monster jam

for those of you how are not boys, or do not have little (or big) boys as a part of your world, allow me to explain the monster jam. simply put, monster jam is a gathering of enormous souped up trucks that are awesome in their loudness and grandeur. they crush regular cars and vans, do donuts and otherwise wreak mayhem on anything smaller than they. and apparently, this is a beautiful thing for boys.

we have watched monster jam on tv, much to the delight of our sons, and have seen the monster truck driver dave dvd several times from the library. both boys have small collections of those big trucks and consider them only a couple notches below daddy in coolness factor. when we were in florida last year over christmas, we saw a commercial for monster jam and as we were a bit desperate for indoor activities we seriously considered attending. sadly, we were back in michigan before the jam occured in orlando.

this year, we discovered monster jam was coming to van andel the second weekend in march. we prepared and saved our money because wowsa that is expensive and set out for the adventure yesterday. to add to the enjoyment, we kept our plans a secret so as to surprise the the littles!! neither brad nor i mentioned anything to max or wes and they never asked. we got them ready and loaded into the veen and never once did they question our plans. i was beside myself with anticipation and excitement. during the morning hours i texted and called brad approximately 31 times asking if he was so excited. he was.

we arrived at the van andel only to note the man parking in the spot next to ours was none other than our friend robb lubbers with grayden and aiden in tow. perfect! we ended up sitting right next to them in the second row from the top. so we made our way to the will call window and received our ticks. on our way to our seats, bear found a picture of a monster jam from years previous. brad showed the boys that pic and talked about what fun it would be to get to see one of those shows.

we entered the arena and headed towards our seats. bear peeked through one of the hallways and looked up at brad with awe shouting, "i saw a monster truck!"

when we finally found our section, both boys realized what was happening and were delirious with joy.

there was still a little time before the show so we took in the scene and listened to the amusing mc and his little sidekick. we inserted earplugs and settled in for the show. ayla jo was such a darling fan! she would not keep the earplugs in her itty bitty ears, but the loud loud noise did not bother her. she just clapped right along.

as the drivers popped wheelies, raced and did donuts, i loved the show i received from the boys' faces. brad was a riot, acting overexcited and hilarious at all times. the boys were begging for some cotton candy, and when brad took them to the potty, they got a bag! and a foam hat! and a pop! all for only $20. not so good at the prices over there. bear was desperate for a hat, and brad repeatedly said no, until one of the vendors popped one on wes' head and there was no longer an option.

we attempted to plug little love's ears so as not to damage them with noise. she did not seem phased one bit.

at one point, maxer was shoving cotton candy in his mouth and was not ready for the loud roar of the engines. he literally shook with fear for a moment. then laughed and laughed.

one of my personal fave parts was when jocelyn, the driver of high maintenance won the donut competition. she was a hoot all dancing around in celebration to the half-hearted cheers of the audience. being a girl in the monster truck circuit does stuff to you. i felt it, even as one of the few girl spectators.

the show was 2 hours long and my kids were all engaged mostly the entire time. what a beautiful memory!

max caught onto the hype of getting free t shirts flung his way. alas, he did not get one.

what he did get, was an amazing monster truck experience, with love, from dad and mom.