Hallowdega

We needed a little bit of fun and I think we should be more careful what we ask for! We had too much fun this weekend.

We attended a costume party at  The Hamer's lake house. What fun that was!! Most everyone participated and dressed up. We had great food, fun and music .

All the crazies that dressed up! :)

Bret Michaels and his groupie. :) I know my hand looks deformed. Just look away.

Jason Courson and the band serenaded us into the night.

Heidi and Jonathon absolutely cracked me up! Great costumes.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday we attended the NASCAR race at Talladega. Again, SO MUCH FUN! We got hooked up with some hot pit passes so we were able to get up close and personal with everyone.  Saturday night Denny Hamlin's rental car was left over at the Hamer's house and somehow Lantis and I ended up driving it back to the track on Sunday. Luckily he left his rental paper work in the car. Otherwise no one would have believed that it was Denny's vehicle and we wouldn't have even made it past the first gate much less to the motorcoach!

The fortunate remainder of Denny's rental car paperwork which got us through the gates.

Hangin' outside the motorcoach getting ready for the race to start.

Brian's car tools and stuff in the garage.

Denny's pit

waiting on driver introductions

Jeff workin the crowd

Us and Montoya. Lantis is obsessed with anything/anyone spanish.

Lantis and his crush, Jamie Little.

Us on pit road.

Me and Jeff

Me and Jimmie

Race time!

watching a pit stop. So cool!

Becky driving the golf cart with a hi-jacked "tow" sign from Denny.

National anthem with Gordon and his crew.

Inside Jeff's hauler.

Punkin Patches--a review of sorts

Saturday I took the day off from my crazy fall/holiday photo schedule to take Hudson to the pumpkin patch. Last year we went to the Old Baker Farm which was fabulous and I highly recommend it. This year we switched things up and we went to The Heart Of Dixie Railroad Museum and took a ride on the Pumpkin Patch Express.

Hudson is currently crazy about trains and I knew he would love it. It was great! I would have liked it to be a few or 15 degrees cooler, but what can you do? We sucked it up and enjoyed ourselves. Hudson LOVED it! I would highly recommend it to any parent with little boys who love trains. It was organized and very kid friendly.

If you're contemplating the two pumpkin patches and trying to decide which is the best for you, here is my opinion: There are two major differences in two pumpkin patches we've been to. One: The Old Baker Farm provides a fun tractor pulled hayride to the pumpkin patch. The HODRRM provides a breezy little train ride to the pumpkin patch. Personally I preferred the easy breezy train ride to the pumpkin patch to the hayride at the Baker Farm. I also don't like to smell like I just hopped off a tractor. Two: you have pre picked pumpkins versus on the vine pumpkins. I also preferred the pre-picked pumpkins set out in the nice grassy field to the authentic pick-your-pumpkin-off-the-vine-and-beware-of-the-wild-animals-and-pressure-wash-your-dirty-pumpkin-when-you-get-home at the Baker Farm.

Let's just call a spade a spade and put it out on the table: I'm a slightly high maintenance gal. So it should come as no surprise that walking through a grassy field and picking up pre picked pumpkins that are relatively clean is my preference over the real deal down and dirty pumpkin patch. I mean really, do the kids know the difference? I doubt it. Therefore lets make it easy on mom because I don't own work boots and I felt like that's exactly what I should have worn last year to the Farm! All that said, I think both are great choices depending on whats best for your family and your style.

We had a blast on the Pumpkin Patch Express! I look forward to the Polar Express and then doing it all again next year!

Of course I didn't go without my camera, so I'll share a few of my favorites from the day...

Our little Hollis family

My sweet baby boy who looks less like a baby every day...

He's such a big boy now! :*( I swear he looks like a 4 year old in this pic!

Love him.

Having a blast!




Posing.

So excited! :D!!

Getting his ticked punched to get on the train. What pumpkin on the conductor's hat? I didn't notice!?

We sat in one of the open air cars and hoped for a breeze.

The patch.

Can I have this one? He chose a small one that he could carry. Because he can do everything "by myfelf!!"

Searching for the perfect "punkin".

...and we have reached our limit of heat and dusty fields full of pumpkins, jumping (apparatuses...apparati...appa...) whatever. Jumping things! And large blow up yard decorations.

Me, Dad, and some stray cast member from Beach Blanket Bingo. Oh crap that's my Mom! Hey Suzy Q!

Hudson and the Howard's-my parents' best friends and my other mom and dad.

Loaded back up on the train and waving goodbye to the pumpkin patch. Particularly to the pumpkin patch employee with the giant megaphone and overalls. I was waving hello to a breezy train ride.

And look who's family also rode the train with us? Our friends Rachel and Wyatt and their sweet family! I had hoped to get a couple of pictures of Hudson and Wyatt together, but it was hot and we had two year olds with their own agendas and families to keep up with. But I did get a shot of this handsome little fella'--all smiles on the choo choo!

Blue Angels May 2010

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On Mother's Day we went to see the Blue Angels show in Tuscaloosa. This is the second BA show I've seen. Both have been phenomenal and give me chills. They are absolutely amazing pilots. I think its one of those things that every American should see and be proud of. I think they are planning to do this show in Tuscaloosa annually so if you've never been you should plan to attend next year. Especially if you have a little boy. Hudson loved it too! This was his second show also, but the first he doesn't remember. We went to a practice show in Pensacola while on a beach trip when he was 10 weeks old. Glad I have photos to look back on...to keep me motivated to eat right and work out because I'm a little post-baby chub in this pic, and to help me remember the fun we are having with this baby boy.

Lake Party April 2010

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We had a blast at the Hamer's lake house again this year. They have a party at their lake house every spring and fall for the Talladega race. They usually host a fairly large crowd and some drivers. Becky is always the hostess with the mostess. She makes great food and makes everyone feel at home. We appreciate their hospitality. The weather on Friday was perfect for a great day on the water. We hung out on the pier and boat most of the day. They catered BBQ from Saw's then we ended the evening with some shenanigans in the bunk room. Fun times! Enjoy the pics.

Yall start these engines!

Saturday and Sunday afternoons Lantis and I had the honor of attending the inaugural INDY races at Barber...with half of America. No really. It was packed. Not so much Saturday. It was actually the perfect sized crowd on Saturday. Sunday...wow. I think I heard there were over 100,000 people there.

Lantis is a huge race fan--he loves INDY, Formula One, NASCAR, motorcycles, you name it. If it has a big engine, is loud and goes super fast, and there's a finish line involved he loves it. He's even gone to some of the driving experiences at Barber and was able to ride in some race cars on the track. Needless to say, when it was announced that an INDY race was going to take place literally in our back yard, he was ecstatic. There was no doubt that we were attending but then several free tickets apeared and its official.

I am a very girly girl, but I got chills when George Barber--who's dream of hosting INDY racing has come to fruition--announced "Yall start these engines!" and they fired up and starting rolling out of the pits. It was so exciting and we were officially a part of INDY history.



Check out a few photos I got...

Dario Franchitti. Or in girly terms--Ashley Judd's husband.



I dont remember who this is...

Random racers. The first one is Helio.

Little Miss Danica in her Go Daddy car.

The winner-Helio Castroneves (sp?) making his victory lap. In girly terms: also winner of Dancing with the Stars a few seasons ago!



Lantis and lily white thunder arms. Seriously my arm looks gigantic, white and flabby in this pic, but its the only one I got of us the entire weekend. Salads the rest of the week!

The Howard's. Andrea and Brandon left Gavin with the grandparents and joined us on Sunday! We don't get to hang out with them nearly enough so its a pleasure when we do.

We've been to Barber several times for other events and we love it out there. Its a fabulous facility. If you've never been, you should take a ride out there to the museum or something. The scenery is beautiful and the track is like none other. They spared absolutely no expense in building it...except maybe the parking lot. So after all this fun its time to leave...

We were lucky enough to score some free tickets but not parking passes which means there's no where for us to park on site. Keep in mind, we live a rocks' throw from this place, but we had to drive to the Birmingham Race Course to park, and then be shuttled back to the track on a Hoover School cheddar. The B'ham race course is only 10 miles from Barber, but on the big cheese 10 miles is like 25 minutes. We hung around a few minutes after the race end and watched the end of The Masters tournament on the jumbo-trons thinking that would allow some of the traffic to die down. When we finally made it to the holding area where people were being staged to get on the shuttles our mouths dropped open. We were astounded by the sea of angry people waiting to get on the school buses. Some of these people had been in line since before race-end and this was an hour after the final lap. The line was at least 8 people wide and went on for miles. I've never seen anything like it. I tried to take pics, but I dont think the pics do it justice. I wish I had an aerial view of what that line must have looked like. We ended up calling my in-laws to meet us at the park entrance and give us a ride out of there. If we would have stayed in that line I have no doubts it would have taken us two-three hours to get to our car. Check out this mass of people...my big camera was already packed away so these are from my phone. Sorry for the poor quality.

Everytime I've been to an event at Barber I've had a great time. Regardless of what was happening its been fun! This weekend was no different. I had a blast. I love the roar of those engines and the smell of burnt rubber. What I love most about a Barber event is that you can take your blanket or lawn chair, a picnic and a cooler and enjoy yourself. We did just that! It is an event that we wont miss next year. I do hope they have a better solution for getting this herd of people back to their cars. I'm sure thats a big complaint from all who attended which will force them to figure out a new exit strategy if they want to keep everyone coming back. This is the first year and I think it was an overall amazing event taking that into consideration. Moving that many people is not a simple task so I don't envy the person in charge of it. I have no doubts Mr. Barber was in a meeting this morning with event coordinators talking about exactly that. Maybe they'll even use some of the vast amounts of lands around the track to create parking. I'm all about tree hugging too, but it looks like its a necessity for this event.

I give the INDY race at Barber Motorsports a big thumbs up and I look foward to next year! Go if you can!