Monster Jam Weekend

Back in October or November, I got an email letting me know the Monster Jam tour was coming to the Roger’s Centre in Toronto in January.  Since the boys were interested in Monster Jam again and knowing that January – March tends to be an ugly time in my life, I thought it might be fun to book a short weekend getaway for the family. 

(That and the last time we went to Toronto for a Monster Jam show, we had to drive back to Buffalo in a blizzard in the pitch-black dark.  It was one of those white-knuckle, tense, stressful, exhausting drives and it took FOREVER.  Matthew was an infant so we had left him at home so we ended up having to ask our parents to split babysitting duty that night because it took us so long to get back home.  As it was, it was insanely late when we got home and were able to send my dad home.  It was a complete ordeal and we learned our lesson:  best just to plan to stay overnight than risk driving in bad weather in January!)

Saturday January 21, we packed some suitcases and headed up to Toronto after lunch.

Starting to snow as we approach the bridge into Canada!  It made me feel even better about booking that hotel room!

Both boys fell asleep on our way to Toronto but shockingly, (Mr..-Energizer-Bunny-I-Don’t-Need-To-Nap-Ever) Ian slept more!

Soon, we were checking into our hotel and exploring our room.  I can’t remember what our room was called (some kind of suite, maybe) but it was HUGE!

We watched TV for a while we got settled in….

I was kind of hoping Matthew would take a “real” nap but the excitement of the hotel room was too much.  We took the boys down to the hotel pool for a bit but didn’t stay long because there was a large, extended family in the pool and we felt we were intruding.

After getting dressed again, we took the boys out to dinner so that we could head to the show (2 hours) early.

Dinner was a nightmare.  The swimming session and lack of nap reared it’s ugly head while we were at dinner.  Matthew pretty much acted demonic while we were at the restaurant.  Awesome, right?!?! 

After a meal in which neither boy ate more than 3 bites, we did a round of potty breaks and then headed to the show with 2 hours to drive the 7 miles to the arena.  What really happened: we crawled along in insane traffic to the arena at a speed that I probably could have moon-walked beside the car faster than.  After an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic, we finally get near the arena and can’t find any parking.  By this point, Matthew is hysterically crying because he needs to go to the bathroom and we’re nowhere near being able to do something about it.  And I don’t have a change of clothes on us if he has an accident.  And Mike needs to go too. 

After circling half of downtown Toronto, we finally find an underground lot, park the car, make our way up/out, and have no idea in which direction we need to head to find the arena.  We finally find our way and I’m praying we can actually find the car after the show is over (I’m literally making mental notes of street names and intersections as we head to the arena).  And Matthew is hysterically crying because he needs to go to the bathroom NOW.

After essentially running a mile (2? 10? It felt like it was 500 miles away), we approach the arena and realize we’re on the opposite side from the doors we’re suppose to enter.  Queue more running.  On slippery, snowy sidewalks. 

We did eventually get in.  Matthew didn’t have an accident.  Everyone got a chance to potty.  We get to our seats:  hot, sweaty, and disheveled but still on time (thank god for the 2 hour cushion).  We sit down and I immediately realize that the productive earplugs that I had carefully packed for the show are sitting in our car.  500 miles away in an underground parking garage we’ll probably never find ever again.  Good stuff.  Needless to say, we had to spend a fortune buying some at the arena…..if I remember correctly, the headphone things we got the boys were $40.  $40!!!!

The show ended up being okay.  The boys were naggy for food, drinks, souvenirs, and barely watched the first half.  Mike ended up going for food which helped the second half but at that point, Mike and I were so darn tired and frustrated that we swore we were never taking them to another Monster Jam show EVER.

After the show was over, we started the trek back to the car.  We had barely left the arena when Mike completely wiped out on the slippery sidewalk.  And, to make things even better, he was carrying Matthew when he fell and Matthew’s head hit the concrete sidewalk pretty hard when they landed on the ground.  Queue more hysterical crying.  We finally found the car and headed back to the hotel. 

In the end, I think hanging out in the hotel room all night would have been more enjoyable.  Oh well.

The next morning, we had some breakfast in the hotel and then took the boys to the Ontario Science Centre.  We had a pretty good time at the museum.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much they had that young kids could enjoy.

Want to see a cockroach shedding it’s skin/shell?  Click this link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6987822092_7e74938f5d.jpg

The boys barely ate lunch and were running on empty from the late night before so we had to leave earlier than we planned.  I don’t think we were out of the parking lot before Matthew was asleep.

We had an uneventful drive and were home in time to get settled and situated for Monday and the coming work-week.