WCHA Turnement

Hockey, hockey, hockey! Last weekend was the WCHA tournament in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center. We got seats up on the top of the arena on the bar rail with our friends Jon and Denise's extended family, except they didn't come to Thursday's games.

We only purchased two seats for the games, so Adam and Eli got to sit on our laps, but with the bar table in front of us it wasn't too bad. We were watching the second game of the evening and Adam noticed the emcee sitting near our seats. He asked why he wasn't talking to us, and I said I didn't know, maybe he would. Next thing I new we were being handed bags full of Kellogs products and the emcee was standing by us trying to get Adam to talk to him so he could be on the big screen in the middle of the arena. Adam chickened out, but it was still fun!

Eli was go-go-go for the majority of the games. He wanted to go see the statue of Charlie Brown or run away. On our last visit to Charlie Brown Eli got up to give him a hug. He leaned in for a hug and when he was still hugging leaning on him a while later I thought maybe he was finally getting tired. I got down to ask him how he was doing and I got a response  "Charlie poopy." Oh really, Eli, Charlie needs a diaper change and Eli agreed he needed one too. 

During the intermission between the second and third period they dimmed the lights and both Adam and Eli both finally stopped moving and settled in to cuddle with mom and dad. We got to hold our kids while they slept during the third period and the game was so intense we didn't want to leave as it went into overtime. Dave's back was getting sore and so was mine so we transferred Adam to a bunch of coats on the floor and then took turns holding Eli for the rest of the game. Eli woke up during our last transfer and about 2 seconds later Colorado scored a goal. We were packing up our stuff and they announced the play was under review. We got to the stairs and beat the crowds out as they announced North Dakota lost because the CC goal stood. We had to walk almost a mile to get to our car and carry the crabby monsters, needless to say our arms were sore the next day.

Friday the boys went with us to the afternoon game, but in between games we did tailgating and my dad showed up to take the boys back to my parents house. When we got back to the tailgate after putting them in my dad's care Dave and I were smiling ear to ear. Our friends Denise and Jon said it looked like a weight had been lifted when we handed the boys over. They slept in the car and then both went right back to sleep at my parents house and slept for 12 hours. Hockey had exhausted them and they needed some sleep.

Saturday Dave and I got several house projects done during the day and right before dinner time we drove back into the cities picked up the boys from grandma and grandpa's house and went to the championship game. Again we had fun spending time with our friends Jon and Denise and their eldest son Nathaniel (Josh is a little younger than Eli and didn't go with).