Zoom Zoom! 7.20.08

Dreams and Determination

stock cars. speed. adrenaline. power. noise. 2-miles.

For the Ed/Deb Masselink immediate family, this past weekend is now and will forever be dubbed "Race Weekend '08". It will go down in history as a weekend beginning with weepy weather and crazy-psycho-crack-addict mosquitoes, but with a fairy-tale ending.

In the beginning, ... wait. That's the Bible. Let's try this again...

Once upon a time, there was a large, blended family headed by a very genorous and adrenaline-driven father/in-law/stepfather. For Christmas, this head honcho presented the manly men of the family with a matchbox car. "Doh!" thought the men. "We're too old to play with Matchbox cars!". But soon they discovered an envelope accompanying the small, inactive play cars. And inside of the envelope came goodies. Good goodies. Great goodies! They read the fine print and found that in the upcoming summer they would be Nascar Drivers for a Day, attending the "Track Time" school at Michigan International Speedway. And they were happy. And life was good.

(January 5, 2008)

So this past weekend was the time appointed to cash in on the Track Time Tix. We joined up at Hayes State Park on Friday night, stayed Saturday and through Sunday morning. Late Sunday morning we caravaned over to MIS where the boys attended school, then showed off their SkiLLz.

Here's how the camping went:

We ate.

And it rained.

And rained.

And rained.

But...The cousins still played.

The nasty-mean weather didn't bother them!

And Saturday Afternoon it did stop raining long enough to visit the beach.

...But did I mention the bugs?

Holy Mosquito. Wow. When I get to Heaven, I do want to ask God what the purpose of Mosquitoes are. Maybe Laura knows (Miss Smarto-Bug-Person). Really though, they make me miserable (which, anyone who is there is probably thinking is an understatement considering I was walking around bundled up like an Eskimo with the very least amount of skin showing possible). Anyway.

Sunday morn we packed up the dripping wet camp and traveled to the track.

And 10:17am, we arrived:

It's like they knew we were coming. Smart people.

The grounds are impressively large when empty. Parking extends for miles, paving the way to the track. Overhead walkways connect parking lots to the main entrace of the track. It's hard to imagine the grass, concrete, and metal crawling with people on race day. We had it to ourselves.

Through the tunnel, into the infield...

Right where we belong. Ahhhh. It's like coming home.

Happy Race Day boys!

And off to school they went....so we perfected 'chillin'

Hi Grandma Deb, Elaina, and Nik!

What's up, Griff?

Hola Miss Chica.

Thanks for helping, Caleb!

*

Oh, they're back!

What's that Travis?

Huh? I'm not quite getting it...

Whatev. go suit up.

Much better. Now you look the part.

You've got the look. Drive fast, Eddie.

And Scott.

There's the finger again. No, not that one. The #1. That's right, honey. Bring home the Gold! Not the gold? Fine. Go help your dad.

Ed's up first!

At this point all of the guys turned into look alikes. So insert your favorite racer here:

(if you want individual pictures, email me. i have them. just didn't want to post them here. because really, i can't tell the difference. except the occasional car change.)

Show me the goods, baby.

Looks like they were made for this. Naturals, I tell ya.

Don't they?

Who's your daddy? Yea...you know it! You're the best, babes.

See? This proves it.

I could totally be a racer's wife. I've mastered the lingo and I know the secret: the ego boost.

Gatorade: I'm giving you props. What you got for me?!?

Thanks Ed and Deb, for a wonderful-fantastic-thrilling weekend. We had a great time and it will go down in the memory bank for sure. We love you!