Play-Rewind-Repeat

Our weekends seem to be on play-rewind-repeat mode....Which isn't a bad thing because it's been beautiful weather, fun on the water, and enjoying ourselves at the race track!  Thursday Shane and Mason went to Willmar, while Brae and I enjoyed the night at home.  He finished 3rd with the midwest mod, and won with both the mod and the superstock!

Friday we went back to Princeton (seems like it's been a month since we've been there), and ended up winning with the midwest mod and mod, and 2nd with the superstock!  Saturday we raced in Brainerd, and finished 3rd in the midwest mod, won with the superstock, and broke a ball joint in the A-mod so he was unable to finish the race. 

Braelyn hanging out at Princeton!

It's been a while (like last year) since we've won at Princeton, so it was a good feeling to finally get a win again there!

Sunday we debated on going to Bemidji racing because they were having an A-mod special with NASCAR driver Kenny Schrader racing there, but it was just too dang hot!  Shane's clothes were soaking wet from sweat every night after the races, and the boys were tired of working on the cars in the heat... So to the river we went!  Butch (the superstock owner) took us out on his boat & we did some tubing and relaxed on the sandbar. 

Bubba & Shane

Even Mason went tubing (on Shane's lap), and he gave orders to go slow, but even when we sped up he did great! Thankfully he never flipped off or he might've been afraid for next time!

TJ and DJ

Until next week.......

Mod Nationals Weekend

This weekend was the 7th annual MN Mod Nationals in Alexandria, MN.  The kids came with and I just have to say that they were quite the troopers!  When we debated buying a hauler (camper/semi thing that pulls the trailer), I was kind-of against the idea, but it has turned out to be the best thing ever (minus the fuel mileage)!  Especially with a baby needing to be fed, changed, and napped.

We had our kiddie pool at the track which we used 1 of the days, but the 2nd day we drove to a big pool to cool off for the day!

 Even Mason needed a 2 hour nap both days...I think the sunshine all day wore him out!

But back to racing... We have raced this show since Shane started racing A-mods in 2006 (the year he won it), and have been fortunate enough to qualify every year so far!  This year there was 58 modified in attendance and 44 midwest mods.  They used passing points to determine who transferred to the main event.  So the heat winners don't necessarily make the show, it's who passes the most cars. In the Midwest Mod, Shane went from 5th to 2nd in his heat, which was 6th best?? of all the drivers.  He won the qualifying feature so that earned him a front row start for the main feature.  He ended up winning after a good battle with Travis Saurer near the end of the race!   

This pic was taken by a track photographer (CRP photography); which you can view more of his photos here

The A-mods also went by the passing points system and Shane went from 8th to 4th in his heat.  That was 16th best of all drivers, which was extremely crucial because they only took the top 16 cars from the heats. We JUST MADE IT!  Had he done worse, he would've had to run a consi (b-feature) to try to make it in.  It's always a relief to make big shows from your heat, to take the pressure off for the next day!  The goal was to make the main event, so we were happy! He ended up 13th in the main event, with Ryan Gustin taking home the $7,000 check!

They also ran Superstocks on Saturday night, where Shane finished 2nd after a good race with Cody Lee, who picked up his first win ever!  He was so excited he hugged Shane when he came to thank him for racing him clean and congratulate him on a good race!  Whether it be your first win, a big win, or just a good hard race between 2 drivers, it's fun to see the joy and pride that the drivers experience, and really puts into perspective why we do this...Because we have fun doing it! And even losing is fun (sometimes...LOL! :)

Monday (the 4th) we spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning out the hauler and unpacking from the long weekend.  We then spent the late afternoon/evening out on the boat on the river with some friends on the sandbar, then watched the fireworks from the boat at dark!  It was the best weekend of July thus far! ;)  And a short week to boot...Doesn't get much better! :)

Pool Day!

Two posts in one week...It's your lucky day! LOL :) Yesterday was MY lucky day!  Mason had a dentist appointment (his final one), and I didn't have anyone to watch the kids...maybe I didn't look very hard, but regardless, I had to take the day off! I also wanted to have the day off so that we could go do something fun after his appointment.  The last time he went, it was pretty painful, so I sort-of bribed him into going again (without throwing a fit) by going to the pool afterwards! Mason has always been "a tough guy".  When he gets hurt he usually just clenches his jaw and punches the air. I would prefer he just cries, but nope! he's tough!  In the case of the dentist, I'm glad he has a tough attitude, because it makes it much easier for the dentist to get the work done.  He does cry when we get to the car, but not as bad this time as the last.  I think last time was part shock for not knowing how bad it was going be, but this time he knew it wasn't going to be fun like a cleaning! 

 His left side is still numb! :)  He drank some juice out of a straw and it ran all over his shirt...He's like "mom, why can't I do it?!?!"

Braelyn usually loves the water, but it was COLD. By late afternoon it had finally warmed up!

 She preferred to crawl all over and chase the ants, rather than go in the cold water.  But I think her knees were beginning to get sore/raw, because she started doing this ----->

And speaking of the ants...brings me to my next thought.  I understand being cautious of safety issues (like drowning or falling on the cement and hitting your head), but geez, some moms need to lighten up a bit!  There was a mom (or possibly aunt, or babysitter), who did NOT STOP talking, and it was "get away from there", "come back here", "don't run", "dont touch them bugs, that's yucky", "do you have to go potty", "play nice with him", "get the toys out of your mouth"! It was borderline annoying- to the point we maybe should've went somewhere else since we were there to relax...but I ignored it, and let my daughter chase ants, and chew on a chlorine logged toy.  And I let my son scoop the bugs out of the pool with his hand, and if he peed in the pool, I wouldn't know!  But when you go to a public pool, expect other kids to pee in it, cuz that's what kids do!  When I observed her 2 children, they seemed well behaved and acted normal to me, so just lay off, and let them be kids!!  And maybe she was thinking I was the worst mother ever for letting my children go about doing what they wanted... And maybe she's blogging about how I laid there and tanned while my kids were seemingly unsupervised.... but to each there own! :)

Weekend Recap

I just realized I didn't post last week at all....whoops!  I can't remember all of the finishes from last weekend, nor do I want to take the time to look it up :)  This weekend was rained out on Thursday.  We raced Friday in Fergus Falls, MN and finished 3rd with the mwm and 5th with the A-mod.  The track and facility is very nice and it's too bad that we can't get there more often, but it just doesn't work out too well with it being farther away, and with our work schedules and things.

Hangin out at the races...

Saturday we raced in Brainerd with all the Wissota classes plus the USMTS mods were in town.  Shane ended up winning all 3 regular features (mwm, superstock, and modified)!  The USMTS heats went by passing points and Shane was the highest qualifier of all drivers going from 7th to 2nd in his heat.  He was the "AFCO shocks Pole winner" but redrew a 6 starting spot.  If you had only watched this feature, you'd never know that he did so well prior to this event!  He backed it up to a 20th spot finish, but we will take it!!

This upcoming weekend is Willmar on Thursday and the mod national in Alexandria, MN the remainder of the weekend.

Mason being quite the helper.... if he's not losing tools all over the place :)

 We had to race the orange mwm on Saturday because the purple one's engine was "knocking".  One of the car owners came over to listen to it, and preferred we didn't run it.

Race Results

Quick Results: Thursday in Willmar: Shane finished 2nd in the mwm, behind Matt Wiesman!! (Yay, Gordy!..Very happy for you!) He ended up 5th in the modified, and DNF'd in the super (flat tire).

Friday we raced Princeton and ended up DNF'ing in the MWM and Mod. Took 4th with the super.

Saturday he won all 3 features at Brainerd (MWM, Mod & Super)! It was also kids night, and they announced Mason's name for something...I knew it wasn't a bike, so I assumed Junior Fan.  Later I thought it was probably the pace car ride because I didn't see any other kids go out for junior fan. Oops!  Well, he got a kids trophy anyway...But he really wanted a bike! Oh well...

Mason and Axel!

Braelyn's Big Moves & Zoo Pics

Braelyn sure has been on the move lately!  She doesn't crawl on all four yet, just scoots like an inch-worm across the floor. Today she clapped during circle time with the kids (they were clapping too) when singing "hello everybody"! It could've been coincidence and she may not know what she is really doing, but the kids thought it was the funniest thing! (And I got a kick out of it too)! She has started pulling herself up onto things.  Not couches or tables as that's all too tall, but she can reach her rocking chair and her crib railing, so she will get up like this----->

 I was hanging her clothes in the closet when I noticed she learned how to do this.  I moved the mattress down a few pegs immediately (well after a pic of course)!  She also has her first tooth popping through (her bottom right).  I can just see the start of it, and if I push hard enough, I feel something sharp.  Not noticeable enough yet for a picture, but soon!

 This was from our trip to the zoo on Memorial Day!  It was a bit warm, but we enjoyed the day and the animals.  I don't think Braelyn noticed there was even animals there.  I would point to the giraffe, or monkey, or bear, and she would just stare in the grass or at the people walking by.

 The most fascinating were, of course, the monkeys.  Mostly because their actions resemble humans so much.  You are not suppose to feed the animals, but someone was throwing bread or something down, and this orangutan would point at the person, and then point to his mouth, and open wide.  It was cute.  He (or she?) even put the white t-shirt on himself.  The mom and baby was also fun to watch!  The baby would try to run away from mom, and she would grab it's arm, as if saying, get back here!! 

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June 2-5

This is going to be quick...

Thursday-Willmar: mwm- 4th, super- 3rd, A-mod- something broke in the engine during the heat, so he was unable to race the feature.

Friday- since the engine broke in the A-mod and the tranny broke in the mwm the night prior...we went to Princeton to spectate, OH! I mean, race the superstock.  It was an easy/relaxing night with only 1 car to have to worry about.  Shane ended up 4th in the feature!

Saturday- Brainerd: Won with the mwm, 6th with the A-mod, and 2nd with superstock!  Remember the bounty that I talked about in a previous post (on Ebert), he needed to finish the race in order for Shane to be eligible for the bonus money.  He (Dan) got a flat during the feature, voiding the bounty bonus.  However, he had already raced past Shane before he got a flat, so I'm pretty certain Shane wouldn't have got the bonus money anyway (if you know what I mean!) ;) But hey, a wins a win! 

Sorry no pics this week, and/or details.  It's 90* out, so me and 10 kids are going to run through the sprinkler to cool off!