Wales Weekend Part 2 - Principality Stadium Monster Jam

So after wanting to take the boys to see the Monster Jam show for probably a good 5 years, I had finally managed to get tickets. However it meant us travelling all the way to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to see them. Still it was worth every single penny as me and the boys had an amazing time.

 

Outside the stadium the place was a buzz with the sound of fog horns which were driving Brandon nuts. He wanted ear plugs more for the air horns than the sound of the trucks. Before going in the arena I bought both the boys a souvenir t-shirt. They were very expensive but this was a once in a lifetime experience so it had to be done.

 

We had quite high seats in the stadium but that actually made for a great view of the arena. The show comprised of 4 parts which all kicked off after a laser light and music intro. The first part was a straight two lap knockout race which was won by Dragon. My shark truck called Megladon came last. The second part of the show was a 2 wheel challenge where each truck had two attempts to pull off their best 2 wheel stunts, be it wheelies, end overs etc. This was won by maximum destruction who performed the most sensational controlled end over balance driving on the front wheels.

 

The third part was after the interval and involved the freestyle stunt motorcycles. These looked pretty good but the visibility at this stage was poor as they had let off too much smoke for the half time laser light show. This was the only negative about the whole show. The finale to the show was the 2 min freestyle round where each truck gets to perform their own tricks and stunts and in about half of the cases they completely trashed their trucks to the crowds entertainment.

 

The noise of the trucks was just incredible. In fact it was so loud that towards the end of the show Tina and Holly were over in the park and could hear the trucks from the stadium so loudly that Tina was able to text me to ask if that was the last truck to run. Overall we had a really great day and the boys are now dead keen to go back next year. For me this is one item off of the bucket list.

 

Me and the boys outside the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Waiting for the show to start and wearing their souvenir t-shirts. Love Brandon's American hunting style design.

The Welsh flag was flying proudly at one end of the stadium.

Dragon was amazing all day and was so close to winning the head to head racing event.

Earth Shaker was one of the surprise packages for us and was thoroughly entertaining.

Zombie got one of the jumps wrong on the very first event.

A difficult landing flipped the truck.

Over and over.....

Ultimately finishing in a bit of a scrap heap pile. Amazingly they got the truck fixed up and back out for event 2!

Out comes the recovery tractor.

And within minutes Zombie is back on 4 wheels.

My favourite Monster Jam called Megladon (the shark) was so disappointing and came last overall. Gutted.

Maximum destruction was on another level and showed its experience right up there with the great Grave Digger.

This picture shows the shear size of the Monster Trucks when you see it in comparison to the everyday green car behind it.

Zombie had repaired itself and came out fighting to perform for the crowd again.

Maximum destruction showing unbelievable control driving on its front two wheels.

The fore breathing Dragon which was so entertaining in every event and could easily have been the winner if it wasn't for Max.D, Grave Digger and Earth Shaker.

Dragon getting some BIG air.

Scooby Doo was a fan favourite with the kids but didn't really do much spectacular stuff.

Apart from at the end of its freestyle routine where it ended up on its roof and on fire!

Grave Digger lived up to all expectations and despite not doing great in the head to head, he was just in a league of his own in the next 2 rounds and was the easy overall winner.

Grave digger giving the other trucks a master class in wheelies.

And to top it off Grave Digger was one of two trucks that successfully landed the back flip. 2 more tried and failed dismally..

Wales Weekend Part 1 Trecco Bay



This weekend just gone we took a road trip to South Wales for a long weekend. The main reason for the visit was because I had got tickets for me and the boys to watch the Monster Jam truck show at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. So whilst we were heading that way we decided to make a weekend out of it and booked a caravan on a Park Dean resort on Trecco Bay. The kids have been nagging us for a caravan holiday for some time now.

 

The drive to South Wales was a bit of a pain and took us about 4 and a 1/2 hours with one stop to grab some dinner given that we left straight after the kids finished school. The resort at Trecco Bay was really nice and our caravan was pretty amazing, a 3 bedroom van that could easily sleep 6 or 7 and had all the amenities you needed.

 

Weather wise we couldn't have picked a better weekend for South Wales with temperatures in the mid 20's meaning we could actually go to the beach. Who would have thought you could travel to South Wales in May and we worried about getting sun burnt! After settling in the first night we got up Saturday morning to head to Cardiff which is an absolutely amazing city. We spent the morning there exploring the town, some parks and having a picnic before me and the boys split off to head to the stadium whilst the girls went shopping for the day.

 

 

Road trip to Wales, only a weekend away but the car was jam packed.

 

Our luxury caravan accommodation for the weekend.

The kids soon settled in and found the caravan very exciting.

 

Holly and Brandon settled down to do some colouring whilst we unpacked everything.

The main centre of the Trecco Bay caravan park.

The kiddies quickly found the arcades and this was the start of the money disappearing.

Brandon doing some truck racing.

A silly picture, but quite impressed with the lighting and timing of the photo.

Brandon's attempt not quite as good.

The sun starts setting over Trecco Bay.

Joshua and Brandon on a racing game.

Asusual Holly was just happy on the 2p machines.

We took the scooters and skate boards with us so the kids could play around on the site.

In Cardiff we found this great Welsh novelty shop with the wicked moped and suit of armour.

Cardiff castle is amazing and literally right at the bottom of the town centre.

Tina and the kiddies outside Cardiff castle.

I think the lips were some sort of advertising campaign for the Rolling Stones. I might be wrong there.

Brandon outside Cardiff castle.

The detail on the clock tower is beautiful.

Holly with a miniature house in the park next to Cardiff castle.

The river looked stunning and made is wish we had brought our canoes (if only there was room in the car).

Tina and the kids on the wobbly millennium bridge.

Not sure if this is meant to be a Grufallo or a Welsh dragon coming out of the ground.

With all the hot weather it was time for an ice cream before heading off to the stadium.

Leo Sleep Over and Eurovision 2018

Last Friday night Joshua had a sleep over at his friends house, Leo's, along with a load of other mates (brave Mum for taking that lot on). Leo's Mum and Dad have a ginormous back garden with loads of quad bikes, electric ride ons, golf carts and many, many cars. So Joshua seemed to have a fab time playing out in the garden all night.

 

The funny thing was with a group of lads all staying in the same house they were never going to go to sleep at a normal time. After playing Playstation, watching films, talking, messing around, pillow fights etc. it sounds as though they never went to sleep until around 4am. Joshua seemed extremely proud of this and was gloating to his brother about how late he stayed up. This back fired the very next night.

 

You see the next night we was around Auntie Nicky's for the Eurovision song contest (which incidentally was won by Israel with an artist that looked and sounded like Bjork!). Anyway Joshua was really feeling the effects of his super late Friday night and ended up falling asleep under Nicky's dinner table - much to the amusement of his little brother.

 

Boys being boys - not sure I'd invite this many over for a sleep over.

Having a blast in Leo's back garden in a gold cart.

Joshua riding on a little electric scooter.

Dinner time at Leo's.

Big boys toys.

A proper tree house to play in.



 

Brandon enjoying revenge on his bog brother. Only earlier in the day he was gloating about staying up until 4am, next he is asleep under Nicky's dinner table.

 

Mean while this lot were all engrossed in the Eurovision Song Content.