As mentioned, we had a pretty exciting weekend! We were headed to Hamilton for Craig's 400th straight game with the Knighthawks, and then to Toronto the following day for a Blue Jays game! Craig's parents were coming with us, as well. Of course, I was mildly panicked all week and taking Zicam with every sniffle because I was so worried illness would screw something up. We had been so excited for so long, for multiple reasons, and I just couldn't bear the thought of anything getting messed up. Thankfully, in the end we made it there and it was such a wonderful weekend. It was not without its hiccups, but they were far overshadowed by the good stuff!
The process of getting packed up ended up being a bit hectic. I was able to do most of my packing on Thursday night for Carter and me, but of course there are always last minute toiletries and I was still deciding on what kind of purse or bag to use since both venues only wanted small bags, so that and a lot of other last minute decisions--like snacks--were going to be packed right before we left. I had a bunch of last minute stops on my way home on Friday, too. We were supposed to leave around 5:30, and I got out just after 4pm, but I wanted to stop at Wegmans for more Zicam, one requested snack, and Craig's razor blades I forgot the night before, followed by the Aldi down the road for a couple weekly specials I was worried about missing, and then Dollar Tree (thankfully in the same plaza) for another requested snack, poster board, and another random thing or two. The poster board was to make a sign for Craig, which Carter said he wanted to do, but actually doing that was going to have to wait for when we were there. It wasn't ideal to have all those stops, but I have to say it ended up pretty efficient all things considered--pretty much one quarter mile stretch right on my way home.
When I got home, Craig was already in a flurry trying to get things packed up and in the van. He always does this, grabbing bags I'm not finished throwing things into, just to make progress on packing. I tried to get him to chill out because I was losing track of what was where at that point. I did the toiletries quick and started checking my list, packing up a smaller purse, and getting a few other things ready. The boys wanted to go to Dick's to look for a couple baseball things with a coupon that was only good for the weekend, so they decided to go while I was wrapping up, which was definitely going to make us leave later, but whatever. I did manage to print up a Knighthawks logo for the sign before I left work, so I cut that out and glued it on the poster board while I waited. I got everything pretty set by the time they got back, but of course it was still rushed and hectic wrapping things up and grabbing a couple last minute additions.
We grabbed dinner at Mighty Taco once we got to Buffalo, ate in the van, and got to Craig's parents' around 7:30. We packed them up, shifted seats (Carter and me to the back, Craig's mom in the front, and his dad in the middle), and headed out just as it was starting to get dark. It was also pretty rainy. We decided to take the Peace Bridge, which is a rarity for us. It was different to go through a separate part of the Niagara Falls tourist area we don't often go to (in a popular hotel area away from the Falls itself), but unfortunately there wasn't much to see because of the dark and rain. It felt odd and rather miraculous to be back in Canada for the first time since October 2019. I don't know that I'd ever been away for that long and never imagined after going there so many times amidst the Raptors championship era that we'd subsequently not go back for so long. Of course, the downside was losing cell service as my phone does not operate in Canada unless there's WiFi.
The drive to Hamilton wasn't too bad, only a little over an hour. When we got to the hotel and unloaded, I realized there was one less bag than I was expecting. Carter's wasn't there. I asked Craig where it was and he said he never grabbed it, and I never grabbed it either because I was sure he would have done it given his frantic packing when I got home--primarily since I knew he'd been in Carter's room to pack up his stuffed animals, blankets, and pillow. But sure enough, nope. It was a bit of a heated moment, and Carter was pretty upset, too. Later on Craig took the blame because Carter had specifically asked him about his and Craig even stopped Carter from going back up to his room to check on something, so no one ever saw it. Admittedly I missed it too because I'm usually the one that packs his stuff and brings it down, and I had even stopped in to grab his nightlight that we always bring for hotel rooms and turn off his light. But with how frantic Craig was, I guess I just assumed that had been part of it, although I feel like something else must have been said that made me think he had it. Essentially, a number of things had to go wrong for this to happen, and in this case they all did. On the bright side, we were able to get a toothbrush for free from the hotel to get us through the night, and there wasn't anything else that was a desperate situation--like it would have been had I forgot something like birth control pills or even if we would have forgotten any of Jacob's stuff--he would have lost it! We told Carter he'd get a nice new wardrobe the next day, so that seemed to help. He was upset, but in the end he was a trooper. We felt AWFUL, though. Otherwise, the night and overnight weren't bad. I can't say I slept great but the bed was comfortable and everyone seemed to sleep good enough.
We had a pretty quiet morning. Craig had to go to the team shootaround pretty early and we all woke up, so the boys and I just hung around for a bit. I think we ended up downstairs for our overpriced but pleasant Starbucks breakfast before 10am. Jacob discovered he likes the egg bites, and Carter loved his sandwich. We had a couple good laughs and were generally in very good spirits. We headed back upstairs to wait for Craig and I got started on the sign. Here's the thing--we had one shot with this and if it was going to be visible to other people or even TV, I wanted it to be legible, so I started by doing the bubble letters myself. Carter was my consultant on what it should say. I was going to have him help color, but it turned out our markers weren't quite as robust as I was hoping, so I ended up doing that part myself too, to make sure coverage was good. But Carter was ready to be an eager holder, so that was his big contribution, I guess!
Craig came back in time for us to go to lunch with his parents. We opted for a Pizza Pizza in Burlington because Jacob wanted chicken bites and it was just down the road from a spot that had a Winners (Canadian version of Marshalls) and a Sport Chek (sort of like Dick's minus the sporting equipment), which were both on our agenda. Lunch took a bit because only one person seemed to be working, but it was good. I have missed Pizza Pizza!
The shopping area turned out to be a full-on indoor mall, albeit a smaller one. We started at Winners to get Carter's clothes. We managed to find a couple Montreal Expos shirts he liked, which was appropriate since that's his new baseball team this summer. We found one pair of pants that would work, as well as socks and underwear. That would at least get us through the next day. He could wear one shirt that night (but his same pants) and then wear the other stuff the next day. We tried to find Blue Jays stuff, but it didn't quite work out. Still, it wasn't bad, and the price was reasonable It was less than $70 CDN for two shirts, a pair of pants, three pairs of underwear, and like 10 pairs of socks, I think. He needed some new socks anyway, and the shirts were fun. We also almost bought some stuff at this slightly sketchy sports store--they had a lot of Jays stuff but Jacob was insisting it was all fake. Still, the $20 rack was tempting. We moved on to Sport Chek, and our lucky boy found both a Jays hat and a jersey he liked, which his sweet, generous grandparents took care of. So he was officially all set for the next day! He's still a little bummed we didn't get the Jays stuffed monkey they had--one of those long armed hugging ones--because the Jays stadium store didn't have the stuffed Ace mascot we were looking for either. Boo.
On the way out of the mall we stopped at Shoppers Drug Mart to get Canadian candy (yum) and the Indigo bookstore to get Craig's mom some Starbucks. Indigo made me a little sad because I had already checked online to see if any nearby stores had the three newer Brady Brady books. We loved that series of sports-themed books, and even if my kids have outgrown them, I sort of want to keep the full series going, you know? They don't seem to be in stock in stores anymore, but I can get them a little pricier on Amazon. Oh well.
We had two nagging things by this point--the game tickets hadn't shown up on my phone, and we needed to figure out dinner for Jacob since arenas typically don't have a lot to offer him. In the end we had to get printed tickets because apparently whichever way they were texting them didn't work even with WiFi. I could still get most texts, but apparently whatever format they were sending needed mobile data regardless? They came in right as we got to the border on the way home (along with a couple of Craig's texts) so something was funky about them. As for Jacob, we did find a place around the corner that was a dedicated gluten-free taco place. We ordered a couple tacos--they were called the "Cease & Desist" as I think in a previous menu I saw online they called them the "Taco Bell" and the real Taco Bell must not have liked that!--and he and I walked there to pick them up. He said they were okay--meat was good, but nothing too exciting beyond that...but it was food. He finished up just as we had to go meet Craig's parents.
The walk wasn't bad for us, but I felt a little bad for Craig's parents--especially since I took us the wrong way initially. Still, we got in relatively uneventfully. But then I looked at the tickets and figured out they were WAY up. Like 2nd row from top. UGH. This was the view from the concourse...
But this was the view from our seats:
I personally don't mind these seats--it was a haul, for sure--but the field view is great. I grew up sitting in the oranges at the Aud back in the day, and these are built quite similar. I like being closer to the action because they're steep, but they're definitely not for everyone. Jacob was predictably extra annoyed, and I felt bad for my in-laws because of the walk. Ironically, we couldn't see Craig at all because his part of the press box was blocked by rafters. Also, the WiFi wasn't available up there, which was an extra pain since I needed it to do any sort of texting. So, I went down to the concourse, got on the WiFi, texted Craig and asked if maybe he wanted to try to get his parents into the team suite or something. Thankfully, he was able to, so I walked them down there just before the game. It was a bummer to not watch the game with them, but we did stop in during halftime when the team entourage was down in the locker room. We needed a quick place to eat our food, and that was easier than going all the way back up with our hands full. The other drawback to being all the way up was that it felt pretty pointless to unfurl the sign because literally no one could see it unless they looked behind them. I decided we'd just have to open it up when we went to the friends and family area after the game.
Did I mention that we were playing the Toronto Rock? But in Hamilton? The Rock started playing there a couple years ago, which is a bit of a step down from 19,000 people in the Air Canada Centre back in the day. Jacob and I both have fond recollections of games at the ACC over the years, and it's too bad circumstances had to change. Still, they had a great turnout--over 11,000 people at this game, which isn't bad compared to most of the league these days. It's different and weird but probably wouldn't be that bad if we didn't have something so much better to compare it to years ago.
Sadly, the game had a really rough start. We didn't score until there was less than three minutes left in the first quarter, and then didn't score again until about that same point in the third quarter. That means one goal in the first half and a 10-1 deficit at halftime. It was awful. Thankfully, we made a bit of a comeback. We held them scoreless in the third and picked up a couple quick goals, then got it as close as 10-5 in the fourth. Then it went back and forth a bit before an empty netter and a quick additional goal. We lost 13-6. Not exactly the night we were looking for.
I snapped a couple pics near the end as we were waiting for the suite crew to leave for the locker room again. You can see the press box here. Craig is on the near end.
Turns out this was waiting for him in his booth before the game from the opposing team staff. They also gave him a bobblehead of a player who happens to have played for both teams! It's pretty sweet of them to think of him.
He didn't even mention it on his broadcast, but he did get a couple nice mentions online from the Knighthawks and the league, and even got interviewed for the Knighthawks social media and another online publication. It's a pretty amazing feat, after all! And somehow I've been around for all of it, including the night early on where I tagged along for a road game to Albany and had to buy him a beer to calm his nerves before the game! He's come a long way.
After the game we met him down in the friends and family area, and we had the sign out! He got a lot of congrats while we were there, and it was really fun to be there to see it.
We wrapped up the night with food at the Anchor Bar in the hotel. Ironic that was my first time having the legendary, original Buffalo wing brand, and it happened in Canada of all places, but I won't judge them since we were in a different country. They weren't bad, just small and not very meaty. But the sauce seemed good! Eventually Jacob was falling asleep sitting up so I took the boys upstairs, and Craig followed not long after. It had been a fun, long, tiring day, but we needed to get some rest because we had to be up and out early the next morning for another big event--onward to the Blue Jays!
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