October (part 2)

 October has come and gone...but it sure was fun!

Elsie and Sarah made this incredible pumpkin!  We had it on our candy table and everyone that came by commented on how neat it was.  If there was a contest, it would have won an award for sure.

Owen worked hard on his pumpkin too.  Halloween was on a Saturday this year so that meant a little extra time to stay out late.  The kids trick-or-treated around the neighborhood.  Most people had candy outside to prevent kids from coming up on the porch (thanks COVID).  We did a fire pit in the driveway with a candy table.

This is a Fortnite character called a "Supply Llama."  

If you guessed this is an "Avocado" then you guessed right!  Sarah and Elsie made this costume.

What a haul!  Each kid came home with about two 1 gallon zip lock bags of candy.  Should last until Christmas?  :)

In Scouts, we had a model rocket launch on Halloween morning.  

The kids were encouraged to wear costumes, but Owen's blow up costume wasn't going to work very well in the wind.  So he resorted back to Marshmallow. :)  It was SO windy that morning.  Perfect for a rocket launch!

As you can see from the video below, Owen's rocket went off great.  You can also see how crazy the wind was.  And he just missed the neighbors tree...

We had our last two flag football games.  These were the playoffs and the Mahomies had the #3 seed.  It was about 45 degrees and windy that day.  BRRR!

I didn't get any pics or videos of any good plays, but in the first half, the Mahomies were down 12 to 6.  The only TD came from Owen on a run around the right side.  

In the 2nd half, the Mahomies trailed 18-6 and time was getting short.  The worked the ball down the field.  Owen had a big 4th down catch for a 1st down, so nice runs, and eventually a TD catch on an out route.  That made it 18-12.  We stopped the other team and got the ball back with about a minute left.  With 2 seconds on the clock, Owen caught an out route and took it 60 yards for the touchdown to tie the game as time expired!!!  It was incredible!  We ended up losing in OT, but still, what a game!

The 2nd playoff game was for 3rd place in the league.  The weather was much nicer this time.  Our coach and his son were out because they'd been exposed to COVID, so we only had 7 kids which meant everyone got to play the whole game.  Backup coach, Steve, did a nice job of mixing the ball around.  3 or 4 kids had TD's and Owen had one too.  Owen also had a couple of QB sacks, which were big.  

Winner winner! 
What a fun season it was.  I'm really glad that Owen decided to play and I know he had a lot of fun this season.  Hopefully we get to play next year.  It was tough balancing baseball, football, and scouts, but I wouldn't change anything.

As you know, taking bike rides in the fall is one of my favorite things to do.  I love the colors and the way it feels outside.  You've only got about a month where the colors are popping and the weather is perfect.  You have to enjoy it while you can before it's gone.
(These first few are from Kill Creek)

Yesterday, there was no sports or scouts, and the weather was great, so Owen and I went out to Lexington Lake Park.  There are some beginner mountain bike trails that I had been dying to show him. 

For not having ridden for awhile, Owen did great!  He even took on some obstacles and powered through them just like you are supposed to.

Attacking the rocks!

Owen and I did about 3.5mi and then headed home for lunch.  After lunch I was bored and still had a lot of energy, so I decided to go back out.  This time to Big Bull Creek.  The weather was just about perfect so I couldn't let it go to waste!  :)

I didn't think I'd last that long, but I just kept going further and further out.  Eventually, I got to I-35 which is about 3mi down the creek and the farthest I've been on these trails.  It felt GREAT to explore.  Like when we'd explore the woods across the street from our house when I was a kid.

There were some really steep and narrow parts.  I had to push my bike through a couple of places because it was just too sketchy.

I-35.  There are a few more miles of trails on the east side, but I'll have to wait for another time to explore them.

You can see the trail goes off-camber around the right side.  Sketchy!

A few weeks ago, I got the idea to sort out my shot glass collection which has been buried away since we had kids.  I wanted to see how big of a display I'd need if I wanted to show them off.  There are 137 glasses, collected over the past 20 years or so.

We made beef jerky on the smoker and it turned out really good.  I think Owen ate about 2/3 of it.

Oh yeah, it also snowed!  WAY too early for that.  Luckily it didn't stay around very long.

Friday night fun!

I don't have a lot of pictures of Elsie, but she's been very busy herself.  She's been going to school in person and walks to school every day with her friend, Peri.  She's loving middle school and has been coming right home and doing her homework and practicing trumped every day without us even having to ask.  I'm still working from home, so I'm in the living room and get to greet the kids when they get home every day.  After Elsie gets her homework done, she usually bakes something.  She's made cookies, brownies, monkey bread, and all sorts of yummy treats.  It's a bit distracting if you are trying to work but I don't want to stifle her creativity.  

Unfortunately, based on the rise in COVID cases in our community (and everywhere) the middle school has decided to go back to remote learning in a couple of weeks.  Elsie is fully capable of handling it, and proved she could excel at it the first month of school, but I feel bad for her not getting to be around her friends and in social settings.  Hopefully, it won't last that long but we will see...  As for elementary school, they are still going in person and Owen is having a great year!

See ya,

Ryan