The Zamboni Experience

We are a hockey/figure skating family.  We spend all of our time at the ice rink and everyone there knows us.  Although we've seen it a zillion times, we still enjoy watching the Zamboni ride around the rink as it smooths out the ice between hockey games and skating sessions.  Last year Stuart mentioned several times that he would love to drive the Zamboni, just one time.  It was a "Bucket List" item for him.  So for his birthday this year I asked around and found out that our ice rink offers a "Zamboni Experience"!

I told Stuart that he had to take the day off of work for a birthday experience but I didn't tell him what he was doing.  I made him wear a blindfold while I drove him a round about way to the rink. 

When we were almost to the ice rink, we gave Stuart a little hint of what he was going to do.  It was a little toy Zamboni but he had to keep his blindfold on and just feel the toy to try to figure it out.  It took him just a few minutes to guess what it was but he still didn't understand what we were going to do.

He was pretty excited when he learned about his birthday surprise!  But we were going to get a tour of the Zamboni Room and learn all about the machine before he would get to drive it.  I think he was happy about this because I think he had gotten a little queasy from the long blindfolded ride with me driving and needed to let his stomach settle before driving heavy machinery.  I might have made the drive a little too long but I wanted to get him completely turned around so he wouldn't know where we were going!  

We have never been in the Zamboni Room so we were all excited to get a chance to go behind the scenes.  The Zamboni expert was on hand to teach us everything we might ever want to know about Zambonis.

Here it is!  The coveted driver seat of the Zamboni!  
(*Insert angels signing in the background*) 

The Zamboni was patented in 1928 and was name after Frank Zamboni.  This particular Zamboni runs on propane fuel and has a Volkswagon engine.  As it resurfaces the ice, it can remove around 2,500 pounds of compacted snow while it can leave behind about 1,500 pounds of water.  The blade on the machine weighs 57 pounds and is 1/2 inch thick.

Fascinating facts.  But ok.  Enough chit-chat.  Let's do this!

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Here is a video of Stuart's first time driving the Zamboni around the rink.  He was not spraying water and the blade wasn't down.  This lap was just to get the hang of driving the behemoth.  

Look at that smile!  I think he was having a pretty good time!

Now let's spray some water and actually smooth the ice.  Here's another video of Stuart actually resurfacing the ice.  Look at the nice shine on the ice!


That's some professional looking ice right there!

The kids were hoping that they would get a chance to ride along with Daddy.  And they did!!  Rachel went first.

Here's a video snippet of Rachel's Zamboni ride.  She was so excited!

Then we were all surprised when the Zamboni guy told Nicholas that he didn't get to just ride on the Zamboni but instead he was going to DRIVE the Zamboni!  We quickly told him Nicholas' age just to be sure he understood that he doesn't even have a drivers license yet but he was still cool with him driving!  

Of course, here is a video of Nicholas driving a Zamboni.  He was nervous but he did really well.  It's pretty neat that he has driven a Zamboni and flown an airplane before getting his drivers license!

We were all sad when the time was up but Stuart was still grinning from ear to ear.  

Bucket List item: Drive a Zamboni.  Check!

Happy birthday to the "World's Best Zamboni Driver"!

The Birthday Girl Got Her Ears Pierced {LaLobe Dallas}

Rachel has been wanting to get her ears pierced for several years.  I always just brushed it off and said, "Maybe when you turn 10."  I never really thought it through or talked to Stuart about it.  It was just something to say to get her to stop begging me at the moment.  

…..Then she turned 10.

I asked for some recommendations for where to take her to get her ears pierced.  Some said to call her pediatrician's office.  Not all pediatrician offices will pierce ears.  I called Rachel's pediatrician and they do pierce ears for active patients.  However, she hasn't been seriously sick in a long time and we haven't had any concerns about her health so we haven't taken her to well exams in a few years so they no longer have her as an active patient.  I didn't realize that she was no longer active and I did ask for the lady to double check with her supervisor but they still refused to do it because she wasn't active.

I got my ears pierced when I was about Rachel's age.  I remember my mom took me to my pediatrician's office.  The nurse used a piercing gun which was spring-loaded to force the sharp-pointed earring into my ear lobe to make the pierce.  The first pierce was my right ear and it went great.  It felt like just a little pinch.  For the left ear, she pierced it with the piercing gun but the gun wouldn't release.  She tried to pull the sides apart but she couldn't.  She had to go get help and left the piercing gun hanging on my ear lobe!  That was painful.  Fortunately my mom quickly held it up until the nurse came back with help.  Eventually the two of them were able to pull and tug to get it to release.  My ear piercings turned out fine but I did have a lot of pain and even an infection on that left ear.  

Now that was probably 35 years ago so technology on those piercing guns has surely improved since then.  However, I did a little research and learned that the piercing gun is not the best way to pierce an ear.  The preferred way is to use a needle.  This allows for greater control on the placement and angle of the pierce.  It also allows for a more sterile environment because they use a single-use sterilized needle rather than a plastic piercing gun that can't be thoroughly sterilized.  Also I would prefer to have a piercing done with someone who is trained specifically in piercing the body and does nothing but piercing as compared to somewhere like Claire's that mainly sells inexpensive jewelry and toys and happens to also do ear piercings by someone who may have just started working there two weeks ago.  Ok, maybe I'm being a little harsh on Claire's but I did call our local Claire's to ask about ear piercing and the girl I spoke to sounded like she could have been Rachel's age and she was a little too bubbly for me to take seriously.

For ear piercings with a needle, several moms have used tattoo parlors because they typically do body piercings as well.  It sounds shocking at first but think about it.  These shops have strict sterilization regulations that they must follow and the artists there usually take a lot of pride in their work and many have studied the human body, circulation, etc. in order to provide the best canvas for their work and the best experience for their customers.  Stuart was a little hesitant when I first mentioned a tattoo parlor but we both agreed that it would be fine.  However, Little Bit didn't like the idea and I completely understand that a tattoo parlor might make the already scary experience even more intimidating for a child.  So I did some research and found LaLobe in Dallas.

LaLobe is a dedicated ear piercing salon that specializes in working with children.  And they use a needle instead of a piercing gun!  Perfect!  They prefer appointments but they also accept walk-ins.

They charge $39 for the ear piercing if you purchase earrings from them.  If you bring your own then the charge for ear piercing is $57.00.  They require that the first earrings used are 14K gold.  I got Rachel some opal birthstone earrings for her birthday but they are 10K gold so I let her browse their selection of earrings.  

October actually has two birthstones - opal and pink tourmaline.  Rachel thought it would wonderful to buy the pink tourmaline earrings for her first pair so she could have both of her birthstones.  But at $165 I had to say no.  I steered her to the basic $54.00 14K stud earrings. She was ok with this but she mentioned something about earrings on her Christmas wish list.  *sigh*

While I was signing some paperwork, Rachel watched two teenage girls get their ears pierced.  They made a big deal of acting scared before hand so I was a little worried about Rachel getting more scared but they calmed down once they were in the chair and neither of them cried when they actually got the piercing.  I think that helped her see that it wasn't too bad.  However, she looked very nervous as she waited for her turn.

To comfort her Rachel brought a squishy toy that she could squeeze if she needed to and of course she brought Pink Baby too.  She has had Pink Baby since she was an infant and it always comforts her when she gets upset.

The wait was short and it was time for Rachel to get in the chair.  She was so nervous but managed to give me a smile.  

They first measure and mark on the ear lobe where the piercing will go.  Then they use a specially designed "tong" to hold the ear lobe in place.  There is a hole in the tongs that they line up with the marking on the ear lobe.  They use a freeze spray on the ear lobe to numb it and then insert the needle.  Once they remove the needle they put in the earring.  She isn't supposed to remove those earrings for 4 weeks.

She was a little bit more relaxed on the second ear lobe but she still wasn't having fun.  She was brave though and I was so proud of her.


Rachel is so excited to have her ears pierced and Genesis at LaLobe did a great job with talking to her about the whole process and helping her to stay calm.

After care:  She had to turn the earrings every hour with clean hands just to help keep the skin from scabbing over the earrings.  After the first day, she just turns them 3-5 times a day and cleans them with a special anti-septic.  The cost of her ear piercing includes a follow up appointment at LaLobe in 4 weeks where they will check the healing process.  

A Hockey and Beef Kind of Birthday

Stuart just had a birthday.  He's holding at 32 years.  

He is an amazing husband and an incredible dad to our two beautiful kids.  His parents, my parents, and I all pitched in to show him just how much we love and appreciate him.  He didn't give me anything for a wish list so we had to go out on a limb and guess what he might like.

We started the morning with gifts before he went to work.

He first opened the smaller gifts....some hockey stick tape, hockey drink coasters, and most importantly a new Dallas Stars blanket to keep in his car so he could finally give me back the blanket he stole from my car when he realized how brilliant I was for always having a blanket in my car.....

Then we let him open his nicer present.  New hockey gloves.  He had some used gloves that he had finally worn holes in the finger tips so it was time for new ones.  

Then we pulled out a bigger present from the closet.  He says he was stumped when he tried to figure out what it was.

He finally opened it and found a new hockey bag.  I was so glad to be able to get this for him.  It is so much nicer than the crummy old giant blue bag that he had to carry around on his shoulders packed full of gear and bumping into walls as he walked.  This one stands upright and has wheels!

On Wednesdays nights, I am at the hockey rink with the kids until 7:30 so Stuart cooks and has dinner ready for us when we get home.  But I didn't want him to cook on his birthday so we convinced him to try a new Brazilian Steakhouse in town called Carvao.  

I think it would be more appropriate to call it Meat Palace or something catchy like.  On the table each person has a little card that is green on one side and red on the other.  When the card is green, the servers will walk by and offer you various types of meat including beef, pork, lamb, and chicken that they will carve for you right at the table.  When you are stuffed, just turn the card to red and they will walk on by.

There is a salad bar as well but we didn't want to fill on on lettuce when these incredible meats were waiting for us.  My favorite was this Picanha which I believe is the house specialty.  

As the server carves, you use your tongs to hold the slices as they are cut.  The kids had a great time with this.

Stuart, we hope you had a wonderful birthday.  We love you!

Turning 9 Years Old Really ROCKS!

Rachel wanted to have fancy tea party at home for her birthday party this year.  She had great plans for activities, games, crafts, etc.  I got exhausted just thinking about it.  Sometimes Mom just needs to hit the "Easy Button" and pay to have a party somewhere else so there is no planning and no clean-up necessary.  So Rachel had her party at Summit Climbing Gym in Grapevine.  It is a fun place covered with walls just beckoning to be climbed.

At Summit, there are several walls that can be climbed with auto-belay.  Auto-belay meaning that there is no need for another person to belay the line for the climber so the kids could climb all by themselves after a brief training course.  The auto-belay takes up the slack in the line as the climber ascends the wall and the counter weight gives them a slow and controlled descent.  

It was really fun watching the kids climb the walls.  They were helping each other and speaking encouragement when needed.  It was sweet to watch.

The more challenging walls require a human belayer.  Stuart belayed for kids who wanted to try some harder climbs.  Of course Rachel wanted to challenge herself and she did great!


Nicholas is a great climber too.  He likes the auto-belay walls but he likes the more challenging climbs the best.

There are a few other things you can climb on besides walls.  There is a big net and also this tall rope ladder.  The ladder is challenging because it twists and turns as you climb it.  It does require a person to belay for the climber.  Rachel made it up to the top!

There is also a line that they let the kids just swing on for fun.  Wheee!!!


It was time to take a break so we stopped for cake and presents.  Rachel wanted an ice cream cake with a Dallas Stars hockey theme.  The cake turned out really cute.  However, I had not had an ice cream cake before.  I was so worried about it melting before it was time to eat but I shouldn't have.  We got the cake out of the freezer a few minutes early and it was still a hard frozen block when it came time to cut it.

So we told Rachel to open presents first to give the cake a little time to defrost!  She didn't mind at all.  She was giddy to open her presents!

Although I felt bad for not having the birthday party at our house like Rachel had wanted, it turned out to be a really fun party and Rachel had a great time!  Sometimes you just have to let the Mommy Guilt go and find another solution.  An just maybe it will turn out even better than what you had to say no to.

Painting Rachel's Room

Rachel asked to have her room updated for her birthday.  She still has the baby pink walls that I painted before she was born.  I love the color but she says it is too "babyish" looking.  We worked for several days boxing up everything in her room and finding places to put the boxes in other rooms upstairs.  Oh what a mess our upstairs is!

She wants her new room to be turquoise.  She picked a medium shade but Stuart and I were concerned that the dark walls might make her already small room feel even smaller.  We encouraged her to at least try the lighter shade on the same paint chip card and then decide.  We bought small sample sizes of both paint colors and I painted a swatch of each on each wall.  You have to do this on different walls because the lighting will be different in different parts of the room so you want to be sure you like the color on all four walls.  

I let the paint dry then told her that it was about time to paint the second coat on the sample spots.  When I made it up to her room, I found that she had just finished painting the second coat all on her own.  She was quite proud of herself!  Notice she is wearing her cute little Gymboree t-shirt and skirt (NOT painting clothes!).  Oh that girl!

Of course, it took me a moment but I soon noticed that she made hand prints in the paint too.  She actually didn't make a mess with the paint so all is well and I'm glad she is having fun.

She decided to go with the lighter color turquoise.  It is a really pretty color.  She has been a great helper and she has done a lot of the painting herself.

The Ultimate Nerf War Birthday Party

Nicholas wanted another Nerf War for his 13th birthday party.  He did this for his last birthday party and so we already had the perfect spot at a local park to hold the battles.  It was a really easy party because there isn't much planning to do.  He invited his friends and we stocked up on Nerf darts.

We also charged up all of handheld radios we have.  We set them on walkie talkie channels and let the boys use them to talk to team mates as they run around in the woods during the Nerf War.  Stuart also keeps one on him so he can hear both teams' communications and know if anyone gets hurt and needs help.

We dumped all of the darts in a bucket and set it out on the table at the park.

The boys brought their own Nerf guns and loaded up on darts.  The darts are off-brand and we get them for a great price on Amazon.  It's just easier than having the boys try to keep up with their own darts and worrying about losing them.  We just buy a bunch and expect to loose a few along the way.

The boys lined up to hear the safety talk from Stuart.  Buddy system, boundary of play, how to use the radios, etc.  Then they got put into two teams.

The boys run out into the woods and try to hide so they can ambush the other team with a spray of Nerf darts.

There is a lot of excitement!  The boys are hiding or looking around or running the whole time.

Did I mention that there is a lot of running? 

Stuart and I just hung around in case we were needed but it was so fun to hear some boys shout things like, "We've been seen!  We must move out NOW!"

Some team mates would call to others on their team over the radios and ask for backup.  Their team mates came running!

Meanwhile, these sweet girls were hanging out quietly decorating the sidewalk with chalk.

The teams took a break and then regrouped for a different kind of game out in the field.  They played Capture the Flag and some kind of Zombie Infection game.

There was lots of laughter as boys ran around shooting at each other.  I think they all had a blast!

They stopped for a while to rest.  They had cupcakes and edible nerf darts.  Nicholas opened his birthday presents from his friends.

Time for another game out in the woods.  I love how this friend is loaded up with four Nerf guns!  He is prepared for anything.

I captured an awesome ambush in pictures.  One team is approaching a mound.  They are a little cautious because they know it is a good hiding place.  Did they just see someone back there??

Suddenly heads start popping up from behind the mound and start shooting at them!

Now more boys come out and they all start running after the approaching team! 

Everybody is running now!  Aaahhhhhh!!!!!!!

I love seeing those happy faces as they run for their lives!

The other team is still chasing after them as they are trying to get close enough to shoot them.

What a fun party it was!  Nicholas had a great time with his friends and said it was the "Best. Birthday. Ever!"

After the party we headed to Red, Hot, and Blue for lunch to refuel.  With his actual birthday on Monday and his party on Friday, he has kind of had two full days of birthday celebrations.  He's a happy boy.