Our Romantic Valentine's Day Adventure

How did the Sutherlands celebrate Valentine's Day? With a trip to the monster truck show, of course.

Traci had to work today, so I figured the best thing for me to do was to take the boys to Monster Jam at the Energy Solutions Arena. Though Paige made it very clear that she does not like monster trucks, she agreed to go as well.


Because this was all very last minute, my plan was to just buy tickets at the door. But then...A VALENTINE'S DAY MIRACLE!

I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when I saw that X96 was giving away free Monster Jam tickets. At SelectHealth. Boom!

Not only did I get the free tickets, but I got to see a bunch of my SelectHealth homies. What more could a guy ask for?

I hadn't been to Monster Jam since I took Curtis four year ago. He was two-and-a-half and at the height of his monster truck adoration. But seeing the trucks in real-life isn't the same as watching them on TV. The engine noise is deafening, it smells like you're at a construction site, and there's a lot less action than on the highlight-reel DVDs. After about 10 minutes, Curtis just started bawling. After one event, we called it quits (and I think I paid full-price for those tickets).

Things were much better today.

Curtis clapped and cheered. (And almost smiled. I know better than to take his picture, so you'll just have to trust me.)

Paige, the little statistician, kept track of all the trucks' scores.

Tate watched intently. And then fell asleep.

Yes, right in the middle of the freestyle event--where the trucks do all their best tricks--he zonked right out, despite all of the noise and mayhem. I guess the years of taking naps through my band practices have trained him to sleep through anything.

After he woke up, he asked if we could go again next Saturday.

Maybe this should be our new Valentine's Day tradition.