Great Weekend (Feb 1-2 2012)

I know it's a bit late to post about, but we had a great weekend nonetheless! :-)

Lets get started...

Pancake Breakfast

Saturday started out with us getting up a bit earlier than usual. Not only did we get to have a nice breakfast, it was hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning! It was great, we got to eat at their new Firestick Grill, and on top of that the Lightning TV guys (including Bobby "The Chief" Taylor) were there answering fan questions. It was a pretty great time.

Vinny's Hockey Stick

Across from the entrance to the Firestick Grill, the Lightning were selling game used "gear." All money collected from sales went to charity, so we made a "donation." We purchased one of Vinny Lecavalier's used hockey sticks. It's was a pretty awesome purchase, and you'll find out why soon. As much as we wanted to buy more items, we didn't. :-)

Practice

Probably my favorite part of that morning was being able to watch the Lightning practice. I always find it really fascinating to see teams get ready for their games, all that work they put in to it, great stuff. Something you all don't know, Jennifer's favorite player is Steve Downie. He's no enforcer, but he loves to throw down.. even when he gets his butt beat. The cool thing was watching the head coach, Guy Boucher, work one-on-one with Steve. Next to Marty, I really feel like Steve is the hardest working guy on the team.

12 Autographs

After practice completed, we decided to head over to the East Parking Lot where the players park. We did this in the hopes that one or two players might stop and sign autographs.. 12 players stopped, sweet! We officially have autographs from the following players:

• Pavel Kubina
• Tom Pyatt
• Victor Hedman
• Nate Thompson
• Dominic Moore
• Ryan Shannon
• Mattias Ohlund
• Mathieu Garon
• Brett Clark
• Marc-Andre Bergeron
• Brett Connolly
• Vinny Lecavalier (and now you know the rest of the story ;-) )

Datz Deli

If you're looking for a great place to eat, and you're in Tampa, go to Datz Deli. Amazing food. I usually get the same thing when I go there, the Havana Hottie. It's their play on a Cuban Sandwich, not authentic, but amazing. Lets just say that they use honey mustard and horseradish sauce.. ok, I'm hungry now..

Tampa Bay History Center

I've been wanting to go to the Tampa Bay History Center for a while. I see it advertised all the time at Lightning games, and it looked pretty cool. So we went! It's a really nice place and full of information about Tampa Bay. However, the coolest thing they have their.. their MAMMOTH SIZED ELEVATOR! Just look at the picture below..

Cocktail Party

Season ticket members for the Lightning were invited to a great little cocktail party before the game on Saturday. It was nice all on it's own, because we met some really nice people, however, the best part was being able to meet the Lightning owner, Jeff Vinik. What a nice man. You would never know that this guy was a multi-millionaire while talking to him. So laid back and chill.

Game

To top off the night, we went to the game that night against the Florida Panthers, and kicked their asses 6-3! The only issue, Mason had been up all day and in his car seat for most of the day. Long story short, we left half way through the 2nd period. I thought I would be bummed about leaving early, but I really wasn't. I was too concerned with Mason. :-)

Birthday Dinner

Believe it or not, everything up to this point was Saturday, long day. On Sunday, we took it pretty easy. We had a really nice lunch with my parents at The Pub. This was originally going to be an event for Jennifer & Angela's (my sister-in-law) birthdays, but with my niece & nephew getting over being very sick, we decided to do things a little separately. Jen & I have really enjoyed eating at The Pub. We love it so much, we had our wedding rehearsal dinner there.

Another great weekend with my amazing family. :-)

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Going to the Lightning Game

It's official! Mason is The Thunder!


That's right, Mason made an appearance at his first sporting event, a Lightning game. On top of that, the Lightning won!!


He did great too. He slept through the entire game, minus the one feeding we had to do. I really thought that when the Lightning scored he might freak out, but he didn't. The horn just made him tense up a bit, but even that only happened at the first goal (the Lightning scored 4 times). It was awesome!


I did think that one thing was kinda funny, everyone kept looking over at me. Not the kind of look that says "I can't believe that guy brought a kid that young!," it was more of "Oh my gosh, look at that! Is it his first game?"


Thank you Tampa Bay Lightning for making Mason's first Lightning game (and sporting event for that matter) and awesome time! I couldn't have asked for more! :-)


GO BOLTS!

PS...Thank you to my Season Ticket Rep, Shannon Dixie, for the upgraded seats for Mason's first game. :-)

Our First Big Step

People talk about how there are these mystical "Big Steps" that take place when you're raising your own kids. While I did understand what they meant, I never knew what they meant.. Until the other night..


Mason slept in his crib for the first time.. by himself.. in his room.. alone..


HOLY CRAP THAT WAS SCARY!!


Yeah yeah yeah, he was just in the other room and yes we have a monitor to make sure we know when he cries. But you know what? None of that matters.. When you move your first child in to their own room to sleep by themselves, that's a scary feeling.


The great thing about  him sleeping alone is, we have a really great baby monitor (Angelcare AC1100).  Our monitor provides video so that we can see him while he's sleeping, and a night vision mode. It also has a sensor that connects to the transmitter that monitors if breathing. Basically it can feel the movement of him breathing and if he stops for longer than 20 seconds, the receiver will sound an alarm and vibrate (perfect for Jennifer). However, that didn't work for me..


At one point in the night I glanced over to see if Mason was moving, and he was, but I didn't hear anything.. WHY CAN'T I HEAR ANYTHING!? THIS THING IS BROKEN!! DADDY'S COMING!! I get to his room, and he's not making any sounds.. he was just adjusting himself. Dammit. Now I'm paranoid that the monitor isn't working..


Long story short, I was too paranoid to leave him in the room alone, so I brought him back to sleep with us in the bassinet. Time for some more testing of the monitor! :-)

Monitor View

With Grandma's Blanket

Great Weekend (Jan 21-22 2012)

Update: 1/23/2011
Added map of locations and edited title


So let me start off with this... Awesome weekend!


The Farmer's Market
It started out with Jennifer and I taking Mason to the St. Petersburg Farmer's Market. We had a really great time, but I must say, I never realized how many people brought their kids there until now. I guess things are different when you bring your own kid.. you know that feeling too, the one you have when you're driving and thinking about a certain type of car and then all of the sudden you start seeing them all over the place! That feeling. It was really nice to be there, we have not gone since last year when the market was open. Good times.


Moon Under the Water
After being at the market for a while, and burning my head a bit (thanks sun), we decided to head over to one of our favorite places to eat in St. Pete.. Moon Under the Water. You would never be able to tell by the name of the place, but it's actually a British Colonial Tavern, and that makes it awesome! It was funny being there too, Mason decided to throw a bit of a fit and wanted to eat along with his Mom and Papi, not to worry because we always have milk with us. The funny part was watching all of the people in the restaurant (even the owners) melt watching him eat, it was great. Then the inevitable happened, he had to be changed. We've never changed him in a restaurant restroom before, so It was funny watching Jennifer wheel him into the restroom (which was immaculate!). Good times. :-)


The Manatees
After spending Saturday morning in St Pete we decided to head over to Tampa and see the manatees at the TECO Power Plant. I know how that might sound.. "What? At a Power Plant? Does Mason have a third eye now!?" No Mason does not have a third eye now, and it's actually a pretty cool place at the Manatee Viewing Center. You see, the reason why the manatees like it there is because of the warm water that's expelled from the plant in to the local water (not contaminated). It's a pretty cool place and there had to be about 15-20 manatees there, including some cool fish: Tarpon, Bonnethead Shark, Cat Fish, and now my camera lens cover.. don't ask.. It was a really cool time and here's some pictures I took while there: (click to enlarge)




Photo Shoot
Well, as hard as one might think it is to out-do that day, we may have on Sunday. We started out with a bit of a photo shoot. Here's the thing.. many of you may not realize this, but Jennifer and I were never happy with our wedding photographer. While he and his partner took nice pictures, it was the behind the scene stuff and the weeks leading up to the wedding that gave us a bad taste in our mouths. At one point we even had a "Plan B" in place, and that was the amazing Marcia Simmons Photography. Well, we couldn't have her for our wedding, but we did even better.. We got her to do our first Family Photo Shoot! Sorry folks, I can't show you any now, but be patient and you will get a chance, and soon. ;-)


John's Pass
Is it a bridge? Well, yes and no. It is a bridge, but that's not the cool part about it. John's Pass is a place full of shops and places to eat. We went to eat. It was a pretty great time, because I think that Mason should be close to the water as often as possible, I mean, this is Florida! We decided to grab a bite to eat at this cool little place called The Friendly Fisherman, great food and great view. It's odd though.. the best thing about The Friendly Fisherman is the place next door.. Kilwin's Ice Cream! I heard a rumor that while God was taking Sunday off, he actually made Toasted Coconut ice cream.. but don't quote me on that.


All in all.. what a great weekend. I love my family. :-) 


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Mason's Growth Charts

Check out the new "Growth Charts" page. You can click here, or click on the tab at the top of the page. 


Here we will be tracking Mason's growth. It'll be awesome. ;-)

Mason's Firsts

Check out the new "Mason's Firsts" page. You can click here, or click on the tab at the top of the page. :-)

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog!


Here, we will be sharing with you all about our lives, especially about Mason. We really hope that you enjoy what you see. Please leave comments, we love those. :-)