Trucks, tumbling, and Team Sherry

2010-01-31
Wow, what a weekend!  For weeks we've been using Sara and Kevin's visit as motivation for David to behave, and it seemed to work (most days). Team Sherry arrived Thursday night and was thrown head-first into life with a four-year-old. David went to his first movie (in a theatre). As much as I wanted it to be something poignant and memorable, alas, we had to settle for Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeaquel. At least David liked it. Saturday morning we took our lives in our hands by going to Monkey Joe's (a bounce place) at lunchtime on the weekend.   Note to selves: never again.  But again, as usual, it was really all about David and he had a ball.  After we all napped (though none of us for long enough), we headed downtown to "dinner at a restaurant". Another note to selves: anything with the word "monster" in the name of a food product should maybe be avoided. Thank goodness our brisk walk over to Lucas Oil Stadium afterwards for the MONSTER TRUCK RALLY helped us walk it off a bit.  But just a bit. David didn't know we were going to the Monster Truck Jam, but between Sara and Emily, they both managed to keep it a secret until we actually got there.  David was thrilled, but spent the entire time holding his earplugs in his ears. I think Kevin came home the real winner, though, since the evening ended with a bonus demolition derby. It was just lovely to have visitors this weekend.  These winter weeks seem to last forever, so it's good to have something to look forward to.  The house seemed pretty quiet this afternoon after we got back from the airport.  Hey, you friends and family: come and visit us!  We'll eat lots of carbs and take you to really classy cultural events!
8:45pm, Sara and Kevin arrive. 8:46pm, Kevin and David gang up on Sara and commence wrestling
Something like Superman
We've been watching too many football tackles
Saturday morning we took Kevin and Sara to the joy and wonder Iand insanity and chaos) that is Monkey Joe's. David seemed to like it OK, I guess
It's usually the dads who end up climbing on stuff with the kids
I think the dads climb up so they can slide down, like this
Once in a while you see a kid slide down, too
Even better is when the kid faceplants into the mat. Oh, I'm sorry...should I not have laughed?
If the "referee" had seen them acting like this, they would have <i>so</i> gotten a whistle tweeted at them
Aunt Sara took a spin on the bog bounce, too
Note the form, the grace, the agility
This was his face when we told him (right outside of Lucas Oil Stadium) that we were going to the Monster Truck Rally. I think he was pleased
His next comment was, "Can we go inside already?!"
We joked that the opening act would be Shriners. These cars weren't much bigger, but they made more noise and the drivers didn't wear funny hats
Who knew that Grave Digger was a <i>real</i> monster truck?! I always thought it was just a Hot Wheels car!
Ah, the magic begins...Equalizer and Rammunition face off in the speed round
El Toro Loco...you mess with the bull, you get the horns
I don't know if you could ask for any more class on a Saturday night than this, folks
Up, up, and away
He really was enjoying himself, but he kept his hands on his ears (so the earplugs wouldn't fall out) almost the entire time
He kept wanting to watch the action on the Jumbotron behind us, rather than down on the field
They didn't want to admit it, but Sara and Kevin really were having a good time
The full moon rising over "the Luke"
Too bad Aunt Sara doesn't love David at all
Oh, my gosh, that kid is looking shaggy. But at least he's dressed appropriately
Safety first, protecting his delicate ears
So, this is cool because the car was <i>still moving</i> when he stood on top of it and accepted the prize for winning the first round of races
Not only were there monster trucks, but during intermission, there was an entire team of construction vehicles that came out to re-do the course and set up new jumps. Who knew there would be construction?! Bonus!
Maximum Destruction needs a tire change? No big deal...
Bulldozers. Front-end loaders. Monster trucks. Big piles of dirt. Could this be any cooler?!
The Equalizer was our first rollover of the evening, and that was pretty awesome
Would driving that forklift not be the most awesome job ever?
...until Escalade also fell over. That was even better than the stunts, we thought (kind of like fighting in hockey...you always hope it happens at least once)
The Superman truck was David's favorite for a few minutes
The they hauled out <i>this</i> piece of worthless junk..."Go Saints?" Not in <i>this</i> house...
So the Grinder made short work of that trailer trash
And then the Grinder rolled over
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We wondered how many bodies each truck must go through in a season
Blue Thunder was in first place...and then rolled over
Dude...not so monstrous now, are you?
Grave Digger, a crowd favorite (apparently particular monster trucks actually have fans), roared onto the track and promptly (say it with me) rolled over
Here's Maximum Destruction again. He was doing so well (remember, he'd won the first round trophy) and was doing some pretty cool jumps...
...sigh. And then Maximum Destruction also fell over. Don't these people know how to drive? Or is this a part of the show and I just don't know it?
However, with a 27 out of 30 possible points, Maximum Destruction was the night's freestyle winner as well
And can you even believe it?! Round three was a demolition derby! We had no <i>idea</i> there would be a demolition derby! It was like a free (OK, well, not free) bonus round at the end!
There was even a car with flames! It was totally awesome!
David figured Emily would like the purple car. Honey, I liked <i>all</i> the cars
Team Sherry helped keep David quiet while Emily and Chris worked on breakfast. It's good, to ease into the morning like this
Gus found the sun
Even thought the Flip camera only has four buttons, Aunt Sara managed not to push any of the ones that actually make the camera record anything
Because Heaven forbid the barfy black Spider-man have any pet hair on him
First my hair was messed up. The the hair was in my eye. Then my eyes itched. Then my nose itched. And then I was laughing so hard that I was crying so my eyes were red. This is why I am almost never in front of the camera
I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, so it was worth it to not be able to get a good shot of the two of us. One's built for beauty, the other for utility. You guess which is which
This was pretty much the attitude we got most of Sunday
We dared him not to smile. He didn't
Clearly, David could not be any more thrilled to be forced to take pictures for 15 seconds with his Aunt and Uncle who spent lots of money on expensive plane tickets and brought presents. Life just is. not. fair.
But at least this time he sort of gave us a smile
It's just so <i>fabulous</i> standing in the freezing cold wind getting gas!