Our outdoor table is showing at least 18″ of snow from this week’s storm

They initially said it was going to be a minor storm – just 2-4″ on snow. They they changed it to 6-10″ and finally as it was in full swing they said it would be 12-14″. The official total downtown was around 19″ and I think we easily had that much at our house. At one stage every major highway out of Denver was closed as we endured the worst snowstorm for several years.

The good news was that none of us had to go anywhere. The kids were on Spring break, I decided to work from home and so we rode it out here. In the afternoon Marcy took the kids to the museum which was open but closing early. I didn’t leave the house all day except to do some shoveling and to go for an evening walk.

Jude checking out the snow in shorts, t-shirt and boots

The snow was thick and heavy, a joy to shovel… And many of the trees in the neighborhood suffered some damage with downed branches – we had a few decent sized branches down for the old spruce tree in our backyard.

Taking an evening walk in the knee-deep snow

After dinner that night we decided to take an evening walk to enjoy the quiet and check out the snow. So, we all dressed up in our snow gear and ventured outside. The kids were really into it, literally diving into some of the snow drifts. It was certainly a storm to remember.

Jude on top of what we thought was a snow drift but ended up being some small trees.

Our neighbors built an igloo in their front yard which the kids thought was very cool

I had my 50th birthday the day after this big storm. I decided I didn’t want a big celebration, instead just a nice quiet dinner with the family. Marcy brought the kids downtown to the office where we enjoyed some birthday pie before taking a nice pre-dinner walk. Then we went to Ocean Prime, an upmarket steakhouse on the same block as the office. It was one of the best meals I have had in a very long time.

After a sumptuous 50th birthday dinner at Ocean Prime

Today was Easter. The kids were very much looking forward to it and they woke up excited to find out what the Easter Bunny had brought. There were eggs all around the living room and throughout the backyard.

Some highly focused Easter Egg hunting on a cold Easter morning

They received a nice Easter bounty of chocolate, candy, books and toys. Anna got a nice doll house cupboard and a miniature tea set while Jude got a new bike. He actually knew all about this because he has grown out of his old bike. And today was a beautiful sunny day, although it was a little brisk so he was able to test it out. We all went for a family bike ride this afternoon.

Jude taking a first ride on his brand new 27-gear bike

At the Denver Car Show in front of a beautiful Jaguar F-Type

On Friday afternoon the kids began their annual two-week Spring Break. Both kids were excited to be done with school for a while. There are no major plans this week other than a day trip to the mountains for some skiing and then my birthday celebration on Thursday. But next week I head to New York while the kids and Marcy head to Iowa.

On Saturday I took the kids to the Denver Car Show. I have taken Jude a few times but this was only Anna’s second trip I believe. Jude has been really into cars lately so he had a blast naming all the cars and checking our his favorites. After a while, though, they both got a little crabby and were sick of it so we were out of there in under two hours. My favorite was seeing the Aston Martin while Jude liked the BMWs and Lamborginis. Anna liked the ride we took in a Jeep – they had an obstacle course setup and they took us around the “track” in a Jeep Wrangler.

Jude playing his beloved table soccer game

Soccer has become a big part of Jude’s life. We begin each weekend these days watching the English Premier League. He is a big fan of Arsenal, and given that it is a very popular club, its games are usually on TV here. He follows along with the other scores throughout the weekend and he has memorized where all 20 teams are on the table. He has even started to take an interest in the Spanish League where one of his favorite players, Christiano Ronaldo, plays.

He also likes to play soccer. Today was a gorgeous sunny day, although it was a little brisk, but perfect for a game of soccer. Jude and I went to the local park to play for an hour. He then came back home and played with his table soccer game. Then before dinner he went outside to kick the soccer ball about by himself. As I said, it has become a big part of his life. And it will become ever more so when their Rapids season begins in a week or so.

At the top of Keystone about to head down Diamondback , a black run

We left Denver right after school on Friday and headed up to Keystone. It was our first trip since January and it was great to be back up here. One of Jude’s school friends and his family joined us on Friday night and for a day of skiing on Saturday.

The three kids after their ski day on Saturday

Saturday was actually not a great ski day. It hadn’t snowed here for a couple of weeks and it showed. Everything was really icy and our second run of the day, down Mozart, was the worst run I have had in over a decade. It was a sheet of ice the whole way down. By the afternoon it had softened a little but we were all ok with calling it a day just after 2pm.

Saturday night we had about 3″ of snow and we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. Despite losing an hour to daylight savings we were on the slopes just after 10am and we had a great ski day. The snow was much better, it was warm and sunny and the kids did great. They have both now been on many steep black diamond runs and have handled them well. And on the blue runs Marcy commented this afternoon that they went as fast as she liked to ski.

Apres skiing with popcorn, Kombucha and Star Wars. Life is good.

We decided to stay up here Sunday night to really make the most of the weekend. It has felt like a mini vacation.

Anna fits perfectly in the A-frame of our swing set

Jude proudly shows off his graduation certificate from vision therapy

Jude started vision therapy a couple of years ago at the suggestion of his teacher. This was not so much because of poor eyesight, in fact Jude’s vision is 20/20. The problem was that his eyes were not converging properly onto one image. Marcy has taken Jude on the 30 minute drive on a regular basis for the past two years. The homework has been intensifying and when he took his test recently he passed with flying colors. We were all very proud of him because this was not easy for him.

Anna with her lyre at the class play

Meanwhile, Anna has been working on her class play for many weeks. The play was the story of Snow White and Rose Red and the entire first grade class had to learn every word of the 5-minute play. Then, in front of all the parents they all recited the play while some students acted out characters, and others played the lyre. Anna really enjoyed the whole process of learning all the lines and acting out the story. She recited the lines to us one night over dinner as part of her homework. After the play they did some singing and some more playing on their lyre.

Jude working on his adobe house class project

As for Jude he been very busy as well at school. He has been working hard on his first major class project. Everyone in the class had to build a shelter of some kind. After much discussion and research Jude chose to build an adobe house made of clay. We found a video online with step by step instructions and Jude went to work. Parents were not allowed to help do the actual work, it had to be the work of the third grader. Jude had to learn all about his dwelling so he could answer questions about it when they presented to the other grades. He worked hard on this and did a nice job with it.

Celebrating Sarah’s first birthday in Sydney

Unfortunately, I missed all of these major events as I was away in Australia for a week or so. The timing was disappointing for me but I was also very glad to get a trip in. We just moved my dad into a nursing home and he has not been well. And it just so happened that I was invited to Sydney to speak at a peer to peer lending conference so I jumped at the chance to go. Also, my little niece, Sarah, turned one while I was there so I was able to celebrate her birthday in person. It was also good to catch up with a few friends as well.

My old mate Enio and I at the Opera Bar in Sydney