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"!

Dallas Stars vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 10/09/2018

Since Nicholas is playing high school hockey, he received a free Dallas Stars ticket for High School Hockey Night.  The Stars played the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Yes, it seems weird but the plural of Leaf really is Leafs when it is used as a proper noun.  Additional tickets to the game were just $10 so we grabbed enough for the whole family and a friend.

Our seats were about as high up as you could get.  Stuart joked about needing a Sherpa and an oxygen tank!  But we were at a Dallas Stars hockey game so it was all good.

We always try to get to the game early so we can watch the teams warm up.  People haven't gotten to their seats yet so you can walk right up to the glass.  That's close enough to count the missing teeth on each player. (ugh!)

There was a cameraman in our section and he was determined to get Rachel on the Jumbotron.  She was cute in her Stars jersey and jumping around with green pom poms.  I'm amazed Stuart thought to catch it on video.  He's Super Dad.


Nicholas had to explain to his friend a little about how the game of hockey is played but he caught on quickly and was soon cheering like a true Stars fan.

The Stars lost the game but we still had a great time.  As we made our way out of the stadium, we stopped in the gift shop for a bit.  Stuart and Nicholas tried to hide this hockey puck from me.  They know I worry about Nicholas losing a tooth from playing hockey.

The terminal for the DART rail is right outside the American Airlines Center so it was just a short walk back to the train.   

We hopped on the next green line train which is just the one we needed to head back north.  However, we didn't realize that it was not going to the end of the line (our stop).  Instead we learned that it was going out of service about half way along our trip.  This meant that we had to get off at a stop unfamiliar to us (and possibly not in the best part of town) and wait for the next train to come through.  Not our best planning moment but we survived.

We were scheduled to arrive back to our station at 11:47 pm so you can imagine there weren't many people on the train at that time.  However, Little Bit insisted on not sitting in a seat because she wanted to ride holding a handle like she has seen in the movies.  She was slightly on tip-toe as she stood there but she was determined to do it.  Silly girl!

With both kids playing on the Stars hockey leagues, we will get a few more sets of tickets to Dallas Stars games.  As always, I can't wait to go back!

First Goals at JV Hockey

Nicholas played on the Flower Mound/Marcus Junior Varsity hockey team for the first time this summer.  It is a step up from the regular Stars house league that he has been playing on.  But the summer season is a more relaxed time.  There are less players and there aren't practices, just a weekly game to keep their skills sharpened.  It was fun but he never scored a goal during the summer games.

But now it is fall and everything is ramped up.  Nicholas is still on the Star's house league which has a weekly practice and a game on the weekend.  He is also continuing with the Flower Mound/Marcus Junior Varsity team which has practice twice a week and a game on the weekend.  That's a lot of time on the ice but Nicholas has shown so much improvement over these last few months!  It's really fun to watch his games.  Nicholas (#72) did particularly well in the JV game this past weekend.

Nicholas' JV team is a bronze level team and they were playing another team at the bronze level.  However, the other team had some players filling some spots and these other players were from their gold level team.  You could definitely see the difference in the level of play from those other players and it certainly gave them an unfair advantage over our players.  However, in spite of all of that, Nicholas still scored a goal on them!


It was a hard game but the boys kept going.  Eventually the ringer players on the other team had to leave to go to their own hockey game and the play on the ice leveled out to a more even field.

And Nicholas scored on them AGAIN!

As it turns out, Nicholas scored the only two goals on our team.  These were his first goals at the JV level and we are so proud of him!

Eat at Chili's Today and Support Flower Mound/Marcus Hockey

You know you want a good lunch and those crummy leftovers in the fridge just won't do.  And why bother cooking tonight when you can grab an amazing burger at Chili's instead?

Take a day off from cooking and come out to Chili's in Flower Mound (Long Prairie/FM 3040 location only) to support the Flower Mound/Marcus Hockey Club! This is Nicholas' first year to play on their Junior Varsity team and he is loving it.

Chili's will donate 20% of your check between 11am and 9pm TODAY only! If you really want to support the team, you could go out for both lunch AND dinner! Just be sure to tell them you are there to support the FMM Hockey Club!  
We stopped by for lunch today and it was great.  We had to try the Skillet Queso which is a Chili's staple.  It is creamy queso with beef and chili in it.  

The kids both got burgers.  Rachel got the Big Mouth Bites sliders.  It comes with four mini burgers loaded with cheese, bacon, sautéed onions, and homemade ranch sauce.

Nicholas ordered the big honking 1/2 pound Queso burger.  Look at all of that creamy queso oozing out of the burger!  There is also pico and tortilla chips in it!

I tried to order something other than "my usual" but I just couldn't do it.  I ordered the Cajun Chicken Pasta.  My fav!  It comes with penne pasta in a delicious Alfredo sauce topped with grilled chicken, Parmesan, chile spices, tomato, and green onion.

I know I sound like an advertisement for Chili's....and that is my point.  Get off your bottom and head to the FloMo Chili's at Long Prairie and FM 3040 and get yourself some grub.  Be sure to tell your server that you are supporting the Flower Mound/Marcus Hockey team and they will donate 20% of your bill to the team to help out the boys. 

Your belly will thank you and so will the team!

Rachel Got a Golden Ticket!

Rachel has been participating in Hockey Academy twice a week.  It is a great program for developing skills to use in the game of hockey.  She has been very blessed that one of the coaches in her Hockey Academy just happens to be Brad Lukowich, a former NHL Dallas Star and two-time winner of the NHL Stanley Cup.  It is amazing that she is being coached by a former NHL player and Stanley Cup winner but all of that aside, she couldn't have a better coach.  Coach Brad is so good with kids.  He gives each of them his one-on-one attention.  He really pours his passion for hockey into the kids he coaches.

The Farmers Branch Star Center where we spend all of our free time has been a little crazy lately as they prepare to host hockey players from all over the country who are coming to Dallas for the NHL Draft this coming weekend.  They are also hosting an Xtreme Team hockey camp where Nicholas will be all week.  The rink is also having a special event on Thursday, June 21 called Texas Hockey Day.  There will be lots of free public skating, autograph sessions, a hockey clinic with the top NHL prospects, hockey games, a bounce house, and a lot more.  Coach Brad told Stuart he had nominated Rachel for a special, once-in-a-lifetime kind of event to take place on Texas Hockey Day but he didn't tell us more than that.  Stuart got a call from the Dallas Stars Executive Offices and he was told to bring Rachel to the offices on Monday at 2:15 to receive a package.  That's all she would say.  How exciting!!

We showed up in the autograph tunnel at the Frisco Star Center which is where we had been told to go.  There were six other kids and their families there.  Rachel was dying with anticipation!

Eventually we were escorted into a special access area and taken down a long hallway.

We were taken into the Executive Offices and saw lots of Dallas Stars signs everywhere.

We were told to go into this conference room.  Rachel was the first in line for the whole group and she walked in boldly, even with a camera man staring at her.

The kids all sat around a table wondering what was going to happen next.

And then....Marty Turco, former NHL Dallas Star goalie, appeared in the room!  He has the most wins of any Dallas Star goalie ever!

He talked to the kids about the upcoming Draft picks this weekend and he talked about Texas Hockey Day.  Then he said that someone important must really think they are special to have been invited there today.  Then he passed out an envelope to each child.  Inside the envelope was a Golden Ticket!

The Golden Ticket was a special invitation to participate in the NHL Top Draft Prospects hockey clinic on Texas Hockey Day.  This is an incredible opportunity for anyone that loves to play hockey (Stuart and Nicholas are so jealous!)  Rachel will receive a special jersey then she will participate in a hockey clinic where she will receive instruction from current NHL Dallas Star top players Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Ben Bishop!  There will also be the Top NHL Draft Prospects there as well as Dallas Stars Alumni and the Dallas Stars Xtreme Team!!

Everyone posed with Mr. Turco for some media pictures.

Rachel was excited to meet Marty Turco!

Stuart and I had brought along some things for signatures just in case so we got Mr. Turco to autograph two hockey pucks for us!

Back in the car, we were talking to Rachel about the Golden Ticket and she got so excited she fainted!  Just joking!  She is just a ham.

She is incredibly excited about this wonderful opportunity on Thursday.  We will be taking Nicholas to Xtreme Team camp that day for 8:30 and we will just stay there since Rachel is supposed to be there for 9:30.  There will be a lot of hockey fever at the rink that day since it will be Texas Hockey Day.  There will be events and special appearances by Dallas Star players all day long so we will probably just camp out at the rink all day to soak up all of the excitement.

Junior Varsity Hockey

Nicholas loves playing hockey.  He is on a team at the Dr. Pepper Star Center and once a week they play a game against another team.  Every week he also takes a Power Skating class and a Hockey Enhancement class plus he goes to one or two public skating sessions as well.  He is on the ice a lot.  

We recently learned that two local public high schools have a combined hockey team.  In order to get on the team you have to try-out and private/home school students are allowed try-out for their team.  They have a varsity team and a junior varsity team.  Nicholas has never had to try-out for a hockey team so this was a new experience for him.

He was nervous but he said he did his best.  He made the junior varsity team!  We are pretty excited for the additional opportunities this will bring him.  I'll have to post another picture once they get their official uniforms.

Be Yourself and Dare to Stand Out

Rachel is 100% girlie girl.  She has enjoyed taking dance and gymnastics classes.  She has taken ice skating lessons in the past and I have envisioned her using her dance and gymnastic skills to someday be a graceful and elegant ice skater in a beautiful sparkly outfit doing twirls and leaps on the ice.  

But alas, my baby girl's new love is ice hockey!

I think it is awesome that in such a male-dominated sport, she wanted to her gear to be pink.  She knows how to be herself and she doesn't mind being a little different.  She is going to be decked out in pink even if it means she stands out in a crowd of boys.

She is a confident girl and I pray that she always understands the importance of being herself.  I don't know who came up with this but I love the saying, "Be like a diamond, precious and rare.  Don't be a stone found everywhere."  That is my girl.  Precious and rare.

She is also quite independent.  Ice hockey requires a lot of gear and you have to get the laces on the skates really tight to keep your foot from wobbling around in the skate.  

On this morning, I kept offering to help her get her gear on but she kept saying no.  Finally she stopped, stared at me and said, "Mom!  I'm a hockey player.  I'm tough and I don't need any help!".  Well, ok then...

She is one tough little princess.

She has done really well in her hockey lessons.  She started in Pre-Hockey where they just learned how to skate with a stick, shoot a puck and work on skating moves.  Here is a quick video of her skating and coming to a quick stop.


She progressed well in the class and has moved up to Hockey Academy.  Now they are working on more difficult skating moves and learning more about how to play the game.

She still talks about being a figure skater or taking dance lessons.  We told her the budget will only cover one sport and for now she has chosen ice hockey.  I'm so proud of her because I know she is doing what she really wants to do and not just what is expected of her.  Be yourself, baby, and dare to stand out!