Jude sporting his new reading glasses for the first time

We have taken Jude to the eye doctor for some tests and it turns out that he needed glasses. It wasn’t just because his vision wasn’t great, in fact the tests came back with 20/20 vision. But he has trouble focusing on the page when he is in school, his two eyes don’t bring an image into one line of focus, and the glasses should help with this. Not only that but he has about 15 minutes of eye exercises he needs to do at least 4 days a week while he attends vision therapy for at least a few months. We started them this weekend while we were in Keystone.

Speaking of Keystone we spent the weekend there again and the kids had their third Saturday of ski school this season. They continue to make great progress with both kids doing their first ski race this weekend and the instructor took Jude’s class down their first bump run.

We had a family ski day earlier today and there was a noticeable improvement from last weekend. Particularly with Anna, who is a real speed demon these days, she likes to race me down the hill.

After their ski day Jude and Anna snuggle on the couch with a show

Jude skiing in Keystone

For the third year in a row we have put the kids in ski school every Saturday in January. While Jude was somewhat reluctant to do it Anna was very enthusiastic but both have ended up enjoying it and are making great progress.

Unfortunately, Jude has been under the weather this week with a bad cough. He missed two days of school but was a trooper on Saturday in ski school. He clearly wasn’t feeling 100% and when we went to pick him from his lesson he was lying on the snow completely spent.

Anna showing her style on the Keystone slopes

We have stayed at the condo now two weekends in a row and this weekend we brought up our snowshoes. Anna discovered them right away and wanted to put Marcy’s on to walk around on the snow. She didn’t go far but she liked the whole idea of snowshoeing.

Anna in front of the Keystone condo in Marcy’s snowshoes

For two Saturday’s in a row now Marcy and I have been able to have a several hour long date as we skied all over Keystone. It has been great even though the snow was a little thin for this time of year. Marcy loves doing the bumps these days and continues to get better at them. I would like to say the same for myself but my knees are getting weaker every year and I think my ability has plateaued. But I still really enjoy a couple of bumps runs every time I go out.

Today, we had a family ski morning. We all walked down to the lifts bright and early and took a couple of runs together. Jude was still nowhere near 100% but he agreed to give skiing a try today. But after two runs he decided he was done for the day. I still managed to shoot the video below that captured both Jude and Anna skiing albeit briefly.

This afternoon Jude and I stayed in and watched the Packers-Seahawks game while Marcy took Anna ice skating. They both have new ice skates and Anna was dying to give hers a try.

Anna in her new skates at the rink at River Run in Keystone

Anna bringing in the New Year in style

We have had a great week in Des Moines. Both Jude and Anna had a blast spending time with their Des Moines family. There were fun activities planned every day but the highlight was clearly the New Year’s Eve celebration. The Science Center had a special New Year’s Eve countdown for the kids at 12 noon that included a balloon drop as well as face painting. Then it was back home for the family celebration and countdown around 5:30pm that included a toast with “kids champagne” also known as sparkling apple juice.

Toasting the “New Year” at around 5:30pm on New Year’s Eve

The incredible balloons the kids had made at the New Year’s Eve party

Marcy and I were able to catch a New Year’s Day movie but unfortunately I had to work every weekday. I tried to be around as much as I could and play with the kids and be social. We certainly watched our share of football, played cards, drank good wine and ate very well as usual.

While the weather was a little chilly all five cousins still enjoyed a trip to the playground

It was very sad to leave on Friday afternoon. This really was the best trip the kids had ever had – they got along well pretty much the entire time and they just loved playing and spending time together. Normally, Jude is ready to go back home after a few days but this time he wanted to stay and for the first ever he cried when we left.

The mug shot – the entire family with their Christmas mugs.

The trip home was a little more harrowing than usual. The reason we left on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday was to avoid the snow storm that we could see was coming. But when we entered Colorado we hit the storm. It was a slow and sometimes harrowing drive and we made it home later than expected but in one piece.