Eagle Mountain Demolition Derby

I decided to drive an hour to take the boys to a demolition derby because they 1) love cars and trucks and 2) love to see things being destroyed (This is especially true of Benjamin!)

One really nice thing about being in Utah is there was no alcohol at the event. They also said a prayer to start the evening off after the national anthem (It was almost like being at a ward activity). I'm sure a demolition derby in other places might not be as "family friendly".

It was a happy surprise to find there was free wireless internet (that had a stronger signal than what we get in our apartment) and we were able to "face-time" with Ryan for part of the evening. It sounds like he really appreciated being able to share a family outing with us.

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 The little boys wouldn't wear their hearing protection, but when I asked Alexander if I could return his to the store, he told me that he needs it when things are louder, but it wasn't too loud at the demolition derby. I thought it was pretty loud. I'm sure Benjamin will get a lot of use out of his "ear muffs". He likes to follow around the people with leaf blowers; now w/ a pair of sunglasses he can at least do it safely.

"Gumby" was the boys' favorite car. Benjamin and Alexander both favor green, so I think that's why... Plus, it was an easy car to follow.

There were only 3 trucks competing and "Junky" was the last truck running. The driver apparently decided to give the crowd a show. It was the highlight of the evening for the boys. I can't imagine the driver didn't get whiplash, but he did get out of the truck and stand on top after the jump. The announcer asked if the truck still would run even though it had a bent wheel and a popped tire (It was un-steerable). The driver revved it while it was being towed and much applause followed.

 "Miss Eagle Mountain" was sitting behind us and the Eagle Mountain Rodeo Queen was sitting next to us. The Rodeo Queen talked to Benjamin quite a bit during the evening and as we were driving away, he said, "I'm in love with the Rodeo Queen and I miss her already". I told him after his mission he would find a beautiful woman like her to marry. He said he wouldn't and she was the only one. (I recall him declaring he was going to marry 2 other girls this week including a 7 month old baby... so I'm not concerned. Although, as far as I know, this is the first blonde he's ever swooned over.)

Benjamin and Alexander both think they need to be demolition derby drivers when they get older.

I packed sandwiches, but because the boys were up so late past their bedtime, they were hungry again on the drive home so we stopped at McDonalds for McDoubles. Alexander is my junk-food kid and was sure we needed to stop for another burger on the way home Saturday.

Gas Chamber

This is everyone's favorite event. Going into a closed room full of CS gas. It's supposed to help us trust our training and equipment. You walk in with the Protective Mask (Pro Mask) on. The Gas Chamber in Basic was much more concentrated than it was this time. It was enough to get a reaction, but not to the point of causing the massive flow of snot. We went into the Chamber as Platoons.

Team Development Course

The Team Development Course is designed to force Soldiers to work in small teams to navigate a number of obstacles. Our team was made up of the 1st and 2nd Squads of 3rd Platoon. Generally you have about 45 minutes to do an obstacle, but as usual the time was condensed so only 30 minutes was allotted for each event. Our Squads worked well together and we successfully completed 5/6 obstacles.

On this obstacle, we were supposed to use a limited number of boards of various lengths to get across a river. I got across early, and helped everyone else get down.

This one we had to rig a seat and get everyone across. Once we got a few people across, we needed to get a stretcher with a dummie across. We had run out of rope, so I used four web belts from our pants to lash the body underneath the seat. Than I pulled myself and the dummie across. I was tired at the end of it, but it was nice to know I was strong enough to do it.