Start Your Engines...

Dave and Cole have gone to the Monster Truck Jam for the past two years at the Metrodome. This year I tagged along. It had to be one of the coldest nights of the winter and we had to park a significant ways from the stadium. Everyone was bracing against the cold and wishing for the crosswalk lights to hurry up and turn green. Once inside (I had never been to "The Dome") it was quite good people watching as we made our way to our seats. The scent of fuel and dirt filled the air. The various Monster Trucks were lined up on either side of the arena with the jumps and obstacles set up throughout the middle. It was loud already and things hadn't even started. :-) After introductions, the opening "act" were old cars pulling funny trailers or towing odd set-ups (such as toilets). They circle as quick as they can attempting to knock one another off course. The last trailer standing was the winner. It was actually really funny to watch them plow into each other and see things fly. Then the main attraction began. The vibrations from their engines got bebe moving and kicking.

Cole had his ear protectors on and his eyes lit up when his favorite monster trucks did their first round of time trials. Those who make loops or get around the arena super fast or have fancy tricks score more points. Through judging the trucks are slowly eliminated. Some got flat tires, some began leaking fluids, some were just too slow. Amazingly, one of the fastest and most daring of the drivers (Monster Mutt's) was a woman!! Everyone roared when she finished in first place and took off her helmet. Then the freestyle phase started where the drivers went crazy showing their stunts and jumping really high. A lot of the trucks got damaged when landing. Some limped off the course, others continued on trying mightily to hang in there until their time was up. The crowd favorite Grave Digger lost an entire wheel and yet managed to jump and make some impressive moves. Spiderman ended up the winner!

Leaving the stadium was quite the feat as the winds outside had whipped up so strongly that it was causing a vacuum with the doors. It took us nearly 25 minutes to actually make our way to the exit and then force our way against the bone chilling windchill back to Dave's truck. We were exhausted but Cole was happy and the proud owner of a new Monster Truck T-shirt! The Metrodome is slated to be torn down in 2014 for the new Vikings stadium so the boys may have one more year of attending the Monster Jam before it moves to its new digs.

Artist in residence...

Cole has always been quite the artist. When he was a toddler, he loved to paint. As a preschooler, he was more into coloring. This past year, he has been coming home with fantastic drawings in his daily classroom journal. On weekends or after school, he will disappear downstairs to his "art center" and create/cut/glue/shape awesome artwork, bringing them upstairs upon completion to hang on the refrigerator. He is quite prolific and he is very good (I say that not just as his mom but truly because he draws well beyond the level of a typical six year old).

At school a few months back, his teacher contacted me to let me know that a picture he had drawn of his school had been chosen to be included in a permanent banner in the main hallway. He was only one of seven students amidst a few hundred that were selected. Then, this past month, we received word that his self-portrait (an art project that his kindergarten teacher did with them and hung outside their classroom) had been chosen by his principal and a school board member to be showcased at a statewide teacher/educational conference. Not only had his been chosen but the school board wanted to recognize him and the others at its monthly meeting. So, 10 or so of his peers and their teachers met at 6:30 one evening in front of the school board members. They were given certificates and their names were read out loud by Mr. Pollock (Aquila's principal). As parents, we were proud as peacocks. I don't believe Cole had any true grasp of what all the hoopla was about but I hope it reinforced his obvious love of art/creative work. In today's age where the arts are rarely taught as a separate subject anymore, I applaud his teacher and his school for incorporating art appreciation into the kid's everyday lessons. I hope Cole continues to enjoy bringing his imagination to life on paper. With all the tech gadgets that invade their worlds these days, ensuring they have other outlets to feed their development is a must!

My ski bum...

Cole started ski lessons before the holidays. The day of his first lesson, 10 inches of snow had just fallen which was grand! It wasn't too cold and he was raring to go, except he had never been on skis and you can't run on skis despite him very much wanting too. :-) All geared up and locked in, he quickly got frustrated when he realized he couldn't move fast without slipping backwards. He likes to be "first" in line which just wasn't happening. After numerous spills where he tried in vain to stand up, he finally began to figure things out. Slowly over the past several lessons, he has gained more confidence (and balance). He has just enough "fear" to keep him from going straight down like some of his classmates but he certainly keeps his zig-zagging tight. It has been a cold few weeks and his cheeks are rosy as cherries when he finishes up. He likes to enjoy lunch in the lodge afterwards and has fallen asleep on the way home every Sunday. :-) It is quite the commitment (for all of us) to get him up to Elm Creek, into rental equipment and up to the slope but it has been fun watching him learn something new. Hopefully each year moving forward he will want to go back, it would be fun to ski as a family (preferably in the Rocky Mountains) someday!

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Another Vikings post...

I have posted several times now about Cole's continued and growing LOVE of everything Vikings! He was more thrilled with his Vikings calendar and drinking cup than with most of the other gifts he got for Christmas, lol! Over the past month, he memorized the Vikings fight song and I have heard him singing it or humming the tune morning, noon and night! Cole had high hopes that the Vikings would go all the way to the Super Bowl and when they lost in the playoffs, he was disappointed. He has chosen his team pick for next week though so he wasn't crushed by our home team's loss too much. He has taken to "reading" the Sunday sports page and recently cut out the full page picture of Adrian Peterson, who was named MVP for the regular season and hung it on his wall. His other favorite player is Christian Ponder, #7. He drew a picture of them both which Dave and I were quite impressed by. We love the attitude Cole has taken, "they tried hard, maybe they'll get to the Super Bowl next year!" Maybe indeed!