It has been a very busy last two weeks for me. After returning from Iowa I had three days in Keystone before heading to London for work. I stayed over the weekend to head down to Dover where my good friend from college, Scott Miers, was attempting to swim the English Channel.

It was great to be able to catch up with Scott and his family, who were all over in the UK supporting him. He had trained for several years for this swim and was excited about joining the elite group of channel swimmers. Every morning all the channel swimmers gather in Dover Harbour for a short swim (just 1-2 miles is short for these guys). I joined in despite the freezing temperatures. I lasted about 150 yards.

Me, Scott, Emily and Murph (Scott’s mentor) before a practice swim in Dover Harbour

Scotty ended up swimming the channel a couple of days after I left and he did it in 9 hours and 59 minutes which was two hours better than his goal. He crushed it – very few swimmers do it in less than 10 hours.

After London, it was back to Denver for less than a day before heading off to Beijing. I was invited to speak at a conference this past weekend and they paid for me to fly business class the entire way. We also have some potential clients for our company in Beijing so I was able to visit some other people as well. Didn’t get much down time but I did manage to get to Tiananmen Square one evening.

Me and my buddy Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square in Beijing

While I was away Marcy was left as a single parent for 10 days. They went to Glenwood Springs and stayed right by the hot springs there. The kids loved it, as did Marcy. The pool in the background is fed by natural hot springs so it is a very warm temperature year round.

Jude and Anna at the Glenwood Springs pool

While I was away Marcy’s bike broke. She has been complaining about this bike for a while now so she went out and bought a new one. And she rode it all the way up Loveland pass – nearly 3,000 feet of elevation change from Keystone.

Marcy with her new bike after conquering Loveland Pass

The kids have enjoyed their last two weeks in Keystone. They had their third week of camp at the Keystone Science School, tennis lessons, bike riding, soccer, played lots of Uno and even went bowling. It has been a great summer in the Rockies.

Jude and Anna at the Lake Dillon playground

Lily, Peter, Marcy, Anna and Chloe enjoying the pool in Des Moines

We have had a very full last two weeks. We left Keystone on Wednesday, July 30th and we stopped in Denver to go and check on our house and meet with our contractor. Then it was off to Iowa although we decided to split the trip on the way there with a night in Lexington, Nebraska.

The kids were so excited to get to Baba’s house that they could hardly contain themselves as we drove on to their street. As is typically the case on these trips, it was a quick hello to everyone and then straight to the pool for a swim where they would spend a good deal of their time over the next 8 days.

Jude getting thrown in the pool by Uncle Nathan and Aunt Mandy

The movie Frozen is a big hit in the Dahlen family so when they found out there was a Frozen night at the local Barnes & Noble the girls all got dressed up to go. Jude and I went to play tennis – he is not much of a Frozen fan.

Ella, Chloe and Anna dressed up in their princess outfits to see Frozen

Jude had been talking about getting a haircut like Uncle Nathan’s for some time. When we suggested Nathan could even do it for him Jude thought that was a great idea. So, one day Uncle Nathan came over with his clippers and shaved off most of Jude’s hair, leaving a subtle mohawk in the top. Jude loved it.

Uncle Nathan attacking Jude’s hair

We brought all four bikes to Iowa and we all did some rides while we were there. We have known for some time that Anna’s bike was getting a little small for her – she has had it since she was two. So, while we were there Marcy went and bought a new bike for Anna and we left her old one for Ella and Chloe. Needless to say Anna LOVED her new bike.

Anna on her brand new bike that Marcy bought for her

From bikes to triathlons. Lily has done several triathlons and loves them. Jude and Anna had never attempted one. So, it was decided that they would have a practice triathlon with two laps of the pool, a ride around the block and then a run down and up the hill. Lily set up the course and did a great job getting Jude and Anna ready. She walked the course with them, and helped set up their transition station. They all loved it and even Anna was able to finish unassisted.

Jude finishing their practice triathlon

So, after the kids did their practice triathlon talk turned towards doing a real one. It just so happened that a kids triathlon was happening in Omaha on Saturday. Lily was already registered to participate so after a successful practice run we all decided to leave Iowa a day early and head to Omaha with the Dahlens for a night.

And we are very glad we did. This was Jude and Anna’s first triathlon, as I said, and we didn’t know what to expect. This event was very well run and they had three different levels that was split into age groups. Lily was in the intermediate group so she went off first and we all cheered her on.

Then it was Jude and Anna’s turn. They were both in the junior race which was good but Jude was one of the oldest in the division and Anna was the very youngest. And since they started the swim in age order Anna was the last person to swim.

Both kids did really well and we were very proud of them. Jude was strong on all three legs and finished the run strongly. Anna struggled a little on the swim but did great on the bike and also finished strongly. Even though Anna was the last person in and out of the water she passed another girl on the bike ride. And at the very end it was really cool with the other kids forming a tunnel for Anna to run through. The commentators also made special mention of Anna.

The most important part of all this is that Jude and Anna both enjoyed themselves and want to do more triathlons.

Jude starting the triathlon

Anna is the last one in the water

Seconds after Anna finished her triathlon

Team Renton sporting their finishing medals after a successful triathlon