Going Wild in Dallas - part 1

I took so many photos our last night in Texas that I'm going to break this into two posts. This story actually starts back in January, as I was driving home in frigidly cold temperatures after watching AJ play a hockey game in Twig. (Yes, we really have a town near us named Twig.)

Jeff and I had only recently started talking about the possibility of a trip to Texas. We knew we wanted to visit San Antonio and Kingsland, but that's about as much as we'd planned. Nothing had been particularly thought through. And that's when I came up with another idea that was not well thought through.

Wouldn't it be cool, while in Texas, to watch Minnesota's original hockey team play a game? As soon as I got home, I headed for the computer to check the Dallas Stars schedule. It's as if it was fate: our last night in Texas, the Stars were playing the Minnesota Wild.

And that's how we ended up driving an extra four hours and having to pay an extra $200 to drop off our rental car in a different city than from where we picked it up. Not well thought out. But definitely fun!

And definitely strange. How does one dress to attend a hockey game when it's 70 degrees outside? We wore pants, but saw a lot of people in shorts.

On the plaza outside the arena, the atmosphere reminded me of going to a Twins game back home. Live music, various activities for the kids - all sorts of things it's just too cold to do outside a hockey game in Minnesota!

Sydney couldn't wait to try out the bouncy house and inflatable slide.

Meanwhile, AJ lined up to play a little shoe hockey. (I think it'd normally be called boot hockey, but no one was wearing boots.) He quickly made friends. Never mind that they'd be rooting for opposite teams inside the arena, for this game they were teammates.

Call me a snob, but watching these kids play, I simply couldn't imagine how they could be anywhere close to AJ's level. Sure, some of them might have played in hockey leagues, but in a climate like Texas, how could they possibly understand the toughness it takes to play night after night, outdoors, in sub-zero temperatures?

AJ approached the game with his typical intensity and competitiveness.

I think they played for five minutes. And apparently these southern kids do okay in this version of hockey. AJ's team lost 5-3, though AJ was quick to point out he got an assist.

While we waited for AJ, Jeff suggested Sydney pose for a photo opp. She couldn't understand why we wanted her to do this. "But, it's not mine," she protested. "Are we stealing it?" 

We assured her we just wanted her to pick it up for the photo, and that that's why it was there.

At last, it was time to head in to the game. And that will be my next story.