A Night with the Eagles

  The bride and groom recited their vows as family and friends looked on. But somewhere within the seated guests a baby started to make a low guttural sound. An unearthly sound her parents had coined 'The Frankenbaby'. Adorable at home, not so much here. There were a few chuckles and a few heads swiveling to see the source. The one-year-old’s mother turned a deep shade of red. 
 
  For whatever reason kids love to use their outside voices at the most inconvenient times. Restaurants, airplanes and, yes, even during wedding ceremonies.
 
  So it was a special treat when Layla,  now three and no longer a Frankenbaby, realized it was not only allowed but encouraged to scream, hoot, and holler at the Colorado Eagles hockey game. Not a single soul asking her to please use her inside voice.

  Layla watched wide-eyed as men in skates pushed a puck back and forth across the ice.  Since we are strictly a baseball family (Go Cards!) this was her first exposure to hockey. The Eagles scored and she jumped up with the rest of the crowd, but with mom or dad’s help as to not get folded in half by the seat.

  In the end the Eagles won and lucky for the husband there were even a couple brawls. When Layla asked why they were fighting I tried explaining why grown men were punching, shoving and acting a fool, but then realized I’m not really sure why that's allowed either. I did think she’d be more impressed by the remote control blimps flying overhead and the giant eagle running around pumping up the crowd, but by that time she'd hunkered down with her dippin' dots ice cream.

  Tickets start at $16 -not including whatever stadium food you inevitably overpay for. By no means a cheap family outing but compared to any other sporting event it's a deal. They play just down the road at the Budweiser Event Center, a small venue without a bad seat in the house. It's especially family friendly for the simple reason lots of families go and the Eagles have a loyal fan base- exuberant but well behaved.  For these reasons it is a fantastic wintertime activity where the kids can be loud and no one would notice a Frankenbaby if you brought one. But this time we brought the a fore mentioned bride and groom AKA the best babysitters on the planet.