Tommy left on a Thursday night to head to Austin. As part of the local BMW club, he had the opportunity to learn to race at the Circuit of the Americas recetrack, the only Formula One racetrack in the United States. To say he was excited is a huge understatement. I think he ate, slept and breathed COTA for weeks before the event!
We were excited to go support Daddy, but we had some important things to do in Frisco before we left. When Jack turned three, I remember being sad that no one at daycare seemed to be inviting their classmates to birthday parties. Well, apparently the 4th birthday is when the parties start. I've heard many parents talk about how tiresome it gets to attend so many kid birthday parties and maybe I'll feel the same one day, but right now, I kind of enjoy taking him to the parties and meeting his friends and their parents. This particular Saturday, we had not one, but two birthday parties to attend. The first one was a joint birthday party for Jack's friend Julie, who was turning 4 and Livi's friend Jacob, who was turning 2. The theme was Frozen/Thomas the Tank Engine:). We started off with the Thomas part of the party, a train ride around the neighborhood - even Mommy got to ride!
Livi was super excited!
Jack and his buddy Truman had fun, too!
From there, we headed inside for some ice cream (the "Frozen" part of the party) and cake and opened presents. Then, it was time for us to head to our next birthday celebration. The party for Jack's friend Ariel was at the Main Event, a bowling and video game venue near our house. Livi didn't bowl, but Jack had a great time on his first bowling alley adventure. Even the 6 pound ball was a little heavy, but he just had to put it at the top of this ramp and let it slide down, then bounce around the bumpers until it finally knocked over a few pins. It's quite the feat to keep 4 lanes of bowling 4 year olds focused for 10 frames!
Jack shared a lane with his friends Emilina, Jeffrey and Jacob:
After a fun day of parties, we set off bright and early the next morning for Austin to see Daddy race. The trip actually went pretty smoothly and we made it to COTA just in time to have a little lunch before Tommy's second race of the day. As I looked through the photos, I realized how few photos we actually got of the racer himself. He was in his car in a ton of pictures, but there were very few pictures where you could actually see his face. Here's one - he's lined up in the starting area before a race began:
And here he is with his instructor:
It was a beautiful venue, and really nice to be able to enjoy it without the crowds of people who would accompany an F-1 race. There was a big room where we could hang to get out of the wind in between races, but the kids really loved time running all around the stands:
...and even sat down for a few minutes to watch Daddy:
Here he is pulling out of the start:
Go Tommy go!
They had a professional photographer there taking pictures of all of the cars and they were much better than mine;
Mom and Dad drove in from Boerne to watch. They win major brownie points because anyone who knows my Dad knows that he loves his Kansas Jayhawk basketball. They drove from to Austin while KU was playing in the NCAA tournament (unfortunately, they lost), and made it just in time for his race, and of course lots of grandkid hugs:
Of course, no trip to Austin would be complete without a trip to my favorite Austin Tex-Mex restaurant, Trudy's. I finally got to try their famous Stuffed Avocado. Yummy, but definitely not a meal for anyone counting calories. From there, Tommy headed back to his hotel to rest up for his final day of racing and Jack, Olivia and I headed down to Boerne for a few days of Grandma and Grandpa fun! Stay tuned for more of our adventures in scenic Boerne, Texas!
1 comment:
So glad we were able to come to Austin to see Tommy race. I know he has a lot of fun. Thanks so much for bringing the kids on down to see us. It was nice to have them come to grandma and grandpa's house. Love you. Mommie Dearest
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