Start 'em Young

Dallas Stars "Water Boys"

We had a surprise opportunity on Thursday to go to a Dallas Stars game. So, I am pleased to say we took the boys to their first ice hockey game (my favorite sport). After racing home, getting the boys to chow down on a pizza Ed picked up (note that Austin refuses to eat cheese so Ed had to remove cheese from some slices), we were off to battle traffic to get to the American Airlines Center. On the way, while in slow traffic, our lane was moving a bit faster than others and we passed a police car that was also in traffic. Aidan spotted it right away and asked if I was glad I was following the rules when I drove passed the police car - and of course, I was glad.

We paid $15 to park at the arena, right next to the train station. As we got out of the car and pointed out the trains to the boys, Ed wondered outloud - Why didn't we think of taking the train?!

Getting to our seats on the 3rd level of the arena meant riding two very large escalators - this was probably the highlight of the trip for Ausin. Once we located our section and seats, the boys were facinated with the game. Aidan asked question after question, as did Austin. Sample questions from the night:

"Do all hockey games have ice?"

"Do they test the ice with a hammer to see if it cracks?"

"Is #88 in time out again?" (the penalty box)

"Where did the peppa go?" (that would be the Chili Pepper mini blimp floating around the arena)

When I asked the boys who they were rooting for, here's what I heard:

Aidan said, "I hoot for the Dallas."

Austin said, "I hoot for both teams."

(I love how they say "hoot" instead of "root").

Austin was amused by his theater style seat. He announced several times that his chair was eating him and at one point clarified it really was - his feet had gone through the folding part of the seat and when he leaned the seat back into it's normal sitting position, he was stuck!