VACATION! PART 2: NASCAR

Sorry everyone, I know I said I would write this "tomorrow", but I didn't get around to it, then there was some other things I wanted to do. But, hey, here I am now. :)

First off, here's what we learned for the next time we go to a nascar race at Michigan International Speedway:

• We will leave to head to the track at the crack of dawn.
• We will bring rain gear.
• We will bring food and a grill and barbeque dinner in the parking lot.
• We will get a hotel closer to the track (remember, we were staying in Grand Rapids because we were supposed to visit family, but Grand Rapids is a two hour drive away from Brooklyn, where the track is located).

Now, don't get me wrong, the race was awesome. But we did have some disappointments. We decided to leave for the track at about 8:30; the track gates opened at 8:00 a.m. but we didn't think we needed to get there that early (especially with having the kids with us, and strollers are not allowed). We figured, two hour drive, get there about 10:30, and that would give us plenty of time to visit vendor row and do all the other pre-race stuff (driver introductions began at 1:15). But what we didn't realize were that the roads to the track were regular little 2-lane roads. R, auntie, the kids, and I got to the 2-lane road close to 10:30, and saw a sign that said "8 miles to MIS". And then it took us two hours to drive the 8 miles. Two. Hours. It was not a fun drive either. IJ was having trouble falling asleep for his nap because we were moving so slowly, so he screamed at the top of his lungs for part of it. Everyone had to pee, including C who was wearing underwear, but there was no way we were going to lose our spot in line. By the time we got parked at the track and visited the porta-potties (where C started peeing before he was positioned correctly, resulting in pee being shot all over the porta-potty), we had only enough time to get to our seats.

We had pretty freaking great seats, too. Right in between turns three and four, and high enough up to see the whole track. The only thing we couldn't see were the pits, since Michigan has a row of stands behind the pits which were blocking our view. Driver introductions began, and we cheered for Dale Jarrett as he came around the track in the back of a black pickup, waving to the fans. Well, C cheered for "Wiffle", aka Greg Biffle. Nana likes Biffle (because he drives the National Guard car) and has corrupted C with him. Oh well, I can still teach IJ the right person to root for. :) As much fun as it was to root for Jarrett, I think it was probably even more fun to boo Jeff Gordon. It felt just so good. :D I even yelled out a "Jeff Gordon sucks!" even though there were a bunch of Gordon fans around us. Hehehe :). The national anthem was sung (including the Canadian anthem), and the jets roared overhead. At first I thought they weren't going to have the flyover since I couldn't see or hear the planes, and then all of a sudden they appeared out of thin air directly behind us. It scared me a little which R found amusing.

And then of course it started to rain. Now, we knew about the high chances of rain for that Sunday, yet we neglected to bring any rain gear. I think it was because we were in denial that it was actually going to rain (who wants their first nascar race rained out?). A really wonderful couple sitting next to us (who had a one year old at home) had a big red tarp and let the boys scoot over next to them to sit under it. Thankfully the rain didn't last for too long and the freaking loud ass jet driers came out and had the track dried in no time (I swear I think the jet driers are even louder than the race cars!).

Finally the announcement came for the drivers to return to their cars, and the grandstands erupted in cheers. Adam Sandler was the grand marshal, and probably did the best "Gentlemen, start your engines!" that I have heard in a long time. And then came the rumble of forty three race engines; two lines of cars pulling out on the track behind the pace car. Everyone stood for the green flag, and the grandstands erupted as the cars came up to speed. Watching nascar on tv is nothing compared to seeing it in person. The deafening roar, the whoosh of the cars flying by, the vibration of your seat and your internal organs. Plus, you get to follow whatever car you want at all times, not just the leaders that they show on tv. The 8mile/2hour drive, the sitting in the rain, it was all worth it just to see this sport in person.

The Tony Stewart wreck happened right in front of us, which was awesome. Well, not for Tony, but seeing a wreck that close? Awesome. I saw it start happening; I was waiting for Jarrett to come around turn three and saw Tony go sideways and the smoke come up. Everybody stood up to watch the spin, so I didn't see a lot more after that (I had IJ in my lap so I couldn't just jump up like everyone else). Still: awesome. :)

The race went on and there were cautions here and there for rain sprinkles, but nothing too bad. The boys started getting tired, and C fell asleep first in R's lap. We layed him down under auntie's feet in the little aisle between the bleacher seats and there he slept the rest of the race. IJ drifted off in my lap soon after. We got lots of comments from the fans around us on the cuteness of it all. Both boys were wearing ear protection, but still, I think only my boys could sleep through the noise and excitement of a nascar race. :)

Eventually the race got past 100 laps, the halfway point were a race could be called complete if it started to rain heavily. It started to sprinkle again, and the race was put under caution. I decided I wanted to get up and walk around then, since I was the only one who hadn't yet. I handed sleeping IJ off to auntie, and R and I went down to see if we could find some souveniers. We got to a booth that mostly just had shirts and hats that said "Michigan International Speedway", when the rain started getting heavier. And heavier. Until it was pouring. We figured we had better get back up to the stands and save auntie, who was alone with both sleeping boys. R bought two rain ponchos, and we fought our way back up to our seats, like two fish swimming upstream. We made it back to auntie and the nice couple from earlier had their red tarp covering them all. Auntie put on one poncho and tucked the still sleeping IJ underneath, while I put on the other and we both covered the still spleeping C. The red tarp couple took off, and we sat in the pouring rain for a bit. Until we realized, that is, that the race had been called; Kasey Khane was the winner. We turned to auntie and asked her why the hell we were still sitting there. Her response? "I thought you guys knew!" No, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting in the grandstands in the pouring down rain! Sheesh. :) C got a rude awakening when R whisked him up to carry him and he started getting soaked. We splashed through the rain on the looong walk back to the Explorer. It was raining so hard, not even the ponchos were helping us. By the time we got to the car, the only person who wasn't soaked all the way through was IJ. My pants were drenched all the way up to my thighs, and I said screw it and took them off and sat in the car in my shirt and underwear. :) We were soaked and disappointed; after months and months of waiting for the race, we weren't going to get to see a green flag finish, the winner's burn-outs, or the victory celebration. But what can you do? You can't control the weather, unfortunately. :( The suckiest part was that after that downpour, it didn't rain again for the rest of the day. It makes you wonder if maybe they shouldn't have been so quick to call the race...

Then began the waiting game to leave the parking lot. R pulled out of our spot and we got up to the line of cars heading out, and then we sat. We have a dvd player in the Explorer, and the boys watched the entire movie "Robots" and the beginning of another movie before the line even started to move. Yeah. It was even worse trying to get out than it was trying to get in. We moved soooooooo slowly, even though both lanes of those little 2-lane roads were being utilized for outbound traffic. As we sat waiting for the line of cars to move, we saw all these other people staying put in the parking lots, breaking out their portable grills and grilling up some dinner. These people had the right idea. Wait until half the people leave, fill up your belly, and then make your exit. We were all starving even before we got close to the interstate or highway or whatever, and we still had a 2 hour drive after that back to Grand Rapids! (And remember, it wasn't like we could stop for dinner--we were all missing various articles of wet clothing, except auntie who just wore her wet clothes, and we didn't have extras with us. I was in my underwear, for cryin' out loud! :D)

But, you know, it was all so totally worth it. Just to see Dale Jarrett's #88 UPS Ford up close, and to boo the hell out of Jeff Gordon. So worth it. :)

And thus ends another really long ass post. :)

VACATION! PART 1: GRAND RAPIDS

We're back from our vacation! Well, actually, we've been back since Tuesday, but I had things to catch up on, nice weather outside...I know, excuses excuses. :) R, auntie, the boys, and I were in Grand Rapids Friday and Saturday, and then on Sunday we drove down to Brooklyn to the Michigan International Speedway for the nascar race (I have a lot to say about the race so I'll write about that tomorrow). This trip marks the furthest I've ever been downstate, otherwise I've only been across the bridge a couple of times to Mackinaw City. For some reason I expected it to look a lot more different than the U.P. (trees trees and even more trees), but really until we got to the city it didn't. Well except we were driving on interstates and all that and the U.P. doesn't have that (thank god-I make R do all the driving when we visit cities), but it was still lots of trees and farmland. I'm not sure what I was expecting, maybe for all of it to be more city-like I guess? I dunno. :)

Our main reason for going on this vacation was to go to the race in Brooklyn, but we decided to stay in Grand Rapids because R has family living there (one of them his 98 year old great grandma!). We had planned on visiting with them, but plans change and they were all going to be attending a funeral--not a good time to visit. :(

Friday night after we arrived in Grand Rapids we went to a mini golf/family fun place. Mini golf is fun, but I wouldn't say I'm that great at it. Hehehe, but at least auntie was worse than me; it was very amusing watching her. ;D We started off trying to get C and IJ to take turns and follow the rules, but of course that didn't last long. Eventually we just let them do their thing at a hole, and then we would try to hit our balls around little boy feet. :) C was actually really good at hitting the ball with the club; he'd start at the beginning and keep hitting the ball until he got it in the hole. IJ gave up on using the club, and would just take his ball, walk it over to the hole, drop it in, and then celebrate. He thinks he's pretty awesome at golf. ;)

After golf, R and I took the boys to ride on the go-cart track. I told R to take IJ since I figured he would be the better driver and wouldn't hit anything, and would be more able to take it easy with him. I took C and actually drove a lot better than I thought I would and pretty fast, too. And yet R was driving even faster! So much for that idea. :) Both boys enjoyed it though; they like to go fast.

That night R and I left the boys in the hotel with auntie and had dinner at an awesome mexican restaurant which if I remember right was called The Cantina. I looooove mexican food, especially refried beens. I don't care what the hell they look like, they taste so good. :) This place also had probably the best strawberry margueritas I've ever had. That was an awesome dinner.

On Saturday we visited the John Ball Zoo, where IJ got to go on a camel ride with daddy. We had asked C first if he wanted to go and he said no, and as we were going to walk away IJ piped up with "Camel? Ride? Me?" So R took IJ and of course as soon as C saw that he wanted to go, too. Auntie and I reminded him that he had his chance, and he said no (he was being a little crabby because he wanted a snow cone and something out of every vending machine we passed, so I think that's why he said no to the ride). He threw a tantrum of course, but oh well.

I think the best part of the zoo were these two bears that I think understood they were "on display", because they were throwing poses left and right. It was crazy! They were like two big hairy supermodels. :) I took about ten pictures of these bears, but of course they did the best poses after I turned the camera off. Figures. :) I think the boys liked the indoor aquarium the best ("Mama! Fish! Mama! Fish!") and the zoo's wooden play train. I thought they would like the petting zoo a lot more, but IJ was kind of scared of the animals and wouldn't pet them, and C only petted a couple (although he asked me if he could pet one of the turkeys that roam around the zoo that was near the gate...um, I guess a sharp looking bird beak isn't scary to a preschooler...).

We finished off Saturday with a trip to everyone's favorite headache-inducing place, Chuck E. Cheese. Thankfully we don't have one anywhere near our house, so C only gets to go on special occasions. Once or twice a year of Mr. Cheese isn't too bad. :)

Here is the flickr set with all the Grand Rapids photos (I'll add the race photos tomorrow). I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of the Michigan race. :) (Holy hell this turned into a long ass post...)

MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND

I had a pretty nice Mother’s Day weekend. I actually got my first present on Saturday. A few weeks before R and I had been talking about Mother’s Day gifts, and I told him I really didn’t need stuff. I would be very happy with him taking the kids out for a day so I could have a nice quiet day at home on my own. Usually it’s all of us going out together or just me taking the kids; R doesn’t take both kids out that often so that would really be a nice gift for me.

I didn’t have any idea that he was going to take the kids on Saturday, though. C and IJ ate breakfast and then R asked C if he wanted to go for a ride. I figured he was probably going to take C down to the hardware store to pick something up. But then R came back in the room and asked IJ if he wanted to go for a ride, too. I thought, okay, so he’s going to take them both to the hardware store. I was playing away on the computer, so I wasn’t really paying much attention. They left and I went to take the dogs out. Sitting at the bottom of the stairs next to the door was the diaper bag filled up with pull-ups for both kids and an extra pair of pants for C. I thought, uh-oh, if he’s taking them farther than just in town he’s going to be in trouble, since C was wearing underwear and he didn’t have anything extra with him (C is mostly potty trained but still has problems with wetting his pants, so he usually wears pull-ups when we go out). I called R and asked him if he meant to take that diaper bag, and where they were going. He said, “I’m giving you your day.” Ooooh, okay. But I was still worried about C wetting his pants and that he only had one extra pull-up for IJ with him. R just kept saying, “I can handle it!” Okay, I thought, we’ll just see… and I went about enjoying my kid-less day (with a nice loooooong shower…heavenly!! ;) ).

But I was wrong. They got back Saturday evening (in time for the NASCAR race that night of course) and C was still wearing the same pants and underwear, IJ was napping happily (without his bottle), and both kids had been good for him. And the best part: R finally got C to pee standing up! (Next up: working on aiming…) Damn, if I had taken the boys out and forgotten the diaper bag, C would have peed his pants, IJ would have pooped in his, and they both would have asked me for snacks and bottles (IJ) that I didn’t have with me. I’m still wondering how in the hell he managed that. But I’m thinking, if daddy’s that good, he needs to take the boys out more often…

On Sunday morning after breakfast R called both boys into the other room, and a few minutes later they came running in with my Mother’s Day gifts. They both had huge smiles on their faces as they came running towards me; IJ with his arms wrapped around a big frog figurine, C with a big lilac scented candle and waving a card yelling, “Mommy! I’ve got a letter for you!” It was so adorable, just watching them was a gift in itself. They handed me the gifts (yay! More frogs-I collect frogs, and lilacs are my fave flower, I love that smell!), and then I opened up The Most Adorable Card Ever (thank you for helping C pick that one out, R!):

C told me that the inside says: “I love you, mommy.” Awwww. :)

Auntie came over later and gave me a bunch more candles (you can never have too many candles) and a nice card. I was sure to rub my butt on her in appreciation. :D (Don’t ask, we’re strange.)

R grilled up some steaks for everybody that night, which were soooooooo delicious. We all happily engorged ourselves. ;) So all in all, it was a good weekend.

My Mother's Day Booty:

FUNNY FORWARD ABOUT MICHIGAN

Auntie sent me this forward a few days ago in my e-mail that i thought was really funny, and oh so true...

Part 1 - Jeff Foxworthy's view of Michigan :
If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Michigan . (I don't know if I would consider it a sport, but I've done it.)

If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Pellston is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Michigan. (I don't know about this Pellston thing since they are downstate and I would think up here would be a hell of a lot colder...)

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Michigan .

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Michigan .

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Michigan .

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Michigan .

If you have worn shorts and a coat at the same time, you might live in Michigan . (I see people doing this all the time!)

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Michigan . (yep...)

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Michigan .

Part 2 - You know you're a true MICHIGANIAN when.............
1. "Vacation" means going up north on I-75.
2. You measure distance in hours.
3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day. (Yes, we do...)
5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching. (Hell yeah! I hate hearing about cities that totally shut down after 2 in. of snow. That is nothing!)
6. You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings).
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit. (That is a requirement every year...)
10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
11. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.
13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce. (Yes, lots of people put deer statues in their yards around here. There's not one in my yard though.)
14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
15. Down South to you means Ohio
16. A brat is something you eat. (And they are delicious grilled...)
17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole barn.
18. You go out to a fish fry every Friday.
19. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
21. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly." (Not me though, I really hate the cold.)
22. You drink pop and bake with soda. (R moved up here in high school and he calls pop soda. It's weird to me...)
23. Your doctor tells you to drink Vernors and you know it's not medicine.
24. You know what a Yooper is. (If you live in the U.P. you do...)
25. You think owning a Honda is Un American.
26. You know that UP is a place, not a direction.
27. You know it's possible to live in a thumb.
28. You understand that when visiting Detroit, the best thing to wear is a Kevlar vest. (:D)