The price of being nice...

Earlier this week, I thought I'd be nice and clean out the truck for Steve - wiping down all the surfaces, but most importantly - vaccuming out the whole thing, which has been used to make numerous trips to dump branches and limbs we've cut down throughout the yard. Here's my reward... a huge bruise on the inside of my calf. As I was trying to climb out of the back with the shop-vac, my shorts got caught and I fell, landing on the trailer hitch. The instant it happened, I had a good 1/4" deep perfectly shaped round indention where I hit the ball hitch. This is almost a week after it happened, and I can say it looks much prettier in person. =)

Zach

Here's our little mechanic in training. He and Emily both love to get the wrenches out of Steve's tool box and pretend to "work" on the tri-cycle.


Future swimming/diving star!

Check-out that streamlined form!


Here's the little swimmer in action.

WaterFire

Last night, Grandma and Grandpa Introne, along with Aunt Christina, came down and we all went to WaterFire in Providence. It's an outdoor event where small bonfires are lit down the middle of 3 rivers that come together in the center of the city. There's music, performance art, etc. that goes along with it. It was a gorgeous night - clear and cool. We started the evening with a nice dinner out in the city - a rarity for us with the kids, but they actually did really well. The kids were fascinated by the WaterFire event, and we enjoyed just being out in the city on a Saturday night.

The kids watching the various acts. Gondolas and small boats can be rented to ride in the rivers around the fire, and the kids liked watching those go by.

Celtic dancers performed...

...along with a Chinese dragon.

Busy watching everything.

Mommy and the "triplets". We got asked a few times if they were triplets.

Zach is fascinated by the Chinese dragon at this point.

As always, posing for the camera.

Silly boy.

Emily stood for a long time staring at the fires on the water through the fence.

Zach and Emily 2-year Stats

Zach and Emily had their 2-year check-ups done today. Here's their current stats:

Zach - 34" tall (35%) and 24.5 lbs (10%)
Emily - 34.5" tall (70%) and 25.5 lbs (30%)

Both of them grew 2" exactly from their 18-month stats, and both put on almost 2 lbs exactly in the last 6 months. They're growing great - but are both on the skinny side. That's understandable for Zach, who's the pickiest eater of our three kids, but Emily... well, since the girl eats anything and everything - I don't know why she doesn't weigh more. =) It's interesting to see that's she's actually pretty tall for her age. I guess she must get her height from Steve, you know it doesn't come from Melissa!

Izzy Starts School

Our baby girl is growing up. Today was Izzy's first day of 3-year-old preschool at Little Blessings. Here she is in front of the door to head in and start the day.

VICTORY - Steve Gets His First Win!

After 7 years of racing, Steve has finally captured his first win! The win came this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (where NASCAR is set to race next weekend.) It was a double event, so they raced on Saturday and Sunday. He took the victory on Saturday's race (finished 3rd on Sunday.) Here he is on his victory lap.

His class, SRF - Spec Racer Ford, is one of the most competitive in the SCCA series. It's a real driver's series, as the cars are all "spec" - meaning engines and transmissions are sealed, and there's only a few things you can do to modify the set-up. In other words - it's not who has the fastest car, but who's the better driver since all the cars are pretty much the same.

And the race he won - was one the best we've seen in a while. Steve was gridded 2nd and Lee McNeish was gridded 4th. Lee had a great start and took the lead on the first lap. After 4 laps, Steve passed him and held the lead for the next 6 laps. Kevin Treffeisen (our really good friend, we always paddock with his family) was behind Lee and going into Turn 6, Lee dove in on Steve and Kevin followed him through pushing Steve back to 3rd. Over the course of the next 4 laps, Steve slowly picked each of them off again, until he got the lead back with Kevin right on his heels. They raced hard for the final 4 laps. Kevin made a couple attempts to try and take Steve, but Steve held him off till the checkered flag.

The podium finishers for the race - Kevin (2nd), Steve (1st) and Lee (3rd). This victory was pretty special since Steve and Kevin took first and second - the first time for them. Kevin's family is very dear to us. They have 3 kids who always play with our kids, and his wife Rene is a good friend of Melissa's.

Izzy's comment when we told her Steve won: "Did Daddy finally get his checkered flag?"

For the last 2 years, Spencer Dickinson has crewed for Steve and been a huge help. Spencer is trying to learn as much as he can, because he has plans to join Steve out on the track in his own SRF soon.