September Happenings

 I better write about September before October gets busy and it doesn't happen.  We enjoyed having the kids in school every day all September.  We loved every second of it, and it's a good thing because things seem to be unraveling a bit in the pandemic department.  It's a little precarious at the moment, but that's October, not September.

September had two mountain bike races:  the first in Price and the second in Vernal.  Yes, we mountain bike in luxury destinations.  The Price race wasn't awesome for either of the kids.  Or the whole team for that matter.  I think everyone kind of slacked off after the first race, and it showed.  Zack and Kate learned a good lesson about seeing the results of effort, whether that's a lot of effort or not enough.  They worked a lot harder before the Vernal race and it paid off.  They both finished a lot higher.  Zack managed to finish 3rd and make it look easy and Kate moved up like 10 spots as well.  They were both happy campers.  We have two races left, assuming the state doesn't shut down or one of them doesn't get quarantined.  This is the point in the season where everyone is tired and ready to be done.  Time to dig deep, or something.

We went on a family Jeep ride with the Mackays.  It was good to have the kids with us, kind of.  Totally different experience Jeeping with the kids.  A lot of fighting and complaining is involved when they come.  But we still managed to have fun.  We saw some beautiful fall leaves and took a break to eat dinner.  Jeeping is definitely a fun way to see hard to access parts of Utah.  Come to think of it, mountain biking is good for that as well.  Just call us explorers!

Sage is a good sport hanging out at mountain bike races all day.  She's good at cheering everyone on.

Zack lining up.  They line you up according to how you finish the last race.  He got to line up in 5th, finished in 25th.  Not a great race.

The boys don't show any emotion when they ride.  They're in the zone and just trying to win.  The girls show all kinds of emotion.   They laugh, cry, etc.  Love it.

Kate and I were discussing how she looks the same in every mountain bike picture.  She says she's having fun her face just doesn't show it.  I feel her pain.

Zack had his first guitar recital.  The original recital was scheduled right when everything shut down for Covid.  He was not so prepared for this one.

Beautiful fall leaves from our Jeep ride

It's impossible for them to sit this close together and not fight.

We had to adjust the dryer.  Poor Zack can barely fit.  He has to take shallow breaths to make it.

The first of many of these pictures I'm sure

Sage and I went on a date while everyone was at mountain biking

Waiting to eat in Vernal.  A series of poor decisions meant we waited almost 2 hours.  Not one of our finer moments.

Zack was a machine for the Vernal race.  He started in 25th and made his way to 3rd.

 A couple of the many selfies I find on my phone from Sage