Spitfires Birthday Party

Because Connor's birthday is so close to Christmas, in the last few years we have only had close family and friends over for cake.  It's always hectic enough around here, but this year he REALLY wanted a birthday party so we make plans to have one for him in January.  And because we didn't have one for a few years, we decided to spoil him and grant his wish for a Spitfires birthday party.

However, that was a great idea in theory - in reality, between his swim meets and our other commitments, we were unable to coincide one of our free weekends with a home game, until this past Sunday, March 6th, when the Spits played against the Guelph Storm.

We had 9 kids, including Connor.  Gary went early to meet the kids in the concourse prior to the game, while I dropped Aili off at a friend's for the day.  That chore in itself turned out to be a comedy of errors, for reasons that I won't share just because of the pure insanity of it all!  

Suffice it to say that I got to the game late, and because I had the camera, we missed the photo opp when the PR rep took the kids down before the game to high five all of the players... :(

We had become accustomed to the VIP tickets that were available to us during Gary's days with Wireless Ronin Canada, so as I made our way to our nosebleed seats, I longed wistfully for the Section 114 Platinum tickets.  

Especially when I sat down, wheezing like an old woman.  Note to self:  Treadmill, first thing every morning!

We were actually up even higher but the PR rep moved us down five or six rows and spread us out over 3 rows so the kids could interact better.

Bomber, the Spitfires mascot, came up for a visit late in the second period and signed autographs.  Earlier in the period, they announced the birthdays on the JumboTron, but Connor was at the concession stand, helping Gary bring back the sodas and popcorn! :(

It was an exciting game.  The Spits started out strong with a 2-0 lead but late in the second period, Guelph scored and came back to lead 3-2 early in the third period  It ended up a 3-3 tie and the game went into an unresolved overtime, leading to a shootout.

Everyone cheered madly!!  And the kids were all pumped up because they were featured EIGHT times on the JumboTron! :)  After the game, we made our way down to the players bench to get autographs - Connor managed to get almost all of them to sign his jersey.  We'll probably buy him another and frame this one for his room.

We shuttled the kids over to Pizza hut for pizza and cake after the game.  Sorry for the blurry photo, but it was quite rushed because of the overtime game.  I literally just passed by Gary with the cake and said, "Camera" and then we were singing!

We took some group shots but to respect the other children's privacy, I won't them here.  In addition to the t-shirt and a birthday card, signed by all of the players, the PR rep for the Spitfires also took a group shot of the kids when they went down to meet the players and Connor received a birthday card in the mail yesterday with the photo included.

Of course, there was one child who had to ruin in by making the "bunny ears" sign behind Connor's head... {sigh}