Seven Hockey Game Weekend

Alternate Title: I Owe Fiona a Pony

Fiona and I are awaiting our Super Fan medals. We also accept badges and/or trophies. She and I cheered on the other Vannestes for seven games this weekend. Seven Games. In 30 hours. For real. We want a medal.

I told Fiona I owed her a pony. And that while I would not actually buy her one, the record reflects it nonetheless. She exploited this during The Game 6 Meltdown and I bought her a hat from the craft table in the lobby of the rink. It was $28. It is not lined with gold. But it got me through Game 7 with a positive attitude - and it is pretty cute. And really, can a girl have too many hats? (Mike says yes ... I disagree)

Saturday morning saw us running out the door at the same time we do to catch the school bus - as Q and D both had 8:50 games. I tried to convince Fiona that since two games were at the same time, it was like we only had to watch six. Now that it is over, I'm with Fiona. It was still seven. Because holy smokes, it is a lot of work to watch two games at the same time! Both Quinn and Declan played really great and so so hard. It was fun to watch them really doing their best and having a blast.

Mike had gotten Quinn ready, while I got Dec ready. He was feeling pretty nervous on the way to the tournament (it was about a 30 minute drive), so he got me to help humor him into a better mood. Once his friend Payton showed up and we started putting his gear on, he was fine and ready to go. He gets in his own head. I understand. It was a gift from his mama (sorry, D!). During his game, his breezers came untied and one of his helmet straps unsnapped. We joked about my equipment skills for the rest of the weekend (I did not help my case when I put his shin pads on the wrong legs on Sunday). Nothing fell off, so I maintain it was FINE.

It was Q's only game of the day, but Dec had another one at 12:20. To kill time, we headed to a cafe in town with some of his teammates. Where there was a two hour wait for food. So we went to McDonald's and the kids ran around the PlayPlace. Because playing several games in a day is not enough exercise. Then back to the rink we went for Game 3 (and to meet the MN Wild mascot Nordy). One of Dec's coaches had to miss that game so Mike stepped in as bench coach to help out. There was a fair amount of whining from the girls about being tired and wanting to go home, but we made it through. You could tell Dec was tired during the game, but he still did a good job.

When we got home, I figured they'd crash. They did not. They had a lovely afternoon of playing together. Very well, in fact. Then just before dinner time, we gathered our stuff and our Jimmy John's delivery to go up to Breck to watch Mike play. It's his only game this season that we will be able to see, so were glad it worked out. Brad also brought Jack and Cooper - to the delight of the three Vs.

The five of them had the.best.time running around the rink, enjoying a dinner picnic, and doing what 9, 7, and 5 year olds do. I actually watched the game and occasionally counted to make sure that I knew where all five were. The boys won their game and were really happy with how they played. Fiona said this was her favorite game of the whole weekend. I would have to agree with her. Everything is better with good friends around!

It was later to bed than usual and then up EARLY Sunday morning - because we had to be out of the house by 7am for Q's 8:00 game. Dec woke up not feeling great, but a little pre-heating time and some tylenol seemed to help. I could tell he had a cold, but we didn't think much of it. Q was pumped for her game (and after my equipment performance on Saturday, she wanted nothing to do with me helping her gear up) and played really well. Her team is so sweet and play really well together.

Game 5 went really well. Mike bought donuts for the cheer squad to share, Fiona and Dec were in great moods. We basically had this. The games were spaced just close enough on Sunday morning that we couldn't really leave to do anything, but had an hour to kill between them. During the hour between games, Q ran around with her teammates and lived her best life. Dec found his teammates in the locker room and was pretty pumped to hang with them. Fiona was getting antsy, but was hanging in there. When we found Q and her friends, I could tell Fiona wanted to join, but was nervous to ask. Q could tell too, so she grabbed Fiona's hand and told her to join them.

With everyone accounted for, I went to find our stuff and Mike. I relocated to Dec's side of the rink with our stuff and then realized that Mike had been recruited again to help coach. I settled in for the game. About 5 minutes later, an in-tears Fiona found me because Q and her friends run too fast and she can't keep up. We re-found Quinn, I reinforced not ditching sisters, and sent them off.

Not much later, they both joined me in the stands. Where the wheels started to come off. It was hot. It was cold. They were tired. They were bored. Was it done? Could we go home? Meanwhile, Dec's cold was kicking his butt on the ice. Coach Daddy was encouraging him to play through it. He did. But he also started sitting on the side of the bench opposite Coach Daddy.

We hung out in the locker room after Dec's game because we were just done with people. Dec snuggled on my lap and Quinn talked me into a Go Fish game. Then when Mike started helping Q get her gear on for Game 7, Fiona, Dec, and I walked over to buy the hat I had promised her to stem the spiral of Game 6. She was thrilled. Dec was pooped. [Q is ticked off that she did not get a hat!]

We sat together to watch Q's game with F's spirit restored and a fancy new hat on her head. Dec was the opposite of restored and slept on me for most of the game. I could tell he was running a fever by the end. So when the game was over, we grabbed our gear and headed home. Dec slept the whole way, then decided to go to bed for another 2 hour nap when we got home. Fiona declined playing with the neighbors to chill out on the couch. And Quinn drove Mike crazy enough that he took her skiing - because she still had energy to burn.

Somehow, we started today with clean clothes and groceries. I also spent it at home with a still sick Declan. But I think he's on the mend. While not a refreshing weekend, we did have a lot of fun. And we are so proud of all our hockey players. Only one more tournament to go before the end of hockey season.

[Don't tell Fiona, but then soccer season starts]