Hara Arena Skybox Party Suite Review

For my husband's birthday, I rented the Skybox Party Suite at Hara Arena for a game. The website promised "the ultimate party or business entertainment experience in Dayton," so I was excited to surprise my husband. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

While I was happy with the communication while I was arranging the night, both via email and on the phone. It was explained to me that the party suite was private and we would have our own area. I asked for some simple decorations, balloons and a sign, along with pizza, sodas, and chips and dip. They didn't mind that I wanted to bring our own cupcakes to celebrate. I paid over the phone and was told that someone would be there to meet us.

However, when I arrived, I knew things weren't going to quite be what I expected. At the ticket window, the attendant found our tickets and told us to "walk through that way" to find the person who would take us to the Skybox. After proceeding through the gate, many vendors where around and, confused, I had to find someone to show us where to go. He led us around the arena to find the man I coordinated with, who took us up to the Skybox. We passed the "lounge area" that is advertised and it is in much need of repair. Overall it just looked run down- old carpet, needed paint- and there were actually issues with a leak and I could hear water dripping. We of course didn't have a large group so we went past that area and up a spiral staircase to the Skybox. I was surprised to find that this area was only about six feed wide and ran the length of the stadium. About a third of one end of this area was the "party suite." You can see the picture below. Nowhere near a suite in my mind!! We had to cross over people from the press reporting on the game to get to our area and it was definitely not sectioned off.  Looking up, you could see moldy ceiling tiles. Yikes.

Besides the appearance of the area, items that were specified in the email were not followed. I asked for balloons and a happy birthday sign. Simple, right? I guess not. I got a happy birthday tablecloth, cheap plastic centerpiece, plate and napkins, and sign taped to the overhead area. While it was better than nothing, I was disappointed. The pizza we ordered from the arena was tasty, but the chips and dip were in questionable plastic containers. Maybe I'm being picky, but they just didn't look nice.... for example, goopy reside remained on the outside of a bowl where it looked like a tag had been torn off. Not so appetizing.... Also, I specified root beer for the sodas and we got Pepsi and lemonade. I know that this seem small, but when they add up together it wasn't the special birthday that I was hoping for. At least I was only charged $50 since it was just the two of us, instead of the $100 the website listed. (To clarify, the pizza, chips and dip, sodas, decorations, and higher price tickets were in addition to that price.)

The game itself was entertaining to watch and I enjoyed that part of the evening. The view was nice from the highest point in the stadium. Next time though, I would save my money and sit in the regular seats! Now I know why there were no pictures posted on the website. The Hara Arena Skybox Party Suite definitely fell short of  my expectations. I wouldn't pay for it again.

8 Months Old!

Wow, I can't believe that Ansel is 8 months old tomorrow. It goes so fast, but I love seeing him grow up. It is absolutely fascinating to watch his little self get bigger, reach higher, smile broader, snuggle deeper. What a blessing!

After our meeting with the neuro-specialist, we mutually agreed that his torticollis was much improved and we did not need physical therapy any more. Of course we will still do therapy stretches and exercises at home, but will not be going to the doctor for therapy. (This will save a pretty penny at $100 a pop!) He's doing great developmentally, rolling, reaching, sitting up (when placed in a sitting position), picking up small objects, looking towards sounds, smiling, giggling, and saying "mama" and "dada" at random. It's so funny because he won't stay on his tummy for long before he is rolling across the room. He has also shown signs of wanting to push up to his knees in a crawling position, so I think that will be starting in the next month or so!!

Ansel is still breastfeeding four times a day, but eats solids at lunch and dinner. Lunch is usually rice or oatmeal with a fruit or veggie. Dinner is a kid-friendly version of what we are having. You should have seen him scarfing down pasta and sauce last night. He sure loves his food!

I continued to push his bedtime back little by little, and now he sleeps 11 1/2 to 12 hours. He's in bed at 7:30 PM and sleeps until 7:30 PM on weekends. During the week we usually have to load up to go to the sitters a little after 7:00. Still, what a great chunk of time! His morning nap is about an hour and afternoon naps are around 2 hours.

Since Justin has a Captain America frisbee/shield, I had to do some cute pictures. Here they are!

2015 Goals

I wouldn't say these are resolutions.... more like goals I'm aiming for. I figured that it would be good to document them. I'm not sure that the order is in any significance. Hopefully I can come back and update as the year progresses.

1. Read a book every day to my baby Ansel.
2. Love my husband and show him in every way I can.
3. Lose 10 pounds. 
4. Pay off my car and Justin's school loan (about $8,500 all together).
5. Go somewhere beachy for our 6th wedding anniversary and wear a bikini again.
6. Finish revisions and send my memoir to a publisher until it gets accepted.
7. Make it a year breastfeeding.
8. Run a 10 K.
9. Start my Doctor of Education.
10. Add at least $10,000 to our savings.
11. Start investing.  

Week 6 in the Cranial Remolding Helmet for Plagiocephaly

 Ansel has already worn the cranial remolding helmet for his plagiocephaly for six weeks! We are already seeing drastic improvements. In fact, if it did not improve any more, I think I could be content with it. (Except for his ear placement- more on that later) The back left of his head doesn't feel or look so flat anymore. Looking from above, we already see the parallelogram shape coming back into a circle. Guess it was worth the money!! :)

On Monday this week, Ansel was a little fussy in the morning. Usually we leave the helmet on all day until we clean it in the evening, but I decided to take it off anyway. To my chagrin, he had a "hotspot" as they call it. The skin looked like a bright red side burn and close to blistering. See below.  I decided I wasn't putting it back on until we figured it out. I gave it that day to air out, but when it was still red on Tuesday morning (even though the helmet had been off a whole day) I called the Hangar Clinic and they got him in right away. They shaved out some more of the foam on the left, and we put it back on. By the afternoon the skin just looked dry and a little flaky from whatever reaction it had. They also suggested using cornstarch if it seemed to be rubbing again.

I keep trying to figure out what caused the hot spot. Did he sleep on it and the extra sweat/no air irritate it? Did we not get that part clean enough in the daily wash? Was it too small because of a growth spurt? We still aren't sure, but I'm glad he's not having any more issues with the hot spot.

However, his head does seem dry, somewhat like the cradle cap that he had around a month old. We tried putting Aveeno baby lotion on his head as recommended by the specialist, but his hair is so long it just seemed like a goopy mess. It's kinda hard to rub lotion through hair, ya know? Then we tried to let it "dry out" before the helmet went on, but his hair still had the lotion in it. I don't know, I'm still not sure it was effective anyway. I just feel bad when he reaches up like he wants to scratch his head...poor baby. Tonight I just scrubbed it really good in the bath and I hope that helps. Perhaps it's just the dry winter weather.

His ears worry me too. They are still not aligned. I hope as his head keeps shifting they will move more into place. At least they are even horizontally if you are looking at him from the front. It's really just when you look at him from above that you notice one ear is closer to his eye than another.

Hopefully we only have to wear the helmet another two months or so, at least during the day when we go out. Overall people just ignore it, and those who do say something aren't rude. It's funny, actually, because they either think I'm trying to dress him up like a football player, or they recognize the Captain America logo. But they aren't rude so it doesn't bother me too much. I'm definitely looking forward to when he doesn't have to wear it though!! The whole ordeal is really an issue of me trusting God. And also realizing that maybe I put too much stock in a "normal" appearance... As the Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart."