Big news this week for Jude. After many weeks of having a very wiggly front tooth it finally came out. He was looking at the lions at the zoo where he was wiggling it a little like he always does and it just came out in his hand. He was very, very excited. He came home and proudly showed me his tooth. That night the tooth fairy came and gave him $2 for that special tooth.

This came just a few days after we got back from Keystone where we had a wonderful time with the Dahlen family. The kids all enjoyed themselves with all the fun activities which included a hike with all five cousins while Nate and I were golfing – well done Mandy and Marcy!

Our last night in Keystone was a little disappointing. Every Friday night they have free gondola rides to the top of the mountain where there is free entertainment and lots of fun things for the kids. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it was cold and rainy. We did manage to get a group photo at the top during a break in the rain.

This weekend Marcy took the kids up to the “Insectival” at the Butterfly Pavilion where they had all kinds of insect-type fun stuff for kids. Jude had his face painted and found fishing for crawdads very engrossing:

We sold our house on Grape St on December 30th 2011, just three days before we left for Sydney. Since then we have been renting – six months in Sydney and then a year back in Denver. But that is all about to change. On Monday last week we bought a new house in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver. We haven’t moved in yet as we still have a month to go on our lease but we are now the proud owners of a 1931 Georgian style home (pictured). We will be moving in later this month.

We had a family first last weekend. We all went to the baseball game. Last year I took both Jude and Anna separately to see a Rockies game but this was the first time the whole family went. We had a nice time and we made it through the 8th inning which was better than I expected. The kids were not much interested in the game but they enjoyed the whole spectacle.

We are now in the midst of our annual July 4 trip to Keystone. We decided to make this an extended trip this year, so we left Denver on July 3rd and will be up here for 10 days. This means we made it to the July 4th bike parade. Both kids loved being in the parade as this is the first year they had both ditched the training wheels and they were able to ride like the big kids.

At Keystone they have a bunch of activities for kids that we have enjoyed every day since we arrived. We bought the kids summer season passes and we are making the most of it. They have bungee trampolines, a climbing wall, bounce house, maze, digging for gems, putt putt and more. They also get free rides on the gondola.

Last night the Dahlen family arrived from Des Moines and Jude and Anna were so excited to see them. Anna asked at least two dozen times yesterday when Lily would be here. They arrived late last night and Jude, Anna and Lily have been inseparable ever since. We went to the top of the gondola tonight and I shot this cute photo of them overlooking Lake Dillon and the continental divide.