We spent Easter this year at Amber's parents in Poland, OH. Despite a nightmare of a trip there, including sitting in stand still traffic 10 minutes into the trip, Chris remembering that he forgot his dress clothes for Sunday church, Carsyn vomiting shortly after, a breathing treatment at McDonalds for Carsyn to ease her coughing, and an hour and 15 minutes of Carsyn crying at the end of the trip, we had a great weekend with Amber's family.
Carsyn opening up her ballerina swim suit from Mommy and Daddy...
Tanner making his way downstairs on Easter morning...
Of course, the Easter Bunny left a little note for the kids telling them to enjoy their treats (if they could find them), keep listing to Mom and Dad, and be a good girl and boy...
Off to find the baskets. Not in the entertainment closet...
Maybe he hid them in the basement...
Yeahhhh! Carsyn found hers pretty quickly, but Tanner's was a little more tricky to find...
Could it be in this old box?
Yes! Got it!
It was an exhausting weekend for everyone, and we were happy to enjoy our own beds on Sunday night. We just couldn't pass on taking this shot of Carsyn in about as peaceful of a sleep as you could imagine. So beautiful...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Easter 2011
April Fun
Sorry for the long delay in posting. While the weekend at race in Bristol did take some recovery time, there's really just no excuse other than being caught up in our everyday mayhem (which isn't really even that bad!!!) Anyhow, here's some pics from earlier in April, including Monster Truck night with Tanner and his friend Jacob, some outside time in the backyard and at the park with our friends Dan, Erinn, Ellie, and Jack, and finally, Tanner's first T-ball practice (very exciting!).
Tanner and Jacob in front of the most famous monster truck, Bigfoot...
The boys sitting high up on the tire of one of the trucks...
Hanging out in front of a "mini monster" decorated like Tow Mater...
It was pretty loud (not as loud as the NASCAR race), but the boys definitely needed their ear plugs...
One of the monsters going airborne...
Enough of the monster trucks, how about that silly girl getting her hair washed. Hilarious!
Like we said, Tanner just started T-ball in April. Here he is practicing off the tee at his first practice. He and his new friends were so excited when he smacked a ball so hard that it stuck in the backstop fence!
Getting a little field work...
Best sister supporter you could ask for...
Tanner and Carsyn swinging in the backyard...
Tanner showing off his monkey skills...
Our little beauty at the top of the slide...
Carsyn decided (despite Daddy's countless warnings) that she was old enough for the rock wall. Here she is getting her start...
Nearing the top...
And FINALLY!!!
Carsyn and her friend Ellie "cozing" up on the couch watching a movie one evening. We're so excited because Carsyn is supposedly moving up to the same room that Ellie is in at the same daycare. Look out teachers!!!
Here are the pics from the day at the park with the Finke family. I must credit Erinn for passing on the pictures to us. She takes some awesome shots. Here's Tanner working hard to get his swing on...
Carsyn swinging on the big kid swing with Daddy...
Tanner resting at the bottom of the slide...
Daddy giving Carsyn a little surprise at the bottom of the slide...
Tanner got it good coming around the bend...
Finally, Carsyn and Ellie again (Carsyn is about 6 months younger than Ellison). Couldn't get that tongue of hers in for the life of me!
Monday, April 4, 2011
"There's Racin', and there's Bristol"
Well, there's only two things I can say about NASCAR now. 1) I was wrong and 2) don't knock it until you see it in person. Man alive, that was about the most fun I could have even imagined! The scene truly was amazing, the track was enormous and humbling, and the action was way more exciting than "cars going around in circles." I can honestly say that I am DEFINITELY interested in going to another race in the future, and I've even caught myself watching small portions of races the past couple weeks on TV! If you've ever thought to try it, I highly recommend it, and Bristol was a great first time experience. Here's some highlights from the weekend.
Outside the track. It's a massive "stadium"...
Warm up laps for the Nationwide race on Saturday...
A great view of the stands from our seats. Again, massive! Bristol Motor Speedway seats 160,000 people! That's over 50,000 more than Beaver Stadium at PSU. Unfortunately, with the down economy, the stands were nowhere near full, so we didn't get the full impact...
Another pic from our seats...
Nationwide cars lined up post race on Saturday...
With a few rockin' hangovers (thanks, Rob, for bringing the IC Light, i.e., little bit of Pittsburgh, for Saturday's race - perhaps not the best decision of the weekend), we went at it again on Sunday for the real deal, the Sprint Cup series race...
Jason and Chuck by one of the display cars outside the track...
A further view of the track from the outside...
Another display car...
Jeff Gordan display car outside the track...
The whole gang...
Drivers talking pre-race (including five-time defending champion, Jimmie Johnson in the top right Kobalt/Lowes suit). We were able to see them from the concourse of the stadium before went for our seats...
Chuck, Jason, and Duane getting ready for 500 laps of excitement...
Rob and me sporting our new Nascar shirts. Me, a Kevin Harvick fan for the weekend, Rob for Tony Stewart (aka, "Smoke")
And they're off. You cannot even imagine how loud 40 cars inside a 1/2 mile track can be...
Cars making their ways through turns 3 and 4...
Here's the start of the race from the last warm-up lap. During green flags, cars were making there way around the track in about 16 seconds...
Car's packed up and slowed down on a caution...
Kevin Harvick, the #29 car, my car for the weekend. He finished 6th overall, very impressive given that he was bumped out of the race for a period of time by another driver. Turns out he was a good pick as he has just won his second consecutive race this past Sunday!
Jason and his Best Man this July, Duane...
Kyle Bush was the race winner (much to the chagrin of the crowd - they HATE him!!!). Here he is making his way to victory lane...
Here was Bush doing victory donuts just before heading to victory lane...
Rob, Duane, Chuck, and Jason hanging out at the car waiting for traffic to thin out. We parked in a guy's front yard right across the street from the track. Best $40 offer we could have asked for...
We got to see several of the drivers trucks leaving the track as we were waiting. Here's Jimmie Johnson's truck...
...and Dale Earnhart Jr.'s truck. Despite the fact he doesn't win a lot of races, he is by far, the most loved driver in NASCAR...
