On Monday we picked up our new (used, new to us) 120 snowmobile for the kids. We now have two of them. The kids were so excited to be able to ride together and to be able to race. So, we turned them loose and boy was it an eye opener regarding their personalities!
As they buzzed around the yard, Joe and I observed their every move from our birds eye vantage point, also know as our bedroom window. After they had ridden for 10 minutes or so, they decided to race down the driveway. (Our driveway is 600 feet long or so, which makes a great runway!) The first pass wasn't too successful. Madison took off down the lane before Jace got turned around. Cheater. The second pass started off better. They got lined up, counted, and took off. The machines are pretty evenly matched, Madsion had a bit of a lead off the line, but she was not pulling ahead by any means. She remained just inches ahead the entire length of the lane. Just before they entered the yard, she veered to her left, pushing Jace off the lane and nearly into the pasture. He managed to get back into the yard alright and didn't seem to be rattled by the events at all. Shortly thereafter, Madison came into the house for something. We asked her about the incident. Her reply? "I didn't want him to win." We talked to her about fair races and about safety on the snowmobiles and sent her back out.
Joe and I watched the kids for another 15 minutes or so. Suddenly Jace ran into the front yard, where Madison was alone on her snowmobile. (He had been in the back with Madison just seconds before). He said something to her, she dismounted her snowmobile, he jumped on and took off. We scratched our heads. Where the heck was Jace's sled?? Our answer came soon enough.
Enter Madison. She came in and we asked her what was going on. She replied that Jace had crashed his sled. Then she burst into tears saying "I will never get to ride a snowmobile again!" Huh?!?
We went out to investigate. Holy crap! He had indeed wrecked his sled. He had nosed it under our flat-bed trailer which stands about 1 foot off the ground. Buried up to the headlight! Needless to say the hood has seen better days. We actually had to use the tractor to lift the trailer off the snowmobile! Once that problem was solved, we began the process of accident investigation. Madison told us that Jace had come up the hill and crashed into the trailer; he had gone too fast she said. Jace told us the rest of the story. He and Madison had been racing side-by-side in the back pasture. As they came over the hill onto the building pad, he realized he was heading for the trailer and had tried to veer to the left (he couldn't go right because that is where the tractor was). Madison wasn't going to let him in (she said she again saw this as a chance to win). He realized his fate was to hit the trailer, so he JUMPED before impact! Thank goodness he had the foresight to bail because he probably would have wound up with a broken leg as he sailed over the wreckage. Just to put your minds at ease, yes, they both wear helmets!
All's well that ends well. However, NEVER compete with Madison. Apparently death is an acceptable rick for her! (Maybe the black eye Jace got during a Wii tennis match with her was not accidental! Perhaps we should have seen this coming!)
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