Monster Truck Madness

I think all boys go through a Monster Truck stage. Gabe has always loved cars and trucks but has never, until recently, been into Monster Trucks. On November 11^th Jonathan took Gabe to the Monster Truck Jam at the Hampton Coliseum and they had a blast!

REWIND two months… 

We stopped at Digger’s Dungeon in North Carolina when we were on our way home from the beach back in September. Thinking Gabe’s current monster truck obsession was going to be short lived, I didn’t even blog about our time at the Dungeon. So let’s start there…the kids were both exhausted when we left the beach house but we promised them we would stop to see the home of the Grave Digger on the way back to Virginia. When we arrived the kids ran out into a huge field to get a closer look at some of the retired trucks.

 For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to have spent some quality time at Digger’s Dungeon, let me paint a picture for you - there is Digger’s Diner (where you can stop and have a tasty lunch), a gift shop, a petting zoo, a huge auto-workshop and a field where you can pay to ride in a real monster truck. (Insert children’s squeals here!) As excited as Gabe and Eden were, we chose to postpone our adventure on the monster truck because it has been raining all morning. I know what you’re saying…Monster Truck…mud…does it get any better than that? Well, as we walked up to get a closer look at the family who just exited the monstrous vehicle…they were completely covered in mud. Now, it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) seeing 5 people covered head to toe in mud and smiles…the kids were so jazzed about hitching a ride they were about to come out of their skin! But with at least an hour ride home…mommy and daddy had to let them down with a NO as gently as possible. We did commit to stopping and riding on our way down to the beach for our next visit to Nags Head…I’m sure there will be pictures to follow come May.

To distract the kids from their sorrow we headed toward the gift shop. On the way, we got to peek inside the Grave Digger’s workshop where there were several trucks being fixed up.  The kids really got excited about this one…The Batman Truck. (Clever name)

Here’s a picture of the gift shop taken from the Grave Digger’s website…my pictures came out a little blurry.

The kids climbed up into a huge chair from the 2010 Las Vegas Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship. Dennis Anderson, the owner and driver of The Grave Digger was crowned top driver for this series.

$40 dollars later we got back in the car with a hat and t-shirt for Gabe and headed for home. It only took the kids 15 minutes to fall fast asleep. Here’s a picture of Gabe snoozing with his Grave Digger hat in hand.



FAST FORWARD to November, Jonathan and Gabe are ready for a night of fun! I took a few pictures and sent the boys on their way.

This is actually the only picture of Gabe at the Monster Truck Jam – this is what happens when you leave Daddy in charge of taking pictures. HA!



Meanwhile, back at home Eden and I ate dinner, baked some cookies and watched a movie. She was trying so hard to stay awake so she could hear about Gabe’s time at the Jam. But our sweet little girl just couldn’t hold out any longer. Here she is fast asleep – gripping her Barbie car while How to Train your Dragon plays in the back ground.

Jonathan called me when he and Gabe were on their way home. Gabe had passed out in his car seat after being on the road for less than 5 minutes. All the Monster Truck excitement really got the best of him. When they got home Jonathan carried Gabe inside and laid him in my arms. As soon as he woke from the shifting, he sleepily started telling me all about the trucks, and the jumping, and the motocross bikes. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget about the $10 snow cone with collectible Grave Digger mug he brought home. So sweet!