Speedster Race

I got the itch to change my brakes on the car a couple weeks ago and since I have not done anything with them since purchasing the vehicle and they were starting to squeak a little.  In doing so James got the idea that his fire truck needed a little maintanance as well.  I aided him in jacking the truck up, but all of the work was conducted at his direction and prodding.

James insisted his front end was a little loose and he needed one of the steering struts straightened.  I tried to explain that the bend metal part is supposed to be bent, but to no avail.

Matthew thought he should get in there and help as well.

Them of course it was time for riding on the motorcycle.  The kids love to sit on the bike and there are several time when I am in the garage that I look over and one or the other is up on one of the bikes which promptly gets a swift rep remand.  Matthew regularly uses the wires and cables as leverage to get on the bike.

Hmmm....I think the key goes here.

 

The labor day weekend I finally got some time off (the first day in 20 straight days of work) so off to a Speedster endurance run we were off to.  There were so many col cars there and we had a blast at the hotel and hanging out with Jim and Sandi.  Unfortunately we had some mechanical issues and had to drop out rather early in the race but below are a few pics for your enjoyment.

I think the green car on the right was one of my favorite cars.

Here we are on a quick run around as a trial on day 1.

Here is Jim's car.  The car is almost entirely hand fabricated and very unique.

Here are the boys wishing us the best on the morning of the race.

Jim and I hanging out right before the race.

Here are the two intrepid explorers in full gear ready for a long day on the road.

There were about 34 cars in the race and about 75% of the race was on old dirt roads that have little to no road signs and mostly consisted of goat trails through the Blue Mountains.

Here is the inside of one of the cars that has a "fatman" steering wheel that slides out of place to get out and then slides back into place when you get it.  Pretty cool for a car from 1923.

Sioux Falls for a couple weeks

After the Motorcycle rally I got home and left for a 19 days on work hitch while the wife and kids drove out with Jim and Sandi to Sioux Falls.  Brenda tells me that the trip out went well and was immensely helped by the fact my in-laws bought some dvd players to keep the kiddos happy during the drive.  Brenda was happy that on the way back she was going to be flying and would not have to sit in between two car seats for another 23hrs on the way home.

I am not sure where this picture was taken on the trip, but that coonskin cap is so cute if I was there he would have it to add to his hat collection.  A boy can never have too many hats.

Here is everyone(except Brenda) in Sioux Falls.

Matthew had a good time with Colin who is younger than Matthew but weighs more than James...Thick would be a good descriptive word to describe him.

James got to play with a remote control truck for the first time and it will certainly not be the last.  I think they ran through a couple sets of batteries.  This is a classic Midwest hot evening picture with sweat dripping off of this cute boy.

Matthew had fun playing in the house with his cousins.

 

I was glad to see the boys and Brenda when they got back from the Midwest and actually got off one day about 3pm so had a chance to go over to a neighbors house who was having a party and watch they boys have cotton candy for the first time.

They really liked the cotton candy after figuring out you are supposed to eat it.

Sweet innocence.

You generally think of cotton candy as having a lot of sugar, but on one stick there is only about one tablespoon whereas in a can of soda there is significantly more.

Here is Brenda mid laugh....she is also very cute.

They had a couple of bounce houses at this part and I got a chance to go in them with James and mess around a bit.