Life as a Yowler

We found out through a sales associate that Brandon trained, that the NASCAR race was in town this weekend. Now I have to admit none of us are hardcore fans and don’t know much about it. We thought it sounded really fun. Brandon warned me that there would be swarms of people and my inner Lyle(my dad) may flare up. He did not lie. However it was still really fun.

Let me back up for a little first and recap on the last couple days…..

We decided to do a campy thing last night. We made a campfire. The kids had been begging and begging. We still had them in bed by 9pm. We really didn’t want to sit around the fire for too long, because it was such a hot day.

It was perfect. We made s’mores to go along with our Summery meal.

BLT samdwhichs and melon were on the menu for dinner. S’mores were the perfect dessert.

Isla loved  hers.

This morning we played outside for as long as we could stand the heat. This weekend is the hottest it’s been since we started this trip. Let’s just put it this way…..this is no Michigan Summer here in Texas.

We headed to the waterpark as soon as Brandon got back from his store training.

We did a little sunbathing. Isla’s glue fell off her head now, so I am able to lather her in sunscreen and let her get completely wet.

We came back from the waterpark and forced everyone to nap, since we knew tonight would be a late night. When the kids woke up, we all got ready and ate dinner. Then we headed to Dallas to The Texas Motorsport Speedway.

We ate quickly then headed out. We knew we would be fighting crowds getting there.

This was the very first race any of us have ever attended. I’ve got to be honest, there were a few positives and a few negatives. I’ll compile a little list.

POSITIVES:

What a way to tune out the kids. I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. I only saw lips moving.

The race was very entertaining to watch…..at least the last 10 laps were.

Isla was extremely snuggly and sat still(it could have been because she was stressed from the noise, but still).

We sat super close and could really see the race cars well.

There was a really cool fireworks show at the end. Fireworks are our favorite.

NEGATIVES:

Man oh man it was loud.

It was long.

Isla didn’t want to keep her head protection on. A really sweet mom gave me a pair of earplugs that she tolerated but still kept trying to pull them out.

The stadium was enormous and the walk in(and back) was approximately 35 miles in 100 degrees.

The walk back was horribly stressful trying to manage 4 kids and dodge cars. It was still 88 degrees, even with the sun being down. But we made it!

For the most part, this was a really fun experience. I mentioned before how loud it was. At one point, I thought for sure I saw “I have to go to the bathroom” mouthed. After mouthing to Brandon what I was doing, and dragging Brielle up the stadium steps, Brielle goes “umm mom what are we doing?” 🤦‍♀️ Yes that’s right. She never told me she had to go.

There was an accident towards the end of the race between the 2nd and 3rd place racers. Like I said, I’m no expert but I did understand that this was a big deal. How devastating for them. They were so close! I know I am majorly stating the obvious here, but those cars drive SO fast. I’ve seen it before on TV, but it’s nothing like seeing it in person. They are going so so fast. I’m thankful my husband is not a race car driver. It seems so dangerous. We will most likely all dream of loud cars racing tonight!