Wow. We just had the BEST night last night.
Donna got the boys into a program called Get Out and Learn (G.O.A.L.) here in Nashville.
Get this. They provide hockey equipment and four weeks of lessons…for FREE.
The kids got helmets, skates, pads, pants, socks, mouth guards…the works. All given to them for free by the Nashville Predators.
Now…at the end of the 4 weeks….they give most of it back. But they got to keep the sticks (brand new and cut to their size Ovechkin CCM sticks) and jerseys.
This was great. They had a blast. Getting out each week and learning to skate, shoot, pass, and just have fun.
But the last day (last night) was just too much.
We found out that the Nashville Predators were having practice on the ice an hour before the kids went out.
We all got to hang out…and watch a professional hockey team play. In our own rink.
It was amazing.
One of the players, Jerred Smithson saw the boys (faces squished on the glass) and picked up one of the practice pucks with his stick and lifted it over the glass for Brendan.
He was floored. An official Predators Practice Puck. WOW.
Then…the boys suited up and went out.
Only to find out that some of the Predators actually SKATED with them. For the entire HOUR.
Jordin Tootoo and Cody Fransen let them take shots on them. Showed them how to hold their sticks. And just made it so fun.
Jordin is one of Logan’s favorite (if not THE favorite) hockey player. And he made sure and told him so.
Gnash (the Preds’ mascot) also came out and played with the kids.
At the end…
They took a group picture.
And then SIGNED stuff for all the kids.
Yes. They sat for another HOUR while 60 kids lined up and got sticks, pucks, jerseys and whatnot signed.
Brendan got his practice puck signed. Logan got his stick and a Jordin Tootoo hockey card (I brought every Predator card we had) signed as well.
Afterwards…we had dinner at Burgers and Cream.
And it was a good…and VERY memorable day.
More and more…we find that moving here to Franklin, TN has been such a blessing. Everyone is so great and so much is done for the kids.
We feel we did good as parents to leave Los Angeles and put the kids first.
But even so…Donna and I felt like kids tonight. We had fun with them.
It was a great night.
Baltimore Comic Con Wrap-up…
By Scott Christian Sava on October 12th, 2009Posted In: Dreamland News
I had a great time at Baltimore Comic Con.
My thanks to Marc Nathan and his crew for taking care of me and making me feel like a star.
They helped me with shipping my books, fed me, and treated me like royalty.
I wish I lived closer so I could visit more often. They’re THAT nice!
And of course my buddies at Kids Love Comics were too kind. Letting me hang out with them. Watching my booth as I roamed around aimlessly when I took breaks. And hanging out with me for dinner and just being pals.
I got to hang out with old friends.
Tracy Bailey and her husband DeBray and friend Liz came and had dinner with me on Saturday Night. We had AMAZING Italian Ice afterwards…YUM!
Lora Innes and her husband Mike went to lunch with me. What an wonderful couple. I want to see them again. We had a great time.
My buddy (and Wolverine creator) Len Wein was a guest. Paddington and I got to see him a bit. Not as much as we’d have liked though.
Lar deSouza came by. We had a nice time talking whenever we could. And I hope to hang out with him more. Just never enough time…
At least he gave Paddington a good hat.
I also got to meet so many great people. Some fans who came all the way from Australia and New Zealand. Wow.
And others who didn’t have to drive far…but I still had to give ‘em a hug when I met them.
And other pros too…
Steve Conley was my booth buddy. And an awesome guy. He and his wife were wonderful. I came home with some foam swords and the boys haven’t stopped playing with them.
I got to meet and hang out with Rival Angels creator Alan Evans. Really nice guy. You should check out his comic.
And Jamal Igle came by too. We swapped books. And I TOTALLY won out in the deal. His work is incredible! You have to check his stuff out.
I got to meet the fabulous Luna Brothers who also swapped books with me. I have SO much reading to do. I can’t wait to dig into these volumes.
Oh…
Speaking of volumes…
There was a booth where they were selling the Marvel Omnibuses for 60% off. Really.
So I picked up 3 of them.
They’re like 1000 pages each! I nearly broke my back getting home.
And there’s much more…but…the COOLEST. Most AWESOME thing EVER was when I got to meet my first ever COSPLAY CHARACTERS!
Yes…I was greeted by none other than Felicity and Kiwi!
How adorable is this?
Just check out that tail and striped stockings!!!
*Passes Out…*
And if that wasn’t enough…little Sydney and Katie brought me FAN ART!
I was speechless. I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself.
It was cute overload.
Sigh…
And now I’m home. And I’m working again.
But next year…I’m bringing Donna and the boys.
I shouldn’t be able to have that much fun alone. I need to share.
And that’s my weekend.
Thanks all who came out.
Hope to see you again soon.
Scott
Hey guys n’ gals…
We’re trying to make the advertising on our site to appeal more towards your tastes.
We figure…”why not?”
So…if you have just a Moment….
Can you please just tell me what you guys enjoy.
Food, clothing, stores, brands, books, movies, music, etc.
Feel free to just name them.
We’ll take this to our advertisers and see if we can cater ads more towards what makes YOU happy.
So we’re not dealing with annoying teeth whitening ads or something like that…ha ha.
Please just leave a comment with some keywords. Some of your favorite things.
It would help us out tremendously.
Thank you all!
Scott and Donna (’cause Donna’s helping me with the advertising…)
