Coolest parents in the whole world!

How many parents do you know that would take their children across country to see an insane daredevil jump a car on New Years Eve?  Ok, so maybe there were other activities involved in the trip, but it is still pretty impressive that my sister and her husband took the boys out late on New Years Eve to see Travis Pastrana jump a car at the Long Beach Harbor.  Oh, let’s not forget that my sis hauled their infant baby girl as well.  They subscribe to the motto “Work Hard, Play Hard!”

Description of our evening…

Like most parades, we had our share of characters that included my all my siblings and spouses, except my youngest brother.  The male grandchildren and the baby were also invited to come while the residuals stayed at home to be watched by grandparents.

We started our evening by hoping onto the Los Angles rail system near Manhattan Beach.  Getting the party started we followed a enthusiastic crowd that was dressed to enjoy a hoppin New Years Eve.  Trusting that we were just as cool as them we followed them in hopes that all roads would lead to Pastrana.

Humming along on the rail, we got our bearings and made sure to get the proper transfer to get to Long Beach.  This was quite interesting as we conversed with a number of people and traveled through the famous locals of early 1990s rap.  I could not help but think of how odd we looked as a group of ten white individuals traveling through something that was clearly not in our element.  I could not tell who felt more uneasy, members of our party or the regulars that were being invaded.

Once we arrived at the end of the line we walked to the entrance of the fenced off area.  To the delight of my nephews we spotted two starts of the show Nitro Circus.  Shy and timid they did not want to introduce themselves to these stars.  With some coaxing from mom and dad they walked up and got pictures with the celebrities.   They even revealed their Nitro Circus tee-shirts and got them signed by Eric Ronner.  Officially part of the cool club, they said good bye to the Nitro Circus team members. 

Had we left at this point of the evening the nephews would have been more than content with the experience.  Being as cool as can be, we through caution and bedtime to the wind by staking claim to a good viewing local.  We took turns holding down the fort as members would meander around the grounds taking pictures and people watched.

Not wanting you to miss out we need to share some of the wonder full things we experienced.

1. A lady enthralled with hula hooping to the point that it appeared she neglected her daughter (she was probably a little loopy).
2. One energetic boy repeatedly rolling down a hill.
3. A young lady get on her boyfriends shoulders to get a better view.  We got an eye level view of solid crack despite her best efforts to correct the situation.  Some things need to be corrected with at good clothes shopping trip or months of dedication.

Misc. Photos:

Nephew with Jolene Van Vugt

Brother-in-law helping the boys meet the heros...notice the look of awe in nephew's face!

Sister trying to milk V.I.P. access with the baby.

Oldest brother and his wife in front of a replica of the jumping car.

Me with the same replica.  It was amazing how short of a start Pistrana had on the jump.

Brother and his wife in front of crowd/landing

Sister-in-law and nephew with good view of the jump