The lack of snow made it dry in CO but, great for XC racing for our Coyotes.
November 5th, the Coyotes were ready to race at the USATF CO State XC meet.
Dylan worked hard to try and beat the Parker Panther kid he had been dueling with all season but...
...in the end Dylan didn't quite catch him but, still ran well and placed 6th overall for boys 8 and under.
Ava ran a very smart race and ran a 33 sec PR. Normally it's hard to compare XC times but, the State meet happen to be the exact same course as the Kokopelli invite so it was fun to see the Coyotes improve on their times from October 8th.
Ava had a strong finish and placed 19th out of the 11-12 year old girls.
Great racing Coyotes!
Still enjoying the nice temps on November 9th but, CO needs snow.
November 17th...we finally got some snow AND some very cold temps too but...
...however, our Coyotes were tough enough to battle the snow and the cold. Simon just told them that after a few minutes their faces would get numb and then the cold wouldn't feel so bad. Brrrr!
Marley always welcomes the snow and the cold.
Grampy and Sharona came down to Denver to watch Dylan and Ava race at the Regional XC meet but, Regionals happen to fall on Grampy's birthday. So, with Omi's birthday having been on the 17th and Grampy's birthday being on the 19th (Regionals) we headed out on the 18th to Virgilio's Pizzeria and Wine Bar for a birthday dinner to celebrate both of Grampy and Omi.
The next morning, Saturday the 19th, we woke to clear but, wet fields from the snow storm that hit on the 17th. Luckily, southern CO got less snow than we did so overall it was another great day to race at the USATF Regional XC Championship meet in Fountain, CO.
The temperatures were cold and we messed up by not forcing Dylan to race in his gloves (he didn't want them at the start) which really effected his race because his hands were frigidly cold and he felt them during the race. Again, no PR for Dylan (Kokopelli Invite 8:18: States 8:30; Regionals 8:36) but, he stayed close to the Parker Panther runner. Dylan also placed 16th overall at Regionals which was amazing enough for him to then qualify to go onto Nationals (top 30 runners from Regionals go onto Nationals). Way to go Dylan!
Ava had to take two weeks off of both running and basketball because she was dealing with pain in her knee from osgood schlatter. Even with taking time off she still ran a 1sec PR from the State meet and another very smart race (steady in the begging and passing runners in the end). 1 second isn't much but, given her knee pain and having to take two weeks off, that's still very impressive. Unfortunately, the 11-12 girls are an extremely competitive running group and Ava did not qualify for Nationals this year.
Grampy warming up Dylan's cold, swollen, and very red hands.
Simon and I both really enjoyed our first year of coaching youth cross country. We had such an amazing team of kids and hope that most of them return next season.
Relaxing in the hot tub after a cold, tough Regional XC meet!
The next morning on the 20th the girls spent hours on the trampoline coming up with dance routines. So fun! P.S. I'm sure the boys were up to some hot wheels shenanigans.
Monday the 21st, Ava and Dylan were excited to head to Jump Street with Nick and Reegan for their first official day of Thanksgiving break (no pictures taken) and then on Tuesday, November 22nd, I brought the kids up to the mountains for Thanksgiving. After the DeBourcy's arrived later that evening from their long drive from Iowa, I gave them all hello hugs and then had to head back down to Denver to help Simon time a Thanksgiving race on Thursday morning. Wednesday Simon and I drove down to CO Springs and timed a Turkey Trot Thursday morning while...
...the kids enjoyed quality time with their cousins going on a hike on Wednesday the 23rd.
Gorgeous weather but, not enough snow to ski.
Thursday, late afternoon, Simon, Cathie and I made it up to the mountains to be with my family for the Thanksgiving holiday and to be with these four cousins enjoying their time together.
Relaxing and looking pretty before dinner!
Thank you family for putting up with me while I requested a quick family photo in the cold and while the turkey was cooking and the lighting was perfect.
Getting the turkey ready!
They make a good team.
Gobble gobble.
Family time.
Post dinner ginger bread house decorating.
The next morning, Friday, we headed to the Avon Rec. Center to swim since we couldn't go skiing and then...
...after burning off some energy in the pool we drove out to Wolcott to go target and clay pigeon shooting. Grampy made a great target board for us and had all his guns ready as well as stocked up on enough bullets for the kids to have a great time shooting a gun for the first time.
The kids all learned about the safety rules first and then it was time to practice their shooting skills.
Ava had quite the straight shot.
Yay! I remembered how to shoot a gun and actually hit three flying clay pigeons in a row. So much fun!
Simon practicing his target and clay pigeon shooting too.
Another fun family day enjoying time in the mountains even if we couldn't ski them.
An amazing end to another amazing month of fun!
I hardly had any pictures in November of basketball but, November has definitely still full of lots of basketball for Ava and Dylan's Thunder basketball practices started up as well. The kids both had two bball and two XC practices a week along with cross country meets and basketball games on the weekends. Busy busy!
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