Awesome Autumn

I'm not gonna lie, Coronavirus and all that goes with it, has got us down in the dumps sometimes. It is hard. But we can do hard things, and we are determined to make our own fun and stay positive as much as possible.

 
The kiddos actually went back to school!  Kinda. They started back 2 days a week in person and 3 days at home online.  First day of 8th grade!
 
 
And first day of 6th, 4th, and 1st grade!  The elementary kids actually transitioned to 4 days at school and 1 day at home after just a few weeks. We'll see how long it lasts. We are definitely learning to be more flexible.
 
 
Over Labor Day weekend we took an afternoon to visit Wheeler Historic Farm.
 
 
We packed a picnic, looked at the animals and farm machinery, and took a wagon ride. It was low key and socially distanced, but it was getting out of the house.
 
 
It is a beautiful setting there.
 
 
Early in the morning of September 8th (before sunrise) we were struck by a crazy windstorm. The power was out at our house for 2 days.
 
 
Our roof was severely damaged.
 
 
And many trees in the neighborhood were uprooted or blown over. I haven't ever experienced something like it before. It was basically a hurricane without the rain. 

 
We also took time in September to drive the Alpine Loop before the road closes due to snow. We saw a little bit of Fall foliage, though it has been so dry that the colors were pretty muted.
 
 
We also enjoyed seeing the Aspen groves, which had not started to change color yet.
 
 
We all had eye exams and these 2 kiddos got some new prescription sunglasses.
 
 
Also on our Utah bucket list was to visit a corn maze, which seemed like a totally do-able activity for a pandemic. We found Cross E Ranch near Salt Lake City had one along with a Fall Fest, so we spent an afternoon there and had a lot of fun.

 
Apple cider doughnuts were delicious.


 
The pig races were entertaining, though a little harder to keep distant from people. Everyone was wearing masks though.


 
We completed the easy and medium mazes, and decided to pass on the most difficult maze.

 
The 6 of together are able to pull a tractor. Good to know.

 
And there were a bunch of other fun kids' activities like this hay bale maze...

 
... this bounce pad...

 
... and these super fun slides where the kids spent ages.



 
All in all, we are enjoying Fall in Utah, and trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

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