Masters Plus -- Race License School

A few weeks ago, I went down to Alabama to go to driving school again. It was an amazing experience, and it was also an excuse for me to visit my brother in Alabama.

The class I went to was a three-day race licensing school that is about 90% track time and 10% class time. The class/instruction is done by world class racers, (One of my instructors at the course was Andrew Davis who won the 2011 Grand-Am Road Racing GT Championship the week prior racing for Brumos Racing) and all of the track time/racing is done in Porsches.

I attended the class with my friend Rob, and we were the only two in our group of 16 who did not own at least one Porsche, but that didn't stop us from dominating on the track. Here are some pics and vids:

The video below is during one of the coaching sessions where an instructor was teaching a method called "trail brake modulation" I told him to just call it what it really is: "power slides."

This is a lap at Barber Motorsports Park. I got to within .5 seconds of the instructor's hot lap time. Thank goodness for PSM (Porsche Stability Management), it saved my bacon more than once!

It was a fun time and now I am eligible to apply for my SCCA Regional License so I can start racing!

First father-son campout

Sean and Jackson went on their first father/son campout this past weekend with their buddies Sam and Dax. They went up to Mutual Dell, and from what I hear, had a great time. Here are some pictures of their adventure:

Tinfoil dinners for the big boys, hot dogs for the little boys

Setting up the tent

Ready for bed! 

I love this picture.

Jackson was a little nervous about sleeping in the tent. I guess there was a moth that flew in (a "butterfly" as Jackson called it) and he refused to lay down until the moth was out of the tent. Sean said it took a few episodes of Donald Duck to get him comfortable and fall asleep.

In the morning they discovered they had been robbed by raccoons during the night! The raccoons got in the cooler and ate the rest of their marshmallows, a dozen eggs, pistachios (they even shelled them, which I find very impressive), an entire bag of popcorn, cookies, etc. Sneaky buggers! 

Not sure what this sad face is for.

All smiles on the way home :)

Boating

We've been fortunate to have friends invite us boating these past few months. We made it out on the water several times this summer and have had a blast.  

Sorry, many of these pictures were taken with Sean's cell phone when it had a scratched lens. 

Surfing

Why aren't there any pictures of me surfing? Well, it might be due to the fact that I only made it up for a whole five seconds... but hey, I am proud of those five seconds!

Our baby chipmunk

Jackson LOVES the tube. He and Dax were brave and took a few rides (despite the picture, an adult was always on the tube with them, I promise!)

The boats lulled Bode to sleep every time.

 Luke and Jackson checking out the sunset

 Keisha, I stole this off of your blog :)

Pumpkins and fall

I am happy to report after the great pumpkin massacre last year, our pumpkins escaped unharmed this year :) 

All summer we thought we only had one pumpkin growing. It is the biggest pumpkin we've had so far and was completely orange at the end of July! Overachiever I guess ;) 

A few weeks ago my friend Kristol found a second pumpkin from our plant that we had overlooked. It was growing in her garden spot on the back fence... literally on the fence.

It didn't turn fully orange until last week, so we must have just missed it since it blended in with everything else. I thought it was so funny that is where it ended up!

Two pumpkins for two little boys :)

Here are a few pictures from one of our recent trips up the canyon. The colors were so pretty! 

We stopped at Silver Lake Flat. Jackson was in heaven throwing rocks into the water with his dad.

Gorgeous.

 I love fall!

Results are in

He PASSED!!!

Hooray!!! I am not surprised, but I am happy it is official and Sean feels like he can really celebrate now! Anyone will tell you passing the bar is no small feat. The weeks of waiting for results are over and celebration is in order!

So congratulations to you, babe! All of your hard work for the last several years got you here and it is truly such a HUGE accomplishment. 

We couldn't be more proud of you.

Labor Day weekend

We decided to head back up to "God's country" (as my dad calls it) for more time at the cabin. 

My parents, brother Todd and his family, and uncle Karl were also there and we had a great weekend.

These two were quite enamored with the four wheelers and probably would have slept on them if allowed.

My dad, Karl, and Sean took out the drift boat to fly fish one afternoon. They didn't end up making it home until pretty late, but it sounds like they had a good time. 

We took a small hike near my dad's family's property near Hebgen Lake to a little pond we used to hike to as kids. It is one of my favorite places on earth and it was really cool taking my own kids there. 

My little brother and I once saw two bear cubs here. All I remember was being scared to death and running down the mountain as fast as we could. I think Thomas had made it to the bottom before I had even made it down the first hill...

Well hello, Bode!

 Hard to see, but the pond is in front of the guys. My dad and his siblings used to hike to this same pond when they were kids.

 It is a beautiful place and I have fond memories here. I used to think of it as my own version of a secret garden.

Todd's cute family

Chillin'

S'mores

Someone ate like 10 marshmallows... and yes, this picture was taken on the toilet.

 See?

 Hahaha! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it.

Hoping we make another trip soon.

Saturdays with dad

Jackson and Sean have a Saturday morning tradition-- and no girls allowed!

First:

Grab "monkey money"

It's Jackson's little toy that he likes to keep coins in. He steals change out of the jar we have on our desk.

Second:

Move car seat to the "zoom-zoom car" and get strapped in

Third:

Cruise around and look for garage sales (and stop at a gas station to buy a sucker)

Fourth:

Come home and show off the cool stuff they find

This was what they bought a few weeks ago. They got all 19 of these books for $4!

They got a big Disney set (hard cover) and two other really cute ones called "Rotten Ralph" and "Flawed Dogs." Sean also bought a copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and a book called "Starman Jones" that he saw selling for $50 on eBay.

I'd say the majority of our children's books are ones they've picked up from their garage sale adventures. We have several Dr. Suess board books and entire hardback collections of classic fairytales, etc. A few weeks ago they brought home a copy of "Miss Nelson is Missing" and I about died because I remember loving that book when I was a kid.

I love that Jackson and Sean have this tradition together. Jackson looks up to his dad so much and he is always so excited on Friday night for the next morning :)