The evening before school started, we had our annual Back to School dinner with our Kanakuk theme, Shine. We had one of their favorite meals, Dobson Cottage Lemon Chicken with lemon broccoli, baked potatoes and rolls along with Oreo Lasagna for dessert. We even ate on our fancy china. My parents, Caroline and her kids and Grace joined us and the kids going to school got buckets with little trinkets. My kids got feather bookmarks, book lights, light-up tops and some candy. Emmy got some coloring packs, a flash light and some candy.
The next morning, we all struggled a bit waking up early. I got up extra early and made kamp coffee cake for breakfast. Then it was time for pictures and off to school. The twins were actually the least excited to start back and weren't very happy when I left them.
After school, we went over to my parents to hang out for a little bit. Jackson had football practice, but Ellie didn't start cross country practice until the next week. It was kind of nice easing back into things. We didn't start soccer or flag football until the last week of August and we relished not having a busy schedule for a few weeks.
That Friday we went out to eat at Pear Tree with my parents and Caroline and Jared and their kids. Then we made it back in time for Lincoln to play in a soccer scrimmage. Then I was up early the next morning because I was supposed to go do a triathlon in Quincy with Andrea. It was storming when I woke up a little after 4. We had planned to leave around 5:30 with race starting at 8. We both messaged the organization and they said they were still planning on having it and wouldn't cancel until closer to start time. So I got up and got ready, picked up Andrea and loaded up her bike in the rain and then drove Highway 6 in the dark storms to Quincy. I hate driving in rain, so driving 6 in the rain, in the dark was not my idea of fun. When we got there, they said they were changing it to a duathlon, which meant we would run 1 mile, do the 14 mile bike ride and then run the 5k. I wasn't too excited about running first since running is not my strong suit while swimming is. But I did better on the run than I thought (at least for me) and then it was off on the bike. It was raining, so I didn't wear my sunglasses and the rain was pelting my face. I'm nervous biking in the rain too, but I was still able to keep up a decent speed. The back half of the loop (that we had to do twice) was unexpected. It turned into this surface that was kind of like compacted pea gravel and sometimes it was loose. Then there was a downhill 90 degree curve followed by a steep uphill. So, it wasn't my favorite bike route but I still ended up with a decent time on it and came into transition 3rd place overall. Then time for the run where 2 people ended up passing me and I passed one person, so I came in 4th place overall and 2nd place overall female. It was cloudy and kind of raining the whole time, which was nice for the run. The sun came out at about the time the awards started. Then Andrea and I grabbed some Panera before heading home.
Andrew and the kids were out at the ranch when I got home, so I unpacked everything, set my wet gear out to dry, cleaned up the house and got laundry started. Then we didn't do much else the rest of the evening. The next week Ellie started up cross country practice. They stretch by a tree by the parking lot everyday, so Lincoln always rolls down his window and yells to her as we go pass after school. Later that week we had the K-Life Kickoff Kookout. The younger boys came with me and "helped" set up and then they went home with Andrew when he dropped off Jackson after football and a football parent meeting. We had a decent turnout for the kickoff and the house and grounds looked so much better than they had in the past. The kids ate, then went inside for a short message and presentation of the new theme for the year, Redirect, and then they came outside to do the giant slip-n-slide while some of us board members cleaned up. It was a good night and Joel and Megan did a great job with all of it. They also had a Little K Open house, that we didn't go to since we already knew everyone.
And when I got home, Andrew had decided to start burning some of the brush that he had cut down. He cleared a little more out besides what Steve did and then burned it over several days. Thankfully, he didn't get reported :-).
Andrew went for a 100 mile bike ride with his friend, Trent, the next day. He left around 7 in the morning and met up with Trent in Callao. Then they rode down to Bevier where they took a break and ate some Subway before heading a little further south and then looping around to come back north. He handled it all pretty well and his knee was better than the last time he did a century ride. I think it was better to go in a loop instead of just one direction.
While he was out riding, I decided to change out our exterior lights. What I thought would take me just an hour or so, took me most of the day before I had to pick up the kids from school. I just had to change out a few more things and readjust more than I thought I would. But, they look so much better now and are all working, unlike before.
Jackson had his football jamboree that evening. He didn't get to come back after school as they have an early dinner for them at the school. They have parents volunteer to bring in food and then they eat around 3:30 and have to stick around after that until game time. It was fun to see him in uniform and the whole high school football game setting still gives me goosebumps. They didn't do the whole walk in thing since it wasn't an actual game. It was perfect weather though. And Jackson did actually get to go in a few times and helped with some tackles and carried the ball 7 yards on his one offensive play. While he was playing, Lincoln ran over to the soccer field and got another scrimmage in. He really loves it and always is eager to play.
Lincoln and I were up early the next morning as we were going to do the inaugural Royal Oaks 10k Trail Race. Andrew was signed up to do it with me, but then wasn't sure how he would feel after his ride and Lincoln had really shown interest. It started at 6:30, so we were up and out of the house by 6:10. It started just a few miles from our house, so we didn't have far to go. It was a bit chilly at first, but we warmed up pretty quickly. I had only done one 2 mile trail run before and while I have run 6.2 miles many times, I've never done it as a race. The first part of the race was just through a field until we got to the actual trail that took us down by Forest Lake and then around to finish the loop and back out through the grass. Lincoln did an amazing job. He stopped a few times to get a drink, especially during the last 2 miles as his legs were hurting by then. The last bit of the loop was more uphill, so it was a challenge. He was entertaining to run with though as he talked almost the whole time. He said, "All of this up and down is making my toots come out." And then he also joked about the phrase a professional cyclist used..."Shut up legs." We came in at 1:06, which was around a 10:35 minutes/mile pace. I was glad we were able to do it together.
Later that afternoon, we went over to my parents as Sara and her family were coming into town. Ryan was a bartender at TPs back in college and they sold the bar, so they came back for one last hurrah. The kids were all excited for the unexpected visit though. The kids swam for a little bit, but it was a little cooler, so it didn't last long. And then we roasted hot dogs and s'mores out by the pool for dinner. The next morning, the kids and I went to church while Andrew went back out to the ranch to work and he was happy that he finally dug through his pond and was able to start draining it. He had been working on it for a while.
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