Miscellaneous Kid Pictures

Here is a collection of pictures from the past few weeks. 

Julia and her soccer team were given tickets to the last Switchbacks home game.  They got to walk around the field before the game, and then all had fun being 5th grade girls at an event. The rest of the family went to the game too. After the game ended everyone was allowed on the field and treated to a post game fireworks show. The kids had a blast running around with the lights off and watching the show. 

The other two pictures of the kids are from the school fun run. The fundraiser raised $34,000, to which half of the total went towards building a new outdoor classroom for the kids to enjoy. Julia ran 34 laps (mainly because she was also being social) and Jonathan ran 35 laps.  We sponsored them for a dollar a lap...

Julia is pictured below at Young Ameritown. All 5th graders get to take a day field trip up to Denver and play "adult" for a day. They each were given various jobs and responsibilities, and I think as a result were also given paychecks that they could spend around town. Julia was the town photographer, but there were all sorts of jobs and her friend Sierra was the mayor when her classes went. She had a great time.

And last, but not least, Freckles is ridiculous once the weather starts getting a little cold!

Family Pictures

Pikes Peak Ride (Take 2)

I took work off today to ride up to the top of Pikes Peak again...this time with my parents! My Dad brought his e-bike and my Mom drove the car to the summit and acted as the group driver, photographer, and aid station!  Unfortunately, today was much harder than a couple of weeks ago. The wind was howling near the top, so it took me 15% more time to make it to the finish on the Hill Climb route. The battery died on my Dad's bike about a mile or two from the summit, but he'll be back to finish the job soon.

This time we started from the toll gate, which is located about 18 miles and 6,600 feet from the summit. I wanted to ride the entire length of the highway at least once since the Hill Climb "race" only covered the final 2/3 of the highway. I also rode down from the summit and recorded a pretty nice video on my new GoPro.

Near the top some people driving by started to give me encouragement from their windows. In fact, three people yelled "you got this" or "you're almost there", which was very nice. A couple of people at the summit gave me a pat on the back, or said I was crazy, or wanted to strike up a conversation with me and ask a few questions. A lot of the cars that passed me along the way had Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska plates. I can imagine seeing some people riding to the top on a bike was somewhat mind-blowing for them.

After the ride my parents and I went out to lunch together and then I stayed at their place for about an hour. It was really nice to hang out with them and enjoy a fun adventure and their company. That's a rare occurrence these days (1:1 time), since we're both busy and I am usually competing with the kids for air time. I also think it's pretty cool that they were willing and able to do this together. For the vast majority of families even the thought of doing something like this is laughable all the way around!

First Day of School