Playing kickball at the Keystone Science School camp

We were up in Keystone all week as the kids had another week of camp at Keystone Science School. This time the theme was sports and they played all kinds of different games, learned about new sports and learned some the science of sports. Jude went to a Rockies game in Denver one day and Anna went ice skating one day. On Thursday they have Family Night so Marcy and went and we all played a big game of kickball.

Family night at the Keystone Science School

It had been a while since I had taken the kids on a special date. Saturday was the day. Jude told me that he wanted to climb a mountain on our date so we got up bright and early on Saturday for that. I found a hike that looked reasonable, a 2 mile climb up Revenue Mountain (elev. 12,889 ft), outside of Keystone. The first half was relatively easy, following a four wheel drive trail. But the second half was tough. We couldn’t find the trail so we just scrambled up the steep slope and the rocks were unstable at times. We took it slowly and made it to the top in 2 3/4 hours. It was a tough hike but Jude barely complained and had plenty of energy left.

Jude on top of Revenue Mountain (12,889 ft), his longest and hardest hike ever

One of the great things about this hike is that we went past many abandoned mines. They used to mine silver in the area in the late 19th century. Jude was very curious about the old mines so we stopped and looked several times at some of these ruins. In one of them Jude found an old tin can that had been opened. Since mining has been been gone from here for over 100 years we estimated this was quite the old relic.

Jude holding a 100+ year old tin can

Jude declared after the hike that it was the best Jude and Daddy date ever. He did great on the hike and he had more energy than I did on the way day down. He even broke into a run at one point near the bottom. We completed the entire hike in 4 hours and 20 minutes. I said to Jude that I think he is ready for a fourteener which we will try and do later in the summer.

Ice Skating on an Anna and Daddy date

We drove back to Denver on Saturday afternoon and then it was time for an Anna and Daddy date. Anna wanted to go ice skating so we went to the DU hockey rink. Anna really loves skating so we had a nice time, she is more steady on her skates than I am. After skating I took Anna out to a nice restaurant on Old South Gaylord.

Today the kids had a swim meet and then hung out at home for the rest of the day.

All the cousins on their trek to Lily Pad Lake (in the rain)

A lot has happened these past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago at this time we were in Keystone with the Dahlen family. Nathan and I played some golf while Marcy, Mandy and the kids went to Lily Pad Lake one day. It was not a great day weather-wise and the kids all got soaked, but not until after they had made it to the lake.

On Thursday, I had to wish everyone goodbye as I had to travel to Shanghai for a work trip. The Dahlens all left on Thursday as well so Marcy decided to come back home to Denver as well. It was another great family trip in Keystone.

The Shanghai skyline taken from our Sunday evening restaurant.

The kids had half-day tennis camp last week while I was away. One afternoon Anna had an appointment with her doctor where she received a gift for completing her chart. This marks six weeks with no thumb sucking. Anna has been a champ here with not one slip up since her first appointment. As a reward Anna received ballet shoes from Marcy and beautiful fake nails from her doctor. She was very proud, as well she should be.

Anna showing off her new ballet shoes

I returned a day late from Shanghai after my original flight was canceled but was home by Friday afternoon. On Saturday morning we went to the “Insectival” at the Butterfly Pavilion. They have tons of stuff for the kids to do there and Jude really enjoyed the fishing for crawdads. He spent a good hour doing this, catching and then releasing the crustaceans.

Jude showing off his crawdad catch at the Insectival

Yesterday afternoon we hung out at home and the kids played. We had some rain and they took advantage of his by creating mud-balls in the garden beds, they even created a “mud-man” kind of like a mini snowman.

Playing in the mud in the garden bed

Today we had a swim meet so it was up super early. In fact this was our home swim meet so Marcy and I got to volunteer so we were at the pool by 6:30am. Once again the kids had a great time and they got a kick out of the fact that Marcy was a timer and I was the starter so we were very much involved in the day.

At the JCC Swim Meet

This afternoon we packed up everything and came back up to Keystone. The kids have another week of Keystone Science School and I will be working from here this week.

Monday morning with Lily, Jude and Anna off to their first day of Keystone camp

We have been up in Keystone all week and, as they do every year, Marcy’s Des Moines family came out for a visit. Lily came out early with Baba and Grandpa so she could attend the Keystone Science School camp for the week. The theme for the week was the Physics of Flight so the kids had all kinds of activities around flight including indoor sky diving, zip lining, learning about helicopters, catapults and more. The kids had a blast.

Dinner at the Ski Tip Lodge with Marcy’s parents

The big deal with camp this week is the Wednesday night sleepover. It was the first time that Jude and Anna had ever had a night away from their family and so we all approached it with some trepidation. But they had a good time although we think they did miss us and it wasn’t all that easy being away from home for the first time. But we took advantage of the night and went out for a sumptuous adults-only dinner at the Ski Tip Lodge in Keystone. Marcy and I had not been their since our second anniversary when Marcy was pregnant with Jude.

Celebrating Lon & Connie’s 45th wedding anniversary atop Keystone Mountain

The wedding anniversary for Marcy’s parents is on July 3rd. We all vividly remember 10 years ago going to a fine dining establishment, Alpenglow Stube, at the top of Keystone mountain. This was before kids when there was just six of us. Now, with five kids under the age of 10 the celebration is quite different. This year we caught the free gondola up to the top of the mountain and had a wonderful burger dinner outside. And with some cupcakes to finish the meal off.

Jude, Anna and Lily getting ready for the July 4 bike parade in Keystone

Every year Keystone has a bike parade for kids on July 4. We have been participating in these parades now for many years and this year for the first time we had all five kids on bikes with no training wheels. Jude, Anna and Lily were the most keen, finding their way towards the front for the start of the parade. We spent the rest of the day at home and instead of going to fireworks that evening the kids decided to stay and roast marshmallows in the fire pit and just hang out by the fire.

Jude and Lily kayaking at Keystone Lake

Today, we rode our bikes down to Keystone Lake. All nine of us made the bike ride down and then we went out on paddle boats as soon as we got there. They let the kids kayak by themselves, so after the paddle boating first Lily and Anna and then Lily and Jude went out in the kayak on the lake with no adult supervision. They thought that was very cool.

Anna giving the thumbs up at her manicure

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Anna is going through a major transition these days with breaking the long habit of sucking her thumb. She has done amazingly well with literally no slip-ups since seeing the doctor (actually an orofacial myologist) about this over four weeks ago. Today was a milestone because she had completed her calendar – with stickers filled in for every day and night she has spent without sucking her thumb. So, as a reward Marcy took Anna to get a manicure. And this was the first time that Anna had ever been able to get all 10 fingers done. Previously, we had always not included Anna’s left thumb because that was the one she sucked. It was a big deal for Anna to get all ten fingers done today.

To close out a great long weekend we all gathered around the TV this evening to watch the women’s World Cup Final. We all delighted to see the US team win – Jude most of all. He watched every minute of the game and was very excited with the win.