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. 

Toy Story 3 on Ice

That's right. You read that. Buzz Lightyear and Woody on ice skates. Funniest concept ever. Last Thursday, our friend Jacen (whose house we stayed at during Ike) called to announce that his girlfriend Marina now had two extra tickets to see Toy Story 3 on ice because he had been called out on a flight. Marina's nephew no longer wanted to go since Jacen wouldn't be there. I'm so happy they thought of us because Aiden LOVED IT.

I was a little worried about how things would go since I had to wake Aiden up from his nap early so we could get there on time. He did really well until the last 10 minutes of the drive into Houston (it was held at the same place as the Houston Rodeo and the Texas Bowl this year). Thankfully he calmed down as soon as we got out of the bus. And by bus, I mean Marina's brand new Nissan Armada. That thing is a MONSTER. It seems like it should be required to have a special license to drive a vehicle so large.

I digress... When we plopped into our seats 15 minutes before the show was set to start we decided to get some grub. Since the girls (Marina, Marina's niece, Marina's niece's friend and Marina's niece's friend's mom - got it?) had to go to the bathroom, Aiden and I kept watch over our gear while they went to get us refreshments. Even before the show started, Aiden was in awe. He sat in his seat and just soaked it all in. The high ceilings, the far wall, all the people, all the people holding souvenirs with BUZZ ON THEM. Oh sheesh. He kept trying to grab the woman's slushy in the seat behind him because the cup was a giant Buzz head. It sort of looked like she was eating his brains out of the top of his head because it was a red slushy.

When the show started, Aiden just stared, open-mouthed. When Mickey Mouse came out (he gave an intro to the show), Aiden started screaming, "Kickey! Kickey!" and pointed at the giant mouse on skates. Then it was back to open mouthed staring while the toy soldiers came out and did their bit. But the second the main Toy Story characters came out, he was back to screaming names. After about 20 minutes, he caught on that you are supposed to clap and holler at the end of each scene.

Beautiful Marina and her niece Arian

The show itself was so funny. Between the giant characters skating around and Aiden's reaction, I was crying because I kept laughing so hard.

The Claaaaawwwww!

Barbie and Ken were the only male-female duo, so they had quite a few routines together. Ken had a plastic "wig" on and Barbie's hair was HUGE. Her skates looked like pink heels and when Ken skated he "walked" just like the character in the movie. Even his legs were a little shiny, like they were made of plastic.

Seriously, look at how ridiculous this is.

Despite Buzz's ability to do flips, I was most impressed with Ham (the piggy bank). I am almost completely certain that there was one person in that thing, skating on hands AND feet. Every once in a while, he would do a wheelie (for lack of a better term) that would be impossible if there were two people inside. I'm pretty sure there were two people inside Slink (the dog) and Bullseye (the horse). Ice skating is hard. I can only imagine what it's like with a giant potato costume on.