At Mum’s grave on the one year anniversary of her death

We landed back in Sydney on Tuesday morning this week amidst the worst rain/wind storms in more than a decade. There was a lot of flooding around Sydney which we mostly avoided but it was certainly not the weather we were hoping for.

We arrived back on the one-year anniversary of Mum’s death so we went straight from the airport to the cemetery to pay our respects. Then it was on to Manly Beach where we have an apartment booked for two weeks.

Dad with his three grandkids

One of the reasons for the timing of this trip was to meet the new addition to the family, young Sarah Jane Renton who is just two months old. The kids were really excited to meet her and they loved taking turns holding Sarah. She is a very easy going baby and didn’t mind all the attention and camera flashes in her face.

Saying hi to my new niece for the first time

One of the things the kids, particularly Anna, was looking forward to on this trip was the visit to Luna Park, the amusement park that is right on the harbour. When we lived in Sydney in 2012 Anna was too small to go on many of the rides so she was very happy to now be big enough to do the Wild Mouse and other rides.

On the Ferris Wheel at Luna Park

While the weather has not been great we have had two nice days in our first week. And we have spent most of those days on the beach. We are literally 50 yards from the sand so it is very convenient. With sand and water Jude and Anna are happy campers and could easily spend all day there. There are a ton of surfboard riders at Manly Beach so Anna decided she wanted to give surfing a shot. We rented a board and she discovered it was a lot more difficult than it looks. The water is also quite cold so she didn’t last long. Jude also gave it a try and did quite well, catching a wave on his knees successfully.

Jude learning how to surf at Manly Beach

Story time with Aunt Mandy and the twins

It has been quite the crazy couple of weeks in the Renton family. The kids have been on Spring Break and so for the second week of their break they took a trip to Iowa to see everyone there. Unfortunately, I was not able to go because I had my big annual LendIt conference this past week.

This was the longest time I have ever been away from the kids: it was 12 days. I left for New York before Marcy and the kids got back to Denver and I didn’t arrive back home until Friday.

Jude loves all the animals in Iowa especially Ozzie

As always the kids had a fantastic time with their Iowa family. Jude even commented that he wants to go and live in Iowa for six months some time and go to school there with Lily.

Some of the highlights were a trip to the Science Center, Lily took a day off school so they could hang out together and she also had a couple of sleepovers. Most of the time was spent at Baba and Grandpa’s house playing. And just before they left they all went to see Lily’s soccer match.

My last two weeks were very different. I have been totally focused on putting together the LendIt Conference and I have been working around the clock on that along with our great team. We pulled off a truly great conference, almost 2,500 people which was way more than we expected.

Anna watching me give a presentation at LendIt USA 2015 – it was streamed online

The highlight for me was introducing the former Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton (and President Obama’s chief economic advisor) Larry Summers. He gave a brilliant speech and was very gracious as our keynote speaker. The photographer shot this quick photo right after he came off stage.

With former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers at LendIt USA 2015 in New York

As I am writing this we are on a plane bound for Sydney where we will be spending the next couple of weeks. We have taken the kids out of school so we can go visit the Australian family and we can all meet young Sarah, the kids new cousin.

Anna painting her nails while talking on the phone with Baba – a sign of what is to come…

Jude on the hunt in the backyard for Easter Eggs

Jude and Anna have been counting down the days until Easter since February. Literally. They both made a paper countdown and every morning since late February they have cut one spiral off their countdown.

So, this weekend was all about Easter. It started yesterday morning with the traditional egg dyeing. Marcy hard boiled 18 eggs and Jude and Anna spent most of the morning coloring and decorating their eggs.

Anna and Jude goofing around as they dyed their Easter Eggs

Last night they were both so excited as we started getting things ready for the Easter Bunny. We put out a bowl of spinach and carrots and Anna wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny. They also put all their decorated eggs out on the table.

Getting ready for the Easter Bunny on the night before Easter

This morning Jude woke up early, we think he only had about eight hours sleep, and Anna was up by 6:45am and the Easter festivities began. They each received a few small presents from the Easter Bunny and of course there was chocolate. There were eggs hidden all over the back yard so Jude and Anna grabbed their Easter baskets and filled them as quickly as they could. Inside each egg was either chocolate or a couple of quarters so they both had a stash of money and chocolates after they opened all the eggs.

Anna is ready for bed