Timeout, Arena Rock, and Popcorn: Family Entertainment at Its Finest

The search for family entertainment these days is getting tougher. Even G-rated movies have scary bears, and tonight, Gigi cried during America's Funniest Videos because, "The dog took the baby's dumpy!" (She wouldn't be a fan of the old Coppertone puppy either.)

So, when we stumble onto something that works, we go back, again, and again, and again. The Hubby's firm has great hockey seats, and when we're lucky, we stumble into a ticket or two. I don't know how to read the scoreboard (it's true--I really, very very briefly, thought the shot count was 3, 232 not 32 versus 32, which makes far more sense). But, scoreboards be darned,  we're Baron's fans.

Big time. 

Most of the time, Daddy gets to take RJ to the games. This weekend, however, RJ is having a mommy moment and requested me (yay!). He wasn't too sure I could find the parking garage, or the arena, or our seats. But once we found our seats and the most important element, popcorn, he settled in with a smile. Date night!

Hockey games really are family entertainment at its finest. There's dinner: 

RJ loves popcorn. He loves popcorn. It is his Hershey's chocolate bar. His fine wine. His just dessert. 

There are teaching moments. As it turns out, some things really are true about hockey: there are a lot of fights. And if you're at the game with a five-year old boy, you have lots of teaching moments. "Uh-oh! He's gonna get in timeout again!" RJ loves to see big boys get sent to timeout for fighting. Although, my little man has been to enough games to know, "They weren't really much fighting, because no helmets came off." 

There's humor. The whole shebang is sponsored by a dentist (get it? ha!).

There's sport.  The thing about a small(er) time hockey league?  They get really, really excited about goals. Sirens go off for about five minutes. The whole arena erupts in, well, arena rock. And through it all, RJ is in it. 

The agony. 

The thrill. 

And the madness in between. At this precise moment, he was yowling like a cat. I'm so proud. 

He's a trash talker like no one else. "Hey Checkers! I'm not cheering for you; I cheer for the Barons!" "Come on guys, how about some turbo boost!" "You win, I win!"

The Ice Girls chatted him up and made him blush. We learned a little about love and life from Derrick (the mascot) and his chick magnet. "But mom, what is a chick magnet?" I have a feeling he'll find out soon enough, through personal experience. The boy has fabulous hair and a more fabulous personality.

Ladies, beware. 

Family entertainment at its finest.  And don't worry, Gigi had her own best date night ever: 

When asked by her daddy what she wanted for dinner, her reply? "I want chips." So, chips were had along with a night cap at Braum's.  

We've got this family entertainment thing down. But the next date night will Mommy and Daddy's.