Motorcross, Speedway... I Still Get Confused

I guess I should learn what the difference is since the hubby wants to make it a monthly thing.  We decided to go and watch some racing on Friday night and Grandpo went along with us.  It was totally new to him, Symph had been there once as a little one, and well Bella and little Dom  would have a new experience.  We walked up, got our tickets, and walked through the gates, and it looked a bit different to me, but hey, it had been a while so it made no difference.  Well, yes it did make a difference.  The reason why it looked so different was because we were right up close to the track, and had mud spit up and flung at us whenever the racers kicked out their wheel and revved their engine to turn (which we happened to be sitting right at the turn).  I told Dom we had to move because I couldn't possibly be guarding the baby all night and enjoy the races, so we got up to move to the opposite side.  As we got up my dad asked what was going on with Bella, and when I turned to look at her, she was full of tears and totally upset. She had been crying and none of us even knew it because it was so super loud.  Poor baby.

As we went to the other side, she continued to cry with her hands over her ears "I want to get out of here!"  mind you, I totally forgot that she hates motorcycles not only because of their loud sound, but because her Tio Michael fell off of one, which really burned that motorcycles aren't good into her little memory.  We sat down and, yep a little more dirt in the face, but I was totally thankful that there were some pretty hefty guys in front of us catching the majority of the dirt instead of us.  One guy had a good portion in his beer cup.  There were lots of crashes, one rider even had his chest ran over by another rider, and by the middle of the races Bella eased up.  I encouraged her to pick her favorite, and then we would both cheer that racer on.  By the end of the evening, she was loving it.  I did fail to mention that there were tiny little racers out there too, one of them was 4 years old!  

It's amazing how these guys and the one little girl race their bikes.  They flip their back wheel forward to make the turn and throw their leg out to help them, all in hopes of not crashing or falling over or off their bike.  Lots of adrenaline filled the crowd, and it was a fun time out on another balmy Friday summer night.

All in all we had a great time as a family, not to mention my dad winning the 50/50 (purchasing only 5 tickets!).  From here on out, we will be bringing earplugs and sitting in the top rows! Who knows, little Dom may be riding one when he's 4... his papa is already scheming it in his head.

   

Zing Zang Zoom!

That was the theme of the Circus that was in town, and the surprise that I was looking forward to my girls enjoying!  I got a call on Wednesday from Tia Jessica asking me if her and my brother could take the girls to the circus the next day, and well, of course they could!  I knew the girls would have a blast, and I was secretly hoping that Dom would take me on a date that night to see the circus, but no dice on the date!

Anyhow, the girls had a blast and of course were spoiled as always.  They were taken to dinner, had their faces painted at the Circus, watched an amazing show, and had it topped off with a humongous lollipop!  Whoever painted their faces did an amazing job!  Bella had me laughing for a long while since I couldn't ell if she was really smiling or not, once she was at home.

Thank you Tia Jessica and Tio Michael for loving us so, oh, and for taking us out for a special date!  We love you so much  :)

An Unexpected, Lovely Evening

It's summertime, and the heat is on, yet the evenings are nice and balmy.  Totally not typical for us Californians!  Today Tia Susie called and invited us to a concert in the park to enjoy a children's band (I forgot their name already!), and so we were going to surprise the girls with a little outing. 

We stopped by the grocery store and picked up some little snacks, but Tia Susie and Uncle Dan brought little treats for the girls, so of course mine didn't stand a chance.  Really, popcorn and ice cream vs. crackers and cheese, ya she wins.  

We headed on over to the park and the girls were a bit confused because we really haven't done the concerts in the parks with them, and to them, a park is a place to play tag, ride bikes, and go down slides, all of which we weren't really there to do.  We had a little time before the show began,  so we walked about the little booths where Symph got to try out a Clarinet at Claremont's School of Music booth, and Bella got to strum a harp!  

Tia Susie and Uncle Dan showed up, and we went to sit down and enjoy the evening.  I don't think the girls were really too into the music, as much as they were into enjoying the company of their Tia Susie and Uncle Dan.  They had a lovely night of running barefoot in the grass, eating ice cream, and just hanging out and being loved by their Tia and Uncle. It was a lovely unplanned night indeed, and yes, they did get to play at the park afterwards!

And so I giggle quietly to myself..

It's really quite fun to listen in on the little bedtime stories that the girls are told by their papa.  He asks them what they want a story about and allows them to give the characters names.  Dom, mind you is extremely tired, keeps going on and on with his stories because the girls are so intrigued.  He does great for about 10 minutes and then I constantly here  "and what papa" which is when I know he's falling asleep and losing the whole bedtime story as he dozes in and out. Again, it's "then what, papa" and Dom is struggling to stay wake as the girls are questioning every little bit he comes up with.  Poor guy, he's just trying to get them to sleep, but they are on the edge of the bed waiting for more, with no desire to fall asleep, but to hear so much more of their papa's great imagination.

Oh, how I love them at this age, and how I love Dom!  He really is a cool papa, and makes me giggle!