Yes, I went to Monster Trucks and I liked it

When I was pregnant, Angry Husband and I talked about the sex of our child. We both actually wanted a girl. Well, we were blessed with a boy. And believe me, this kid is ALL BOY! It is probably good that, we had a boy.  Because, Angry Husband has someone to drag along with him on his adventures.

Ever year around this time MonsterJam, or what I would like to call “the huge Monster Truck show that sells out really really fast” comes into town.  Angry Husband will usually hear a commercial on the radio, and text me with a “Monster Truck tickets are on sale, check prices asap”.  I then head over to the computer, input the information, and text back with a “umm dude, too late, they are already sold out.” I think Angry Husband was in shock, when I told him in December that not only were they having THREE MonsterJam shows this year, but I had already acquired tickets.  I should win “Wife of the Year” or something like this, right?

We had not told Angry Kid about going to see MonsterJam.  We have somewhat of a new rule ,that we do not tell Angry Kid, that we are going to a particular place until we are on our way.  It saves us from meltdowns and temper tantrums. We can only handle so many of those.  We refer to it as, “Hey, we are going to a special place tonight, so you better behave our else…”

You can imagine Angry Kid’s excitement when we approached Angel’s Stadium and told him that we were going to see Monster Trucks. Because he thinks Monster Trucks are like the coolest thing ever. Angry Husband brought along a friend too, who is brand new to California and had never been to Angel Stadium. So we made our way into the Stadium and found our seats. We were on the 400-level settled right above home plate.  Normally, I would try and get the lowest seats possible. But for an event like this, we were at the perfect viewing advantage.  I think if we were any lower, we would had an almost obstructed view.

The night start off with a bang, as in Fireworks.  You’ve got to love Angel’s Stadium.  They have pretty awesome fireworks.  And then, the races were on.  They paired up a set of Monster Trucks and had them race against each other.  They each had a path and we basically going for the best time.  We watched the trucks go round’ and round’ with some near misses and even some flip overs. That’s the best part of Monster Trucks, waiting to see if they flip or break down.  When you make the turns that these trucks do,  and with that amount of weight, you are going to have some things break. Of course, it had to be the truck with the “police theme”!

In between the races, we were treated with some quad racers speeding around the track. From our vantage point, this quads looked so tiny, and really, looking at my pictures, the Monster Trucks looked like toys.  I should have known better, right? Well of course, Angry Kid screamed out, “Daddy, I want one of those, I want to ride those, I want one now!” I knew this was coming. This was Angry Kid’s destiny. You cannot prevent something like this. It’s genetic.  You see Angry Husband grew up in Reno, NV in a rural area.  He was practically born riding a quad.  I’ve heard all the stories, and I’ve seen the scars. Yea that’s right…knee surgery, broken arms, you name it.  I am still trying to figure out how the Marines let Angry Husband in. Well, Angry Husband has been talking about getting a quad for years. I’ve always had the excuse, we have no where to park them, etc… Maybe I can get the grandparents involved in this? Grandparents, do you see this.  The kid needs a QUAD, asap! Because, Angry Husband does not like to do things cheap, and this is an expensive sport.

After the races were complete, we were treated to the “Freestyle” competition. Really, this is what we were here for. I mean it’s Monster Trucks! We want to see the stunts. We want to see the jumps. We want to see the crashes.

But now, you are thinking? What did Julie get out of this? This looks all boy to me?  Why did Angry Julie go to Monster Jam? Well I got to take some awesome photos. (Nikon D60 with Nikon 55-200 lens if you really want to know). And plus I fell in love with this cute Monster Truck. Who couldn’t love a truck named “Monster Mutt”. A twelve foot tall truck with floppy ears, a tongue, and even a tail.  It was so great to see the ears and tail blowing in the wind as it raced around the track. Angry Husband hates it when I call things “cute”. He says Monster Trucks are not cute. Admit it, Monster Mutt is crazy cute, right?

So yes, I had a good time. We stayed for the entire event. All three and a half hours of pure entertainment.  It only cost us $12 for parking, $40 in food (pretzels, slushie, licorice, etc), and $10 for a Grave Digger toy. I got off cheap with the souvenirs. But really, it was priceless. And Angry Kid paying attention for that long, WAS HUGE! He even joined in on the photography, and took some videos with Angry Husband’s iPhone.

WARNING: Video is LOUD, Angry Kid was going crazy, so I had to tape it, right? Now you know why he’s such a spaz! Monster Trucks are in first video.

My tips for you: Eat before going, buy ear plugs (we bought the wax ones and orange foam ones at CVS), remember where you park, if you are going to buy merchandise (get it early), and have fun!

BusyDad also went to the same MonsterJam show. He made it a Boyz Night Out with his son, and some friends.

I have more pictures on my Flickr account of this event. Check there. I’m editing and may add more when I get some time.

Disclosure: I was given complimentary tickets to this event.  We had a great time. We would have gone anyway, so this didn’t influence my post at all. The End!