Anna standing on the two oxen at the Zoo

This week was a first for Jude. On Friday night he went to a sleep over at one of his good school friend’s house. He was excited about it and it sounded like it all went really well. These are the friends that he plays with most at school and they all get along well. And for having four 9-year-olds in the one bedroom they apparently slept quite well.

On Saturday Jude did not have any soccer but Anna had two games. She played great in both games, scoring two goals in the fist one and playing goalie for a half in the second one and making some great saves. That night we hosted a dinner at our place with several of the fourth grade parents and that was quite a good night.

Today we went to the ski place to exchange out Jude and Anna’s skis and boots for the upcoming season and we got their free ski passes. Then this afternoon we rode our bikes to the zoo. It was a perfect fall day, cool but sunny and a great time to spend at the zoo.

Jude may be almost 10 but he still loves being held by him Mom

Finally, today my father Jack turned 90. He is has been in a nursing home for about nine months but he is still in reasonable health and in good spirits. My sister took him out for lunch on the weekend to celebrate and posted this photo below on Facebook. And we all called him today and sang him happy birthday. We also booked our tickets back to Sydney this weekend, we will be celebrating with him in person in a couple of months and Jude will be turning 10 in Sydney.

Grandpa Renton on his 90th birthday

At the Colorado Rapids soccer game with Jude

This weekend both kids played soccer on Saturday and then I had a special “date” with each of them. On Saturday night Jude and I went to a Colorado Rapids soccer game. It was a good game and Jude had a blast, he loved seeing Tim Howard the USA goalkeeper in goals for the Rapids.

Anna driving a go-kart at the indoor track

Several weeks ago Anna went go-kart racing for one of her friends birthday and she loved it. She has been asking to go back ever since. So, this morning I took her there on an “Anna and Daddy date”. She participated in four separate six minute races and by the end she was going around the track quite fast and was loving it. Then afterwards we went out for a special lunch near downtown.

At the Lowdown Brewery for a lunch date

Anna getting into the Bronco spirit on the opening day of the football season

On Friday Jude’s 4th grade class went on a field trip to South Park City in Fairplay. It is a re-creation of a Colorado mining town from the 1880s. Jude said it was the best field trip he had ever been on as he found it fascinating.

Jude at South Park City in Fairplay

Back at school Jude decided to let his friends bury him in the sand where Marcy snapped this photo as it was time to go home.

In the sandbox at school

Today was hot and sunny, a perfect day for our lemonade stand and toy sale. The kids went through their toys over the summer break and decided which ones they no longer wanted. So, the idea was to have a lemonade stand and sell the toys as well. The lemonade stand went really well but the toys were a harder sell. We only sold a small percentage of what was on offer so it is off to Goodwill for the rest of it.

The lemonade stand and toy sale

Anna, Jude and Santi loved helping with the campfire

On Friday afternoon we left from school to go camping in Rocky Mountain National Park with another family from school. We did the drive over Trail Ridge Road to Timber Creek Campground and arrived there about 6pm. The other dad had gone early to secure us a couple of camping spots and he also did us the great favor of putting up our tent.

The kids were really excited to go camping and it took them a while to get to sleep the first night. The stars were simply amazing, the most I have seen in many years. The first night there was no moon and it was a clear night so you could actually see the Milky Way.

On Saturday we went for a hike just a few miles down the road from the campground. But the weather was not good and we arrived to a deluge of rain and hail. After waiting it out for almost an hour we decided to give the hike a try. After about 45 minutes the rain was getting heavy so we decided to turn back. The kids were wet and cold and wanted to warm up. So, we drove to the town of Grand Lake which was just a few minutes away.

Riding the go-karts with Anna in Grand Lake

The rain cleared when we got to Grand Lake but we ended up spending the afternoon there. They had go-karts and putt putt golf so the kids were happy. Then it was back to our campsite where it had rained but thankfully it cleared long enough for us to have a good dinner and a night by the campfire.

Rocky Mountain National Park is renowned for its wildlife and as we were driving near our campsite we saw a small herd of elk. Then on Saturday night a fox came visiting our campsite looking for food.

Jude and Santi played football as we were packing things away.

Sunday it was time to pack up our campsite and head home. We went via Trail Ridge Road again and stopped at the Visitor Center there which is above tree line at almost 12,000 feet and had spectacular views.

On top of Mt Bierstadt – Jude conquers his second 14er

This morning Jude and I were up before dawn to do our second fourteener together. We left home just before 6am and headed to the Mt Beirstadt trailhead and hit the trail at 7:20am. It was a spectacular day with not a cloud in the sky. It was a little slow going early as there had been a frost the night before and everything was icy but within an hour most of it had melted and made the summit right at 11am.

Jude is definitely getting stronger as he was faster than on the way down after we got past the technical parts. And best of all he loved it. His favorite part: the view from the top (mine too). You really feel like you are on top of the world from the summit of a 14er.