With their new pumpkins fresh from the local pumpkin patch

The days are getting shorter and the nights are downright cold these days and the countdown to Halloween has begun. Today we went to the pumpkin patch after Jude’s football game. They have some good pumpkins to carve this week.

I have been away in London this past week for the annual LendIt Europe conference. It went really well but it has been an exhausting few days. This is just the beginning of my crazy travel schedule right now: London last week, Las Vegas this week and then New York the following week. All for P2P lending conferences.

Giving the opening speech at the LendIt Europe conference in London

For several months now we have been listening to all the Little House on the Prairie stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We listen to these books in the car on Audible and we also have the physical books now. Suffice it to say that we have all become big fans of these books.

Anna in her Little House on the Prairie outfit

Anyway, when the kids were thinking about what to wear for Halloween this year, Jude decided he wanted to be Darth Vader and Anna decided she wanted to be Laura Ingalls. So, Marcy went an ordered a 19^th century Laura Ingalls outfit for Anna, and they used some yarn to make braids, just like Laura.

Anna and our neighbor having dinner on our back patio

Our neighbor Graham is a frequent visitor, both Jude and Anna enjoy playing with him. Once night this past week he stayed for dinner. Anna made a Halloween lantern, so they had candlelight while dining on the back porch.

Anna modeling her new outfit

Yesterday while Jude was having a play-date with one of his school friends Anna went shopping with Marcy for some new clothes. Anna loves clothes shopping more than just about anything else and she was so excited to try on new clothes and to make some purchases. She came home with this outfit above that she wanted to model for me right away.

Anna with her school birthday cake

The birthday extravaganza continued for Anna with two more celebrations this week. On October 6th Marcy and I were invited to Anna’s classroom for a special birthday lunch. It was fun seeing Anna with all her school friends and to be there when they celebrated Anna.

Anna with her birthday donut

Finally after what seemed like months of build up Anna turned 7 on Wednesday this past week. She decided she wanted to do a family picnic in the park, particularly given the weather was supposed to be nice. She also decided she wanted a birthday donut. Now, we didn’t realize that donut shops even make birthday cake sized donuts but sure enough they did and Anna was very happy. We had a nice time in the park on a glorious fall evening and Anna got to try out her new rollerblades.

Anna testing our her new birthday rollerblades

After Jude’s soccer game on Saturday Jude and I went on a big trip. We promised Jude that for his 9th birthday I would take him on a trip and he decided he really wanted to go and see a Packers game at Lambeau Field. So, we jetted off to Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon and drove to Green Bay today for the game. We stopped along the way because Jude really wanted to see Lake Michigan.

On the shores of Lake Michigan half way between Milwaukee and Green Bay

It was a glorious day in Green Bay, sunny and 75 degrees. We had good seats, although calling them seats is generous. We sat on a hard metal bench but neither of us minded. Jude was thrilled to be in Green Bay and he was completely wrapped up in the game – he watched every single play of the game. The Packers won which was good and all the action happened down our end of the field.

At Lambeau Field

Truth be told I had just as good a time as Jude did today. Even though I love the Broncos, I have been a Packers fan for many years and they have always been my #2 team. And it was a great experience being at Lambeau Field with Jude – it was a perfect day.

Anna at Glenwood Springs with Marcy

While Jude and I were going on this special trip Marcy decided that she and Anna would have an adventure as well. They drove to Glenwood Springs and stayed in the same hotel as they did with Jude last summer. They have had a fun weekend of rollerblading and soaking in the springs.

Anna helps with the frosting on her birthday cake for the party

We are into the first week of October now and that means only one thing in our house: Anna’s birthday is almost here. This year Anna decided she wanted to do an ice skating party. She invited all the girls from her first grade class as well as a few other select school friends and we headed to the DU ice rink late on Saturday afternoon.

Skating at Anna’s birthday party

We had about 16 kids join Anna on the ice, some were complete beginners while others had skated many times like Anna. But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially Anna who was so excited all day about having her party.

Anna and her friends at the skating rink

After an hour on the ice it was upstairs for some dinner and cake. Anna chose Chipotle, so the food was good a hit with pretty much everyone. We all sang Happy Birthday, Anna blew out her candles and we all enjoyed some of Marcy’s delicious home made vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, per Anna’s request.

Just after Anna had blown out her candles

By 7pm it was all over and we had to leave. The DU staff were fantastic, they were all current students and they were friendly and very efficient and proactive. Most importantly, Anna had a great time.

Anna about to taste her birthday cake

Jude has been very patient with all this attention on Anna, much more so than in previous years. He really gets it this year, that the attention will move to him after Anna’s party but right now Anna is the center of attention a lot of the time.

Enjoying the ice at the DU hockey rink

This weekend wasn’t all about Anna. Jude had his regular soccer game on Saturday and flag football on Sunday. Their soccer team had their best game of the season and recorded their first win. Jude played quite well, but more importantly he had a good time.

Then today Jude had his best game of flag football ever. He was on fire. On the second play of the game Jude took a handoff all the way to the end zone for a touchdown. On their next possession Jude caught a pass and scored a key first down. Then shortly after that he scored another touchdown, this time on a pass, and he had to evade several defenders after the catch to reach the end zone. He also had several key defensive plays, two of which saved likely touchdowns. Jude’s team won and his coach named him MVP of the game. A good way to wrap up the weekend.