Sell Happenings: MoNsTeR JaM FiNaLS

Here is the pictures I promised earlier of Cameron's birthday to Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas this past weekend. We left early Thursday morning for our flight to Las Vegas. We had been in the air for about 30-45 minutes when the pilot came on and said we were landing in Pittsburgh. This was not on the plans. A few minutes later, he came on and said we were having electrical failure and were landing in five minutes. It was all uneventful - thank goodness. After landing, they told us, we would needed to switch planes. As we were deplaining, the pilot was there and he looked quite stressed. Also, Cameron noticed that they had people dressed in the gray fire suits. He pointed them out to us. We arent sure what really happened but we were glad to be on the ground. We made our flight to Chicago and made the Las Vegas connection without any problems. As were getting ready to land in Las Vegas, that was pretty rough. If that had been Pittsburgh, I would have been very nervous. We made it and was ready to have some fun. We ended up in the "cowboy" suite at our hotel. The pictures of it are on Duane's camera and not sure how to download them. The room had bunk beds, which Cameron spoke for the top bunk. It had the split rail wooden posts all around the room with a cowboy themed border and bedspreads. It was quite cute and very spacious.
After checking in, we went to lunch. We then headed to Planet Hollywood Casino because we had tickets to the evening's Ultimate Variety show. We weren't sure where we were going or how long it would take. Once there, the kids decided they wanted to see the animal show, too. The kids really enjoyed this. It had different animals doing different tricks, jugglers, and other kids entertainment. We had to wait an hour for our other show so we walked around the mall inside Planet Hollywood. It made it seem like you were outside. It is much cooler than Ceaser's Palace!!! The Ultimate show was good but the kids didnt get half of the comedy stuff. It was way over there heads. It was supposed to be the best show for kids. All in all, it was a fun day. The kids were up bright and early the next morning. They were still on PA time zone. The Monster Truck Double Down didnt start till noon. It was a long morning. They were so excited but driving each other and us batty!! :-) I took them down to the exercise room to burn some energy. It did seem to help, slightly! At 9:30, we finally left for the Monster Jam. We knew we would be standing in line but then they would at least be there. When we got there it was quite cool. We had shorts and t-shirts for the day. I had packed our jackets for later in the evening. We ended up using them for the entire the day. After standing in line for about a half hour, Taylor and I decided to go sit in the car and let the boys stand in line. It was much warmer in there! Finally, it was time for the gate to open. Yea!! Taylor and Cameron ran straight for Grave Diggers tent, they wanted to get his signature first. He is Camerons favorite. Duane and I tried to follow them but they were long gone. Parents werent supposed to run. We (Duane and I) finally reached the the tent, Cameron and Taylor were the third 'family' in line. They looked quite pleased with themselves!! :-) After Grave Diggers signature and picture we headed for Maximum Destruction. We had to wait a little longer in this line but it wasnt to bad. He knocked Cameron's Grave Digger hat off his head as he stepped up to get his signature. (Max D and Grave Digger are the two most popular trucks). When it was time for pictures. Tom Meents put his Max D hat over Cameron's hat. We all had a good laugh. The drivers are all very friendly and joke with the kids. The kids had fun going around getting pictures and signatures. We did this for most of the day. The kids also made posters for the actual jam to hold in the air. They had all sorts of different bounce houses for the kids to play on. Later that evening, we watched the qualifying of trucks for the race portion for Saturday evening. By then, it was quite chilly, I am so glad I packed a blanket with us. It was a lot of fun. Donkey Kong posted the fastest qualifying time.
On Saturday morning, we took the kids to Sunset Station where they have a huge play area for kids. We checked them in and wondered around the casino. Duane and I decided to go get breakfast but they wanted $15 per person for the buffet. We werent that hungry so ended up spending almost $15 at Starbucks instead. We thought it was quite funny or crazy. We decided to play the slots for a bit but that wasnt to exciting. We lost a total of $5, big gamblers we are. I think if we would have been winning it would have held our attention a lit longer. We picked the kids up after an hour and half and headed to Monster Jam!! Saturday was much nicer weather wise. It was warm and sunny. Duane and I have slight sunburns to show for it. At least the kids didnt get burned. We finished getting the signatures that we missed on Friday. We also got pictures of the kids with the trucks. The kids wanted to go bowling, so off we go. Taylor won the first game. She had 2 strikes in row. WOW! This was her best game ever. Cameron won the second game. Duane and I watched the kids. They had fun. Back to the Monster Jam for the Finals.
We got there early but they had a lot of entertainment for us so the time went by quickly. The racing was a lot fun to watch. Duane's favorite TAZ ended up in a tree and had to be taken to the hospital. He ended up being okay but unable to do freestyle. During the final race for the championship, it was between Maximum Destruction and Captain's Curse. As Captains Curse was making his way around the turn, he went out of control and ended up in the stands. No people were seated in the area. They block off the lower section with blue tarps. Good thing! The camera man went running as he watched the truck come towards him. Alex Blackwell wasnt injured. Yea! It took a while for them to get his truck out of the stands. It did quite a bit of damamge to the railing. oops. Max D won the racing portion. Now onto Freestyle. This is where thr trucks go over jumps and smash all the objects in the arena. They basically go till there trucks can go no more. Either they have flat tires, tires fall off or most end upside down. US Airforce Afterburner won this portion. He gave a great performance. It was a lot of fun!! After the freestyle portion, Max D came back out and did the first ever Monster Truck back flip. It was awesome. Sunday morning came to quickly and back to PA without much excitement. It was very fun and fast mini vacation! Here are the pictures.
Cam's favorite