Dinner night

Took a few pics before we headed out to the kids' favorite dining spot -- Maggiano's.  Seems we've been frequenting this place more often now that it's a couple miles away.

Hockeytown Cafe

Kids were all decked out in their Detroit gear for the Hockeytown cafe downtown.  These were from a few weeks ago, actually the day before I took Dylan to the Wings game.

It Takes Heart to be a Hero!

We are raising money for kids that are sick.   I am wondering if you want to help?  We are helping because some people are born with half of their heart. 

http://jumphoopsmwa.kintera.org/madisonfurlani

Dylan's first game

Took Dylan to his first hockey game last Sunday.  Somehow with a 4-2 lead in the 3rd, the Wings let this one slip and the Panthers tied it up shorthanded!  The game went to a shoot-out and the Wings couldn't finish it off.  It was a great game, lots of scoring and Dylan watched every second of it.  He loved every part of it, until he saw the scoreboard after the shootout:  

Panthers - 5, Red Wings - 4

There was about 15 minutes of yelling and some crying I had to diffuse due to the loss.  I tried to explain that the Red Wings still got a point for the tie -- but that doesn't register at this age.  Believe it or not, I've spent quite a bit of time with him on losing games (once in a while) and have gained quite a bit of ground.  However when it comes to his beloved Wings, if you're not in first, you're last.

To say he's obsessed with hockey is an understatement.  He recognizes 8 of the Red Wings by number -- and 3 of them by facial recognition alone.  Dylan can tell you who is currently hurt, the backup goalie for the Wings and distinguishes players by offense and defense.  He also seems to recall specific details for every game he watches.  For example, Dylan and I were talking about the game a couple days ago and I said to him "hey, wasn't the 1st goal of the game by Alfredsson cool", his response "Dad, Alfredsson didn't score the first goal, it was Nyquist. Alfredsson scored the second goal".  Now I couldn't remember, but I had no doubt he was right.  Sure enough, took a look online and he was dead on.

I have quite a bit of hockey stories I could tell, but to sum it up.  We play hockey in the basement every single day, he plays goalie just about every time -- suits up in full knee-hockey goalie gear and tries to get shutouts.  This morning, at 6:30am he climbed into bed, first question asked (which was repeated about 20 more times), "Dad, I want to watch hockey highlights, can we watch hockey highlights?".  You see, we watched the 1st period of the Red Wings game last night then he had to go bed -- a cliffhanger for my hockey obsessed son.  Turns out, Red Wings won -- so far it's been a great morning.