Racing in the Rain

I love my husband.  This phrase was stated over and over in my head this weekend :)  Going racing is one of philip's passions. I don't really fully understand it, but I try to be supportive. even though it's hard, a lot of times. It is not the most practical hobby, definitely not a cheap one, and not overly family friendly. But he has done his best to make it cheaper and as family friendly as possible. Last season we bought a trailer (and consequently a truck to haul said trailer) so that we didn't have to take two separate vehicles and use walk-talkies:) and that makes a big difference.  and in between races he helps me with ainsley however he can. I appreciate that. I do.  All that being said- this weekend was not one of the best out of town ones for the Overall family. It started out with a 100% rain forecast for Friday. We debated switching from fri/sat to sat/sun but for several reasons decided to go ahead and go as planned. We left thursday morning. I drove the truck, with Jackson riding shot gun (to be dropped off at mom and dad's), Ainsley (who I was trying desperately to keep her from falling asleep) and a truck packed full. Oh, and I was asked to get some gas before we got to georgetown and hooked the trailer up;) Turning onto the interstate, the cooler full of ice tipped over and spilled ice all into ainsley's car seat, causing me to have to pull off and scoop up ice back into cooler. Philip did pull off behind me and help, and ainsley helped by handing us ice cubes. 

we thought the rain boots would be cute, she didn't. 

We made it georgetown and Ainsley got several french fries to keep her awake. We hooked the trailer up, got the car loaded on it and left for indy. It started pouring about 15 minutes into our trip. i mean pouring. like people pulling over and using their flashers kind of rain. luckily it only rained about half of the drive. We made it to cloverdale uneventfully and got to our hotel. Did I mention cloverdale is sort of a teeny town with only a few restaurants and even less hotels? The hotel we usually stay at is under construction and the super 8 (next nicest) was booked up for a horse show. Soo, we got a room at the econolodge. 

Our room. like the hotels in the movies where cracked out prostitutes pass out for weeks. my friend erin was like 'get a suite' and i said 'um the econolodge doesn't have that kind of option'. 
The first night went pretty badly. Ainsley didn't sleep well because she could see us from her pack n play and wanted to be in bed with us. which we tried, several times. but she didn't want to sleep in bed with us. she wanted to play. made for a long, sleepless night for us. 
The day Friday was rainy and really windy. We went to the track but only stayed until after lunch because everyone was huddled up in the clubhouse watching people race. And ainsley and I were the only girls there, and she was a hurricane in a small space. I was embarrassed and didn't want to coop her up all day so we went back to the hotel for her to play and nap. where I laid her in the pack n play and then hid beside the bed on the floor so she couldn't see me, until she fell asleep. At this point the day was just comical. I was (still am) freaking out that I was going to get bed bugs from the carpet. 

helping daddy unhook car 

mexican!  

her tshirt says 'my other car seat is in a porsche' thanks grandma joy! 

playing picnic 

anywho, she ended up taking an awesome nap and I got to read my book (reconstructing amelia-- so good), so it wasn't a total wash. 
That night we knew the sleeping arrangements weren't going to work again, so we rigged up a moving blanket and car ramps to make a 'curtain'. 

desperate times call for desperate measures 

And it worked. she went right to sleep and we were able to hang out and read and talk without waking her up. good night's sleep for all:)  that next morning it was in the 30s but it warmed up quick and the sun finally came out. We were able to let ainsley run around the grass and play instead of being cooped up. It was a much nicer day. I wasn't able to watch philip race much, because I couldn't take my eyes off of our little hurricane. The track was full and there were actually several other kids there running around, which was nice. Usually Ainsley is the only one there. We got to see several people we have made friends with and she even somehow managed to nap in the truck. 

GO CATS  

rolling down the hill 

water break 

oh hey 

I ended up driving the truck and trailer home and Philip snuck a picture at my concentrated face 

We made it home in time to watch the game (holy crap what a game).  All in all the weekend wasn't perfect, but definitely wasn't horrible either :) At least we were together, which is what Philip has tried really hard to make these race weekends about.  I can't say i am overly excited about the next one though…;) 

happy to be home in her swing 

* DISCLAIMER: I hope no one who reads this takes it as negative or insulting towards Philip. It was not meant to come across that way as these were all circumstances beyond anyone's control :) This blog is somewhat of a diary for our family and I think we will laugh when we look back on this weekend :)