We were all greeted at the Days Inn in Grandville, MI by a 40-something woman on the curb who eventually followed us into the hotel. While we were attempting to check-in (which was entirely too complicated for the staff), the woman proceeded to ask us about Elise and all the details. I believe she asked how old she was four or five times....in a row. She also stated that we were "old" to be having our first child since one of her daughters (age 19 and 21) have a child. Of course, we chose not to listen to much parenting advice from the noticeably-drunk woman who was hanging out casually at a Days Inn.
The hotel room was somewhat as expected. Busy carpet and comforter patterns to hide the multitude of various stains throughout the years as well as the Thomas Kincade-esque hallway art with Bible quotes underneath. We were positioned at the end of the hall as we'd only have one neighbor to bother with a crying baby. The room was frigid but we took care of that as quickly as possible.
The days of just taking a backpack for a weekend trip were over. We had a diaper bag, stroller, car seat, bouncer, pack-n-play, ice cooler (for milk), and a misc. bag for ...well... miscellaneous ....oh...and our backpacks.
I was on baby-duty since Jeana was going to be busy the next day with her coaching duties, so I slept next to the baby's crib to soothe her when she cries and change her when needed. Jeana only had to feed Elise when the time came. The morning brought the usual feeding and changing before we headed down to the lobby for the "Continental Breakfast". Luckily, other derby girls wanted to coo over Elise so we got to eat with both hands for a change.
After a short preparation for the bout (and more diaper changes and feeding) we headed down to the lobby ...where the front desk was occupied with the pending hooker/john transaction. So not all who wear short skirts and fishnets are derby girls...some are hookers.....and vice-versa. We went to Panera Bread for lunch prior to the bout which was chaos. It was packed and there were some who were just camping on their laptops in the middle of the rush taking up valuable real estate. We managed to get lunch down without incident and Elise slept the whole time.
We were reminded how some people still lack common courtesy as I held the door open for Jeana with Elise in the carrier and a younger guy kind of cuts her off and I mistakenly assume he'll hold the door as I get the next set...but it was not the case. Had I seen him eye-to-eye do this, we probably would have had words.
Bout-time for derby was upon us and the good thing about our hotel was that it was less than a mile away from the derby venue. I can't say it was a well-plotted venue but I suppose it was adequate for the crowd that they draw (which was probably 200-ish). Nothing glorious but I'm sure the skaters of NRG had to suffer through worse venues.
Elise was awesome throughout the Warning Belles bout. She went around 5 hours sleeping through the whistles, music and cheers. When the bout was over, the Belles had a victory and Elises was coming out of her deep sleep in time to be changed and fed. There was a break between the two bouts so it was the perfect amount of time to get her taken care of and re-situated. Unfortunately, NRG's Tornado Sirens didn't have the success that the Warning Belles did. There was some bad calls and bad plays but it was a hard-fought bout. After the bouts, we promptly returned to the hotel room, ordered a pizza and lulled Elise to sleep.
The return to Indy was uneventful although Elise didn't sleep quite as peaceful as on the way up. Drake was happy to see us as usual and things quickly fell back to "normal."
All in all, Elise finally got to go out of state for her first time...even if it is Michigan.
Who left a baby rink-side?
Smiling from joy or from gas? We may never know.
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