First off, let me say the obvious. Well, this should be obvious to anybody I’ve been around for the past week. I’ve been a real crankypants, angry and frustrated with just about everything. If it’s not obvious to you, it will be after reading this post. That’s for sure. Anyway, last week, the only thing I was really looking forward to was taking Oliver to his first St. Louis Blues game at Scottrade Center. The Blues were playing the hated Detroit Red Wings, and the game was starting at 1 p.m. Perfect for our little guy.

Sarah and I headed out around noon and got downtown just in time to make it to the rink. However, there was a problem: The stinking, f’ing St. Patrick’s Day parade!!!! We got stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes downtown, just trying to park our car. Every drunk guy with green body paint and a little plastic derby on his melon just got my blood boiling. Every parking lot was full. Every road was bottlenecked. We finally parked the car and made it into the building with about five minutes left in the first period.

We spent the end of the first period watching the game from a side rail. Oliver enjoyed watching all the lights and looking at all the people. We then went to our seats. There, Oliver enjoyed clinging to his momma the entire time. Well, at least between eating Cheerios and staring at the woman seated to our right.



Right before the second period ended, we headed out to the family restroom. Have you used one of these things at the Scottrade Center before? Did you even know about them? Well, here’s a little interesting tidbit for you: Grown men like to poop in these bathrooms. They wait there, then go in and have a nice quiet bathroom to themselves. We stood in line behind some scuzzy old guy for a few minutes before some duece-dropper exited in shame. The scuzzy old guy in front of us must have decided to clinch it a bit longer, or he felt guilty for waiting for the family restroom, and he let us cut in front. Inside, we did the usual. … changed Oliver’s diaper, got him dressed. Man, did it stink in there!!! So gross. Scuzzy man was still waiting, along with two other guys that could have been his brothers.

Next, we headed over to the food court area where we shared a soda and pretzel. Oliver was really liking this snack time. There was food and lots to look at.



Finally, we headed back to our seats to watch the rest of the game. The Blues had their butts handed to them, though the place was really, really loud. Despite that, Oliver took a bottle and fell sound asleep. He slept through the end of the game and almost all the way to the car. I had to carry him, and my back was really hurting. The boy does weigh a ton.



An hour later, after navigating around St. Louis and St. Louis County due to St. Patrick’s Day parade street closures and Highway 40 being closed, we made it home. I couldn’t have been happier (OK, I was still cranky, so sue me).

All in all, it was pretty stressful. Not like I imagined. However, I did get a rush being at the game with the boy. I can’t wait to take him again when he’s a little older. It’s going to be so much fun.