Celebrating our first meal back at our home with pizza on the front steps

After four and a half months away (including 54 nights staying in a hotel) we finally returned to our home on Friday this past week. The renovations are still quite a ways from being done but the house is now somewhat livable.

We are sleeping on inflatable beds in the basement and we don’t have any of our furniture back yet but we are sleeping here and having meals. It is good to be back.

Our first night back was somewhat eventful. Jude got really sick and ended up vomiting many times during the night. Luckily, Anna was fine and she slept through the whole thing. We don’t know what it was exactly but he had been feeling a bit off color the previous couple of days.

The real bummer for Jude about getting sick was that he missed his last soccer game of the season. He loves soccer so much, it is the highlight of his week, but there was no way he could have played on Saturday.

Anna actually played two soccer games on Saturday to finish off her season. She improved so much over the past couple of months – she is loving it and is now one of the best players on the team. And she celebrated with two goals in her last game.

Anna playing in her last soccer game of the season

Today was a perfect fall day so we spent a lot of the day outside. Marcy got a ton done in the yard and Anna helped out with the leaves.

Anna enjoying the fruits of her labor after raking a pile of leaves

By Sunday, Jude was feeling quite a bit better. Although he wasn’t up for playing football so he missed everything this weekend. But he was quite content to play at home. He played with Anna a lot as well as the neighbor’s kids and the only time he left the house was to retrieve an arrow that he shot over the fence from his archery set.

Jude felt a lot better by Sunday

Anna at her first hockey game, the DU Pioneers

After taking Jude to a Broncos game as well as a Rapids soccer game in the past month, this past weekend it was Anna’s turn. I asked her what she wanted to see and she chose hockey. Rather than go to an Avalanche game, which is very expensive, I decided on a DU Pioneers game. Anna thought it was pretty cool although by the end of the second period she was starting to lose interest.

Also this past week was Jude’s school play. They did St Jerome and the Lion and Jude played one of the merchants. He loved it. He is so into stories that he naturally memorizes them quickly. So, by the time the production came around he knew not just his own lines but the lines for everyone else as well. Marcy and I both went and saw him perform and it was great to see him having such a good time with it.

Enjoying fall at the zoo

We have had a gorgeous fall here in Colorado so far. With the kids on Fall break this weekend Marcy took advantage of the weekday and took the kids to the museum and the zoo.

Reed and Anna – quite the couple

Anna’s best friend at school (most of the time) is Reed. So, we had him over for a playdate at the hotel pool last week. Then we all walked to dinner with the youngsters going hand in hand.

Speaking of the hotel, we are FINALLY getting out of here this week. After checking in on September 1st and expecting to stay 2-3 weeks we are excited to be returning home after almost two months. The renovation project has been incredibly frustrating after being let down time and again by our contractor. Our house will not be finished, they are still at least a few weeks away from that, but at least we can stop paying for a hotel room come Friday.

Anna loves her first camera that she received for her birthday

Anna turned 6 on Tuesday, October 7. She has been excited about it for weeks and so we were quite surprised that she actually slept in until 6:45am. But once up she was raring to go.

She opened presents from us as well as her Iowa and Sydney families. She loved the clothes she received from Sydney, the purse and latch hook rug from Iowa and her camera that we gave her. In fact, she took dozens of photos with it on her birthday.

Anna’s first photo she ever took with her new camera

Anna loves for new outfit courtesy of her Sydney family, with a tiara from Marcy

The Renton family birthday tradition is a meal out for breakfast. So Anna chose an old favorite, “Berries & Cream” also known as the Original Pancake House. Luckily for Anna it was her day off school so she was able to hang out with Marcy all day on her birthday.

I took half a day off work so I joined Marcy and Anna at the park in the afternoon. We went bike riding, flew a kite, played hide and seek and listened to Narnia on my phone. We had a little problem with losing the keys to the bike rack and had to call AAA to rescue us. But we were able to meet Marcy and Jude for a picnic dinner in a local park. Anna got to choose any small cake she wanted at Whole Foods. I let her choose two.

Dinner and birthday cake in the park

The birthday celebration didn’t end when Anna’s birthday was over. Anna had her first ever birthday party inviting friends over. Anna decided she wanted a cake decorating party with girls only. So, we had 13 girls and Jude at a bakery not far from the hotel where we are still living.

About to sing Anna Happy Birthday at her party

This week wasn’t all about Anna’s birthday. Yesterday, Marcy took the kids to a Harry Potter movie and fun afternoon at one of the museums. It was a dress-up affair so Anna dressed up in her unicorn Halloween outfit and, yes, that is Jude below in his werewolf costume.

Anna in her unicorn outfit and Jude as a werewolf about to see the second Harry Potter movie

Jude giving Anna a lift as we arrive at Anna’s school birthday celebration

October is Anna’s birthday month and the celebrations have begun. We had her school celebration on October 1 which was great because Baba was still in town for it. Baba had come out for Grandparents Day at the school which was Monday. As always Anna’s teacher, Mrs Clark, did a wonderful birthday celebration and Anna loved it. Marcy and I commented we have now had four years of birthdays with Mrs Clark and we will miss how special she makes them.

This weekend was an active one. Yesterday, was the typical Saturday soccer day with both Jude and Anna enjoying their games. It is great to see them improving and gaining in confidence as the season progresses.

About to head out for our Sunday activities (Anna wanted blankie in the picture, too)

Jude and I have both been excited about this day for some time. Today was Jude’s first time ever attending a Bronco game. The funny thing is he is not a passionate Broncos fan, he prefers to root for the teams that have not won any Superbowls like the Chargers and Bills. But today, with the Broncos playing the Cardinals he was happy to be a Bronco fan.

Jude and me at his first ever NFL game

Jude had a blast at the game. He got caught up in the passion and excitement of the game. And it was a memorable one at that. Peyton Manning threw for the most yards he had ever done in a game and with a final score of 41-20 in the Broncos favor there was plenty to cheer about.

Marcy and Anna goofing around after the Odysseo show

While Jude and I were at the game Marcy took Anna to see this show: Odysseo. It was a cross between a horse show and Cirque de Soleil with some amazing acrobats. Anna enjoyed it and decided to buy herself a stuffed pony to commemorate the occasion.