We are on the move

Some of you know that at Christmas Trent & I bought each other the same Christmas present unknowingly… it was to drive a REAL STOCK CAR at the Richard Petty Race Track in Orlando. Do I have a story about this….

Trent raced on the Wednesday and I was to race on the Friday. Trent went and said it was the “most amazing thrill ever, the power of the car is amazing and the speed , wow it was AWESOME.” Trent’s top speed was 127 mph. He was the fastest racer in his group. I would say if we lived anywhere near a race track it would be a definite addiction for Trent. Trent wanted to race again but all the classes were full, he would of done anything to keep racing.

this is the real deal, sponsors, pit crew, mechanic team… everything

If by chance Trent did crash I have no idea how he would of got out fast, to get out you have to pull this leaver & that leaver, then the steering wheel comes off and squeeze out the window… these cars are FAST 

Friday was my turn. I left the hotel early to make it to the track nice and early to plan how I was going to beat Trent’s time. I was the only female in my class of 13 other men and they all knew about the competitiveness between Trent & I. Due to the weather the racing was delayed a few hours. The safely procedures the staff goes through prior to your racing is pretty intense. They drive the track a few times with the students (us) in big white vans to show us how to take each corner and then they show you how to escape the car in case you crash, hit the wall or loose control or catch fire… very comforting thoughts. As they are explaining all the safely procedures I had to learn what all the flags and hand signals meant… this is intense stuff!

Finally the track opened. Trent suggested I do a ride -a-long with a pro driver to get a feel for the power of the car and the speed before I strap myself in the drivers seat. (as I write this I feel sick to my stomach and my heart is pounding) I get my helmet on, crawl through the window of the passengers side and I become one with the car as they strap me in so tight. My neck brace is clipped to the roll bar behind my head so my head and neck don’t break in case of a accident (how comforting). They lock me in and my heart is pounding, I am strapped in so tight I can not move my head & I can not even recognize the driver who is about to drive me around this track at 160 mph.

The driver (I later found out was one of the guys excited to help me beat Trent’s time) sped out of pit row and was holding nothing back. This guy wanted to show me how this car handled. Trent told me the faster you go the smoother it handled on the turns. Well by the second lap I was pretty much seeing stars, I felt like I was going to pass out. I had three laps with the pro driver and it was three to many.

For all who know me this was a very difficult situation for me. I was about to vomit while seeing stars and the instructor was telling me I had to get in my own stock car now and do my 18laps. I was to start out gradual with my fastest time being just over 127mph. This thought as well as crashing, catching fire, being strapped so tight you can not move (not good if you are clausterphobic) … ya I needed a few minutes to catch my breath. I had to beat Trent, this was the mission all along and I had to do this for myself, my Dad would of given anything to have this chance.

Trent finally showed up with the kids & Nick… as soon as I saw Trent I bursted into tears and I realized I could not go through with it. Trent was trying so hard to be supportive but you should of seen his face light up when I said “suit up you can take my spot!” He told my instructor that “it is a sad situation but I have to make the best of it” (sad for me and would make the best of it). Trent was like a little kid in a candy store, he could not stop smiling. The Richard Petty staff was wonderful, they were very understanding and supportivem usually you can not just give your spot away because of the safety class you have to take but Trent just raced two days prior so they made an exception. It was to much money for me just to go on the track and drive slow.

I do have to say I was so happy to see Trent grinning from ear to ear racing his heart out and I am at peace that the ride-a-long went against everything I believe in. a) someone else drove and was in control b) I do not like to be restrained in anyway especially my head… thanks to my Dad who used to play phobia (inside joke). The whole racing experience was filmed from inside the car so in a few weeks we will have the video, if I can I will include it on my blog. A video of Trent’s race as well as my ride with the pro driver with the look of horror :- )

p.s. last year a woman lost control of the car and totaled it… $70,000 later.

On Jan 12th, the whole purpose of our trip to North America, we boarded the Disney Magic cruise ship for a whole week with our good friends the Drew’s. We booked this cruise last March,07 and never told the kids… it was their Christmas present.. a great surprise. I can not explain how much fun we had. This was the most relaxing trip we have ever ventured on with our three munchkins, it is the best trip with kids. The Drew’s have three kids pretty much the same ages as ours and the trip was awesome.

This huge ship was home for one week… the kids wanted to stay and live on it for a while… I would in a heart beat!

Every night on the cruise ship they had Broadway production shows as well as magicians or comics. The entertainment was first class, our days seemed to be centred all around the evening entertainment, even Trent went early to get good seats in the large theatre.

Our first night on the boat Trent was picked to go on stage to help out with the show… we laughed pretty hard, he did a few dance moves that we will not forget.

Our next port stop was Grand Cayman… we fell in love with this island. If we could afford to live here we would, but only the very wealthy can afford nice houses on this beautiful British Island. Trent said ” OK lets move here”, but once I started telling him the cost of everyday living his song changed… milk alone would break our bank.

In the Grand Cayman we chartered a boat to take us out to Sting Ray City – a must once in our life and to visit some beaches. Oh what a great day it was. Our guide was a native Cayman man, grew up there and raised his boys on the island. He was full of immense knowledge and it was great to just hang out with him. John was his name and he was very patient with our kids, this day we needed a lot of it.

Our first stop was Sting Ray City… it is a sand bar out in the ocean a 20 min speed boat ride off shore, it is where the stingrays hang out. These are wild stingrays NOT captive so they still have their barb in. This is a major tourist attraction that is why we opted for a speed boat to beat the crowd. John through the anchor over board and we looked down and all you could see was large grey/black spots in the water… it was stingrays… alot more than I had imagined.

When it was time for us to get our snorkel gear on Everett would not let go of me and Em & East were not so keen on getting in the water. Trent himself was a bit nervous but to show the kids it could be done he jumped in the ocean. Trent’s face was priceless as one of the stingrays brushed up against his leg, it is a strange feeling.

John gave Trent some squid and showed him how to hold it so the stingray did not suck his finger off with the squid. There were alot of stingrays, it was fascinating. Emma finally went in with Trent but would not put her feet down on the ocean floor. The waves were pretty strong and were knocking Emma over pretty good. Em went in for a few minutes and that was good enough for her. I finally jumped in and the rays were huge, Everett screamed from the boat for 10min while I was in the water (that is why we all needed patience, he would not calm down)

It was a great experience, John even taught Trent how to hold the stingrays… they are very gentle animals, amazing creatures to spend time with up close. If you get a chance do it, it is pretty neat to spend time with a wild animal not in captivity.

Avery & Emma out in the water with the stingrays, they had a lot of fun, Emma was more relaxed this time :- )

Beach time for Everett… notice the huge play ground behind him, kids can swing, slide, run all around it. 

It was hard to choose one of my favorite nights between special apple drinks, ear tasting, vino at the evening shows, the kids finding tinkerbell, looking for Trent & Jim by their new friend Neil but if I had to chose it would be Pirate night. There was a big party on the top deck with dancing, food and fireworks. All of us dressed up to get into the theme of the night and Easton desperately wanted to be Jack Sparrow, the boys dressed from head to toe… cute Sparrows I have to say.

Trent was one scary pirate… he seems to fit the costume very well.

My cute Jack Sparrows, Em as a Mickey Pirate and of couse big daddy Pirate.

This was a fun night with Jode, since our husbands had a hard time finding us later in the evening :- )

 

The party on the top deck was a great time… we danced and pirated it up! Ev is one of the best looking little pirates I have ever seen… he got right into the fun. 

Both families had a lot of fun on the cruise… each night the kids would go to the kids club to play games and watch movies while us adults went to the adult club to be entertained by comics, magicians and some times dance the night away. It was a lot of fun! One night Trent and I were one of three couple who played the Love Connection. First couple had to be married less than a year, second couple to be married 10-20yrs. and third couple 50+yrs. Obviouly we represented the 2nd group— the premise of the game was; one of us was sent out of the room, the other person stayed to answer some questions, then they brought back the person from the sound barring room to answer the questions hoping for a match. (note we did this game for Jodie & Jim’s amusement) I am proud to say Trent & I won the game with the most matches… we know each other pretty well I guess :- ) all except about locations (ha ha – you had to be there) The funniest part of the game was the couple who had been married for 55yrs. they were very cute.

We had a lot of fun at Rockin Bar D… here Trent, Jodie & Jim could not sing any louder to Bon Jovi… it was a fun night. Good thing I do not have my videos ready or I would have some fun film to show some great moves from Jodie…. & Jim as one of the Village People.

It was alot of fun… we will have to do it again! See you in the summer.

Daisy Duck made her apperacne a few times on the ship… she is a rare find.

The girls with their special hats that our waiters made for them.

 

Easton loved his chocolate milk bubble maker at dinner

The girls have alot of pictures because they stayed still long enough to have them taken. They looked so cute in there matching dresses.

People knew we were coming this our gang of six… one time a guy said to me “Oh you are that big family” it seems like we have alot when they are all talking at the same time.

After we left the boat we arrived in PANAMA on Jan 20th. It was a whirl wind of a month back in Canada/United States but it was a blast.

We arrived at our apartment which was still intacked (you never know) and we wasted no time, we were moving. Before we left to Calgary in December we decided that we were going to move out of the apartment into a house we found in Clayton. Clayton is an area outside of the city about 10min and is the area where the US army lived when they occupied Panama. Our place is an old US soliders place that has been somewhat fixed up.

I had the whole place painted before we moved in which we did a few weeks ago. The kids love it so much better! We don’t have our own pool but there is one down the street and a park outside our front window which they play at everyday. Our backyard is jungle and it is very quite out where we are now. We are in a neighborhood so it is nice, lots of kids and close to the new school the kids will go to.

It has been a great transition for us and the kids are very happy. It has been interesting for me in terms of decorating… here in Panama it is a very difficult thing, what I like is pain staking to find and if I do things are way to expensive. One day my stuff from Calgary will make its way down here and I will have my pictures, painting and nic’nacs.

Our move went very smooth with the exception Trent has been quite sick. The day of our move he was in bed and for many days after that. He is still working out pneumonia out of his body but is at least showing some improvment… if he does not kick this himself soon he will be having a few days vacation in the hospital here. He has been to the hospital a few times already and the doctors are excellent, top notch and there is no waiting… service is important here.

Right now we still have no internet at our house… We moved during Carnival so the city shuts down for a week, then a transformer went with the only internet company that presently services our area, we are praying they fix it fast. I am going slightly crazy being disconnected! We do not even have television/cable/satellite… nothing, we watch alot of movies.

I am sorry to say I have no other recent pictures to share since I forgot my camera at the house and believe it or not I have not been taking many pictures lately. Durning Carnival we made our way out to the beach with friends…

In a few weeks we are heading north up to Honduras to meet the Richards for two weeks of fun in the sun. We are pretty excited about the trip but getting there will be very interesting… it will take us 4 planes to reach Roatan… Our plane leave at 5:30AM on Feb 27th that means we have to be at the airport at 3:30AM, fun fun! Honduras is suppose to be very primitive so it will be fascinating to see how people live.

Tomorrow we give up the apartment that has been home for the last year, I can say I am not sad to say good-bye… it is time to move on. I am at the apartment using the internet one last time until we get it in our house… who knows when so to all have a great weekend, email when you get a chance I will be checking email but no blogs and our phone number will not be up and running until we have fast internet.

All our love to everyone and for everyone who has emailed to ask where we have been I hope this blog answers your question. Thanks for checking on us.

Until next time.

Love Trent. Jody. Emma. Easton & Everett