Monster Jam 2011

Yesterday, we took Eli to Monster Jam again. We had such a great time and it was more fun than last year! We missed having Cole with us but he will get to go next year (he had fun of his own while we were gone going to see a school buddy).

First, we went to the Pit Party to see the trucks up close and meet the drivers. Eli was harder to control this year than last. He was very interested in the dirt, digging up rocks, getting dirty, trying to tear down the caution style tape around the trucks, not wanting to hold our hands, just being 3-1/2! He did do well saying hi to each driver and loved the big tires. There were 6 trucks/drivers and we managed to see them all. Each was extremely nice - they are very sensitive to the fact that their fans ultimately pay their salary so they take time to talk, say hi, sign autographs and pose for photos.

Pit Party

Eli had to touch every single tire.

With War Wizard driver, Randy Moore

With High Maintenance driver, Jocelyn Perrin - she drove with her family down from Michigan!

Daddy and Eli in front of Advance Auto Parts Grinder

With Grinder's driver John Seasock. This guy was so funny. Eli was playing with the tape and he told Eli to pull it down so the guys with the earphones would go crazy. Eli was fidgety for the picture so he just picked him up and put him in a hold. Very nice guy.

With SpiderMan driver, Whit Tarlton - we saw him last year.

Eli wanted to look at his program while in line. Looks like such a big boy!

With Grave Digger driver, Gary Porter - we saw him last year too.

Our only family shot of the day - at least it's with Grave Digger!

Mommy & Eli in front of Monster Mutt Rottweiler

Big tires and my big but little boy. =)

Eli with one of the quad drivers. This was a group from Greensboro.

Monster Jam!!

With Monster Mutt Rottweiler driver Charles Benns. This guy used to be Grave Digger's crew chief and now he's driving.

The pit party was from 11a-1p. When it was over, we grabbed some lunch and found our seats. Eli was not interested in eating at all. He kept his eyes peeled for any action on the dirt. A special treat for the day was that Eli's buddy Noah came to Monster Jam with his Nana & Granddad and were just a few rows behind us. Before the show started, we let them hang out a bit together. So cute!

Eli & Noah - I think they both had fun

The first event of the afternoon was the Wheelie Competition. Each truck got a chance to do their best wheelie over a few cars. Oh, I forgot to mention that thanks to a generous subcontractor of mine, we were on the FRONT row! The trucks were doing wheelies right in front of us! It was the coolest. After the wheelies, they did the first quad race. The quads were guys versus gals in a best of 3 series - racing in between monster truck events.

Monster Mutt Rottweiler

SpiderMan's wheelie was pretty good

but Grinder's was AWESOME

He flipped it over. Last year we didn't see any trucks flip.

Not sure if you can tell in this but they had a piece of equipment, attached a chain and righted the truck. I think Eli liked watching the equipment work just as much as the trucks themselves.

Once Grinder was off the course, it was Grave Digger's turn. Grinder ended up winning the Wheelie Competition.

First quad race. This was a lot of fun to watch.

The second competition was a race. The trucks lined up, jumped over the cars and whichever truck was the fastest moved on to the next round.

SpiderMan versus Monster Mutt Rottweiler

Grinder versus Grave Digger

Final heat - Monster Mutt Rottweiler versus Grinder. Monster Mutt won!

Monster truck boy

Before intermission, they came out with this Megasaurus thing that literally chomped a car in half and breathed fire. It was interesting to see.

The third and final competition was freestyle - everyone's favorite! One of these days, we would love to go to a true stadium show where they have a lot of room and can really show off. Each truck was given 60 seconds to show their stuff.

War Wizard catching some big air

Monster Mutt Rottweiler catching air - the big center jump was used by all.

Spider-Man

Grinder

Grave Digger went the opposite way over the jump, stood the truck up and

then flipped it over. He had an awesome run and won Freestyle.

Hook it up, right it and get ready to do it all again for the night show.

I love my little Monster Truck fan

Eli took a 7 minute nap on the way home. He was so tired but wouldn't slow down to take a nap once we got home.

Photos this week

Big attitude in a Little Shirt - becoming more and more true every day.

Watching tv on the floor

Uh-oh, my shattered stove. All b/c of a 99 cent plastic Target spatula. I smacked the stove top with it to get Eli's attention and this is what happened. Guess I learned my lesson.

Up close. GE could replace the cooktop but it just wasn't worth the money they wanted for it considering our range is probably 10 years old. So a new one is on order and will be here on the 12th. Next time, I'll smack the counter top!

LOVE this picture. My sweet boys hamming it up. Eli was actually hugging Cole and of course I grabbed the camera.

My 3+ foot tall Gumby lost a battle with the boys tonight.

His poor arm was ripped clean off. It was only a matter of time. He has hung in there very well for all the abuse he takes.

Now I'm going to have to perform emergency (or not so emergency) surgery and reattach his arm. They he'll be as good as new and ready for the next battle!

Sunday at home

Eli snuggled under my blanket and watched tv on the couch while Cole napped.

Brotherly love - clothing optional.

We had our friends Kara & Brian over with their little ones for a cookout. Don't you love this toddler dinner party?!

Wet weekend at the farm

So my solo trip to the farm went pretty well. The boys were for-the-most-part well behaved. I picked them up from school Friday after lunch, right at nap time. I thought I was being smart and that they'd sleep some of the way down. Well, they only slept about 30 minutes but they were pretty good travelers so it was ok. 4 potty stops and 3-1/2 hours later, we arrived at Grandma's house.

We spent quite a bit of time outside when we got there, which turned out to be great since it rained all day Saturday. Eli and Cole both loved finding and throwing rocks, looking at the animals, swinging on the porch swing with Grandpa and playing with outside toys. Cole was interested in the chickens so Grandpa tried to take him to the coop but THEN a cow "moo"d at him quite loud and Cole was no longer interested in the chickens. He was upset by the cow talking to him. We grilled out for dinner, the boys ate ok and then we hung out. Thankfully I was able to get them down to bed easily - both asleep by 8:45pm - and then I put myself to bed with Cole. I slept with Cole worried that he'd roll out of bed and Eli slept by himself.

About 3:15am, Eli came into the room and climbed in bed with me & Cole. I sooooo wish I would have had a picture. I was snuggled in between my two sweet boys for the next few hours. Priceless. When we got up, we heard the rain. It ended up raining all day so we headed out early to Monkey Joe's - or the Jumpy Jump place as my Dad calls it. My parents had never been so it was a treat for them and the boys. Eli & Cole played for over an hour and wore themselves out. Cole loved going on the big slide, carried of course by Mommy or Grandma. Lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then we headed back to the farm for naps. Naps on a rainy day - perfect! And the boys actually took great naps. Eli & I two hours, Cole three hours!

Some more play time and then we packed up the truck to head to my Grandparents' house before heading back home. It was great to see my Grandparents and they loved seeing the boys and how much they've grown. After dinner, we hit the road with 'Cars' on the dvd player. Thankfully Lightning McQueen helped me on the drive because it rained the ENTIRE way home. I was bug eyed trying to keep my eye on the road and all the other drivers. Eventually both boys fell asleep and transitioned from their car seats to bed easily.

It was a quick trip but went well and it was great to see my family. Oh yeah, we fit in a pit stop at Uncle Billy's work to say hi to him. Wish we could have seen everyone but it's so hard to do. Tim got a lot of "to-do" stuff accomplished at home and was able to enjoy a bit of quiet. Now we're all back together and crazy!

We started with a quick nap for Cole

and Eli.

Then we proceeded to the boys trying to make each other laugh

and then finding themselves giggling uncontrollably. It was hilarious!

Checking things out with Grandma.

Love this picture - Grandpa and his boys.

Checking on the chickens.

Love this one too - I love how they're looking at each other. My Dad loves being Grandpa!

Emergency rescue - the army men rescued the squirrel.

Big boy!

Swinging with Grandpa

Grandma & Eli played a version of paddle ball in the house.

Cole gave it a try.

Eli loved doing it. Kept him busy for a while.

One of my first (of a million) trips up the ladder with Cole. I definitely got a work out!

Grandma through the obstacle course with Cole.

Eli did great climbing up everything.

Up the ladder to the big slide.

Mommy & Eli self portrait at the top.

We had fun going up together. Cole thought he was just as big as Eli.

Grandma had fun too!

Eli was all over the place sliding down.

He had a blast!

We also had fun coming down, all three of us together.

Can you tell they were tired? They were very huggy and clingy to Mommy.

At Chick-Fil-A, Cole enjoyed feeding me his ice cream. Of course, I didn't mind!

Cute face!

The boys with their Great Grandma

and with their Great Grandpa.

Grandma loves her boys to pieces.

Another cute face - I can't resist!!

My Grandmother.

Love my Paw-Paw.

Cole gave it up before Eli on the way home. His "pose" cracked me up.