It Was a FUN but BUSY Weekend

It all started on Friday evening.

Each year at the end of the season the local race tracks have banquets to honor the drivers and fans that support their tracks.

Friday was one of those banquets and it was an extra special night for our family, especially for G2.

If you've read my blog for awhile you know that G1 and G2 started racing full body cars in 2008 and toward the end of that season they were trying their hands at turf cars aka Mini Sprints.

Side note: These races aren't geared for any particular age group. The boys compete against men sometimes 3 times their ages and who have years of racing experience.

This year G1 decided to focus totally on turf cars and did quite well while G2 continued to race his Pure Stock along with racing in the turf class.

Between the 3 local tracks where they raced, G2 amassed an amazing 27 wins between the 2 classes. That was more wins than any of the other drivers and he was recognized for that accomplishment.

But that wasn't even the big news of the evening. G2 was named DRIVER OF THE YEAR of the 3 local tracks for the 2009 season!

He was selected out of ALL the drivers that raced at the three tracks - not just those who raced Pure Stocks or Turf Cars - ALL the drivers! Quite an accomplishment for a 14 year old young man.

We are all very proud of him, not just because he received this special honor, but because he is truly an all-around nice kid.

Congrats G2!

Tomorrow - Saturday evening's Progressive Dinner.

A Weekend Filled with Grandkids

Son came for a visit this weekend because we were having a mini family reunion for AD's mother's birthday on Sunday.

After they got in on Friday evening, the Disney Candy Land game was brought out for them to play.

On Saturday morning I went with Son and the kids to Lowe's so they could build a fire engine. I really enjoyed taking pictures of the kids assembling their trucks.

There was a real fire truck there too. They raised the ladder as high as it would go. Then 2 firemen climbed all the way to the top - each carrying a pumpkin.

People were saying the firemen were going to drop the pumpkins. I really didn't think they'd do it, but they sure did.

Boy, did those pumpkins make big splats! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the squashed pumpkins.

After that, we drove out to Woolaroc. Son thought the kids would enjoy it and he wanted to share some of his favorite memories of Woolaroc with them. Me too - me too! I wanted to share some of my favorite childhood memories with them too.

Buffalo roam free on the grounds. Son and I took lots of pictures of them and the other animals. This is one of my favorite shots that Son took. This buffalo decided to walk down those rocks and it was very interesting to watch just how he did it.

Then we finally got to the museum. It's like "coming home" to me. That light blue area there by the doors is all mosaic and shows Native American figures.

Those cannon-looking things are telescopes. They aren't usually there but Woolaroc was hosting a special "Sun-day on Saturday" this weekend. The telescopes were set up with special filters for viewing the sun.

Inside the museum Son and I shared our special memories with the kids. Son has always liked this elephant head.

Ever since I was a little girl I've always enjoyed watching this mechanical Indian dance. Back in the day there was a button you could push to watch the figures dance. Now you have to ask an attendant to turn it on. (Please excuse the bad coloring of the photos. There's no flash allowed in the museum and this is the best I could do with my color correcting software.)

This stage coach was actually in service between 1869 and 1912. Years ago when I was a little girl and Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were tv heroes, kids could actually play on this stage coach. My sister and I used to have a good time climbing on it.

The museum is filled with western art. I have many favorites, but this is probably my favorite-ist one of all.

Once outside again, the kids took advantage of the chance to look at the sun through the telescopes.

Woolaroc also has a petting zoo. Among other animals, they have goats, sheep, a miniature horse, some burros and this llama. The attendant said this particular llama didn't know how to spit and it didn't bite. I think it also liked to have it's picture taken because I got several good shots of it.

I think everyone had a good day at Woolaroc but the day wasn't over yet.

G1 and G2 were racing at the track closest to home. G3 and G4 made it through their cousins' heat races but they were pretty tuckered out so Son took them back to the house for some much needed rest for the party on Sunday.

It's a good thing they did too because AD and I left the races right after the boys finished theirs and it was little before 1:00 am then. We just couldn't make it through the rest of the races.

G2 won both the Pure Stock race and the Turf race. G1 placed 3rd in the Turf race. I think if G1 had had a few more laps he might have given his brother a run for his money.

The birthday party on Sunday went well. And I slept really, really well last night!

Weekend Fun & Lots of Photos

Our Labor Day weekend started out with football on t.v. First AD watched the OSU game and kept commenting on how they were "really stinking it up". I told him he'd better be careful because OU still had their game to play. (We're a divided family when it comes to OU and OSU.)

The Pokes won! Yea!

And then the Sooners played. I happened to take this picture just as OU scored their 1st touchdown of the season, and as it turned out, their only touchdown of the game. I am an OSU fan but I really hope Bradford gets better really quickly.

AD didn't get to watch much of the game because we had to get to the boys' races. This weekend G2 was racing both his pure stock and his turf car. G1 raced his turf car too. I couldn't get any pictures of either of them racing because I was videoing but this is a picture of both boys in the pure stock as G2 helped to "pack the track".

Dwarf cars also race at this particular track. I think those cars are just cuter than bugs' ears!

AD and I aren't really "spur of the moment" people. We like to have things planned. Guess who's in charge of all the planning? Well - it isn't AD.

On Friday however we did something quite out of the ordinary. After confirming G1 would be available to stay at the house and dog sit, we decided to make a short trip over to Branson after church on Sunday. Just a short trip - over on Sunday, come back on Monday afternoon.

We haven't been to Branson in a couple of years! Let me just point out that from the time our kids were little we would make at least 1 trip to Branson each year. Then after we bought our first 5th wheel we were there about once a month from March thru November. So this trip was way overdue.

It was like going home.

On our way to Branson there's a creek named Pumpkin Creek. A picture of the sign and the creek was in order since fall is on the way.

The sign

The creek (although I think it looks more like a small river than a creek!)

After about 3 hours we got our first glimpse of Branson's Labor Day traffic

About all we were able to do was some shopping. We got there too late to get tickets for any shows and we were leaving too early on Monday to see any shows.

This is the backside of Branson Landing. It's a fairly new shopping area down by the river. There are no pictures of the stores because I didn't want to carry my camera. I planned on shopping!

There was a new store that we'd never heard of before called "Ridemakerz". It's kind of a boys' version of Build-a-Bear. Boys of all sizes and ages - as well as girls, I would think - can pick out a car and add all kinds of accessories from wheels to sounds. It really is a cool store and one I think any boy would find fun.

A better picture of the river

Besides shopping it was just fun to relive old memories of other trips. This is Dick's 5 and 10. It's in old downtown Branson (walking distance from Branson Landing if you're up for it.) Dick's is quaint and just like an old 5-and-dime. And it's always crowded!

One of the newer things to do in Branson is to take a tour of the Titanic museum. I'm actually the only one in the family who has taken the tour. It was fantastic and the day I was there happened to be the anniversary of the sinking. I'm a planner but that was one item that got by me.

G1 and G2 wanted to play miniature golf the day I went. It's probably a good thing too because they called me twice to see if I was ready to be picked up. When I said no, they were pretty happy because that meant they could play more miniature golf.

Branson is known for its shows and Jim Stafford's is one of the best. Even G1 and G2 had a good time when they went several years ago. They still talk about "seein' ole' Jim" and how funny his show was.

Another one of the things the boys like to do in the summer is go to White Water. There's all kinds of water rides. Personally I like the lazy river. I don't know if this last weekend was the end of their season or not but there were a lot of people enjoying the park.

There are lots of miniature golf courses in Branson. This one is really fun. It offers two different courses. (The pool belongs to the motel next door.)

Before G1 and G2 raced real cars they loved the go-carts at Branson. The Lumber Jack is their favorite track.

There are lots of places in Branson where they make fudge. Grand Country is Daughter's favorite place to buy some.

The Ducks are a favorite ride. They not only drive you out to the lake but into the lake too. G2 always tries to make sure he sits in the back of the car on the driver's side so he can roll down the window and wave at the folks on the Duck as they drive down the strip. I don't know which he enjoys more - waving at the folks or the fact that he's embarrassing his brother at the same time.

The Dixie Stampede is a great place for food and entertainment. We've been there numerous times and the boys are always ready to go back. The food is great and the entertainment is out of this world. Christmas time is the very best time to go in my opinion. Not only do they have the regular show but they also have a live Nativity. One thing I find particularly interesting is when the wise men come in riding on their camels and then watching the camels lay down for the them to disembark.

Only Son and his wife have been to Ripley's Believe It or Not. The building is one that draws a lot of attention.

The highway leading out from Branson to Silver Dollar City is not only curvy but hilly too. We can remember when this highway was only a 2 lane road - and not a very good one at that!

Years ago when the road was only 2 lanes we were coming back into town after a day in "the City" and it was terribly, terribly foggy. That trip back to our motel was scarier than any ride I'd ever been on!

We were on our way home as I took this picture of Highway 76.

Coming into Springfield I noticed a sign for Andy's Custard. I've heard about it many times but had never been to one. I'd also heard about "concretes" but never tried one. AD said if we saw it before our turn off that we'd stop. Then there it was - this big red and yellow sign RIGHT BEFORE our turn off. WOO! HOO!

I don't know for sure but I'm thinking this must be a new location because when we got close the traffic looked like this trying to get into Andy's - and we were on the highway.

Eventually we were in line and when we were finally close enough to read the menu I saw a sign that said that the "Askinosie Woo Hoo" concrete was now there to stay. I checked description and it said it was vanilla custard with Askinosie dark chocolate nibs swirled into it. Now I'm all about dark chocolate so I looked no further than that. It was de-lish! What better way to start the closing of our trip than with a Woo Hoo!!!!!!

The trip was a short one but lots of fun!

I hope each of you had a wonderful Labor Day holiday too.