one of my VHS tapes from when I was a kid.  My mom brought an entire box of Disney VHS tapes on her road trip this Christmas.  I finally convinced Travis to figure out how to plug in the VHS player we've been keeping around for just such an occasion.  Travis was always asking if he could throw out that thing.  My response?  "But what if we need it?!"  So glad we kept it. 

Sadly, things didn't work out exactly as we had planned.  My friend's cassette player ate my Aladdin tape. It didn't tear the tape, so we winded it back up.  I haven't had a chance to play it to make sure everything is all right.  Hopefully all is well.  It was pretty funny though because I couldn't tell you the last time I had to wind up a destroyed cassette.  Good times.

Since everyone had Disney on the brain, we opted to watch another Disney movie: Lilo and Stitch.  I have watched a good portion of that movie several times recently because that was another movie in the box from my mom.  Aiden really likes that one.

Dinner was great, and I wasn't home too late.  There's a little more fun left in my weekend to share, but I'll save that for later.