School holidays with the kids

It’s been a busy and expensive few weeks, My oldest went to Otago university on a ‘taster’ course, trying out university life for a week.

https://www.otago.ac.nz/hands-on-at-otago/index.html

I took some time off work to spend some time with my youngest daughter. We spent three days riding off-road motorcycles to get her skill level up, so she can ride the same tracks with her sister who has had a lot more experience.

It’s been a learning experience for me as well as been a bit humbling as well….

When my oldest first learnt to ride off road bikes, I was learning as well, and it was an adventure we did together.

With my youngest learning to ride, I kept thinking she will react and behave the same way as her sister.
this was a rather patronising mistake on my part, as their personalities are very different.

She did very well the first two days, and even rode around the B-track that her sister normally rides on with such aplomp.

The third day ended with a crash. I made the mistake of heading off in front of her down a gravel road and she tried going faster than she’s used to. She has different motivations than her sister and I should have forseen that.
For her part, the crash was a shock for her, but she bounced back from that, when we left to go to a prearranged picnic with friends.

My oldest was back from Otago university for the forth day of motorcycling, and they both rode around together which made for a very happy positive day.

It’s been a rewarding two weeks.