Back to school for our new third and first graders

After two and a half months of summer vacation it was back to school for Jude and Anna on Wednesday this week. Both were eager to start although Anna was excited and nervous about starting first grade.

At Waldorf they make a very deal about the transition from kindergarten to first grade. There is a whole ceremony that happens where the school welcomes the first grader into the school, and they get to meet their eighth grade buddy. It is a really moving ceremony and we just loved it when Jude started first grade.

Anna did really well. She met her eighth grade buddy who she will be having lunch with once a week for whole school year. Anna walked in front of the whole school and received her rose from one of the 12th graders.

Anna receiving her rose at the special Rose Ceremony for first graders on the first day of school

One other big event this week, at least for Anna, was the arrival of her new bed. Up until now Anna had been using our old guest bed, which was a queen size bed, on the floor. She has wanted Marcy’s old bed, which was also Baba’s old bed, and we brought it back with us from Iowa last week. This week we ordered new mattresses and installed the bed in Anna’s room. She absolutely loves it.

Anna going to sleep in her new bed for the first time

Marcy has been talking about doing a camping trip for several years now. Well, this weekend was it. After a couple of trial runs in the backyard the kids were eager to try out camping for real. So, we drove to Keystone on Friday night and spent just one night at the condo. Then, early the next morning we staked out a camping spot along Peru Creek, which was about 8 miles from the condo.

Enjoying our first family camping trip sitting by the fire

We went for a hike that day and then spent several hours just playing around the campsite. Jude must have thrown at least 200 rocks into the river that was right by our site. But his highlight of the day was the golf ball he found. It was an old range ball and Jude decided that he wanted to crack it open. He proved to be very determined to do this. For the next hour or so he slammed down rocks on to that golf ball. I even helped him for a little but that ball would not crack. Then Jude had the idea of heating it up in the fire. We did that until it sizzled and then in one go the ball cracked open. It was a great evening’s entertainment.

Jude proudly shows off his broken golf ball

The night went fairly well. I slept with Jude in the two-person tent and then Marcy squeezed in with Anna into the one-person tent. It got pretty cold during the night and neither Anna nor I slept well at all. While it didn’t freeze it must have been very close to it as we all had our ski gear on in the morning. We all endured a 60 degree gain in temperature as we went from mid 30’s in the morning to mid 90’s when we were back in Denver that afternoon.

Warming up by the fire on a cold morning

Finally, we need to mention Carrot, Jude’s new Leopard Gecko. He loves it. He takes it out every day and plays with it – he even kisses it now when he does this. He has such a soft heart for animals and it is brings him immense pleasure.

Jude taking out Carrot from her cage

The five cousins playing in the pool

The kids look forward to this trip every year – the annual summer visit to Des Moines. We drove out for 10 days to spend some time with our Iowa family. Like every year within five minutes of arriving the kids are in the pool. Then they spend most of the next 10 days in or around the pool.

With the twins getting older now, they are nearly five, I noticed this trip all five kids would play together more than ever before. They get along really well, for the most part, and really enjoy each other’s company.

Water balloon fights in the front yard

This trip Marcy and I decided to head away for a few nights to New York for a real vacation. We had a blast just wandering around the city, walking through Central Park, visiting museums, seeing a Broadway show, nice dinners and relaxing in the hotel pool. We crammed a lot into just three days and we left with a new appreciation for New York. Marcy even commented that she would like to spend a year there some time when the kids have left home.

A sunset dinner at the Rainbow Room on top of the Rockefeller Center in New York City

We flew back to Des Moines Wednesday night and had an exciting reunion with the kids at the airport. Just one more day in Des Moines and then we had to say our goodbyes. We drove back on Friday so we could be at the back to school picnics for Anna and Jude that were both held at the school yesterday.

Saying our goodbyes as we leave to drive back to Denver

Today was quite a big day. This morning we had the Stapleton Kids Triathlon. We missed out on this one last year and Jude in particular was really looking forward to it. It was their second triathlon, so they both knew what to expect. Jude was determined to do well and put in a huge effort to come 13th in his age group out of about 30 kids. Anna also tried really hard, she did great on the bike but was really tired on the run leg. Afterwards, Jude said that he wants to do more triathlons next year, Anna was less keen.

With their medals and gifts after the Stapleton Kids Triathlon

Jude has had a countdown on our wall for the past six weeks. This was not for back to school, or even for the Iowa trip, it was for his new leopard gecko. Jude wants a dog but we decided that wasn’t practical for now, so instead he chose a leopard gecko for his new pet. He named it Carrot because it is a Hypo Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko and he loves it so much already. He spent 20 minutes before he went to bed tonight just lying down next to its cage staring at it.

Jude with Carrot, his new Leopard Gecko

Enjoying some mango on the hammock on a hot summer’s day

It has been a good last couple of weeks with not a whole lot scheduled. While the kids did have half-day camps the first week, last week, when I was in California for a retreat, was completely open.

At Elitch’s after a fun filled afternoon

Last week I took an afternoon off work and we all went to Elitch’s, the big amusement park in Denver. They also have a water park there and being a hot day we spent a lot of time in that area. The highlight of the day for me was doing this really scary swing ride from 150 feet in the air with Anna, who was just tall enough to do it. I think I was more scared than Anna to do it.

Hanging out by the Snake River in Keystone

Marcy took the kids up to Keystone for a night while I was gone, mainly because Jude really loves the tennis lessons there. But they also took some time to go exploring by the river near out condo.

Camping in the backyard

We are planning to go camping in a few weeks so Marcy thought it would be a good idea to get the tents out and give the kids some practice. As expected it was late to bed and early to rise so the kids were pretty tired the next day but they did enjoy it. They also enjoyed making s’mores and roasting marshmallows over our gas firepit.

Roasting marshmallows for S’mores over the gas firepit

The big event to happen while I was away was that Anna got her ears pierced. She has been wanting to get this done for ages and we said that if she could brush her hair morning and night without any fuss for 30 days straight she could get it done. Well, truth be told she has been doing this for months now but only called Marcy on it this past week. She said it “hurt a little” but she was very a happy camper.

Anna with her newly pierced ears

I got home on Saturday night and today we had nothing organized. So I asked the kids what they wanted to do today they said to go to the zoo. So, we rode our bikes and spent the morning there. They had a very cool lego exhibit with all kinds of creatures made entirely from Legos. It was very impressive. On the way home we spent some time at the museum, it was the first time I had been there in months.

By the wolf and bunny made of Legos