Anna taking a liking to the Briere’s chickens

We had nothing much planned for Memorial Day weekend but it ended up being quite a full and enjoyable weekend. We started off with an impromptu dinner gathering with our new neighbors. There are two families who have kids around the same age as ours and we have gotten to know them quite well over the last six months. We invited everyone over here for burgers and beers. It was a lovely way to kick off the weekend.

Saturday morning was all about a big soccer match in the UK. Arsenal was playing Chelsea in the FA Cup final and Jude was super excited to watch it. He invited a couple of his school friends over, donned his Arsenal jersey and sat glued to the TV for a couple of hours. The goods news is that Arsenal won 2-1, Jude was thrilled.

We also went and saw some chickens at Phil & Denise’s house. They have had chickens for years and told us they wanted to offload a couple. We had been talking about getting chickens on and off over the years but this weekend we decided to take the plunge. Marcy ordered a chicken coop and so next weekend we will get our chickens.

Marcy and Anna saw the play The Secret Garden downtown

Sunday morning we decided to walk down to Devil’s Food for breakfast. We had not all gone out to breakfast since we moved in and Devil’s Food used to be one of our favorite places when we lived in Wash Park many years ago. It was still really good.

After that Marcy took Anna downtown on the train to see a play called The Secret Garden. Meanwhile Jude and I went to play Putt Putt at our local course. Jude is getting much better and we had an epic game where I only just beat him. He loves a good competition.

Jude on the bungee at the South Gaylord Street Fair

Today we hung out at home in the morning and then went to the South Gaylord Street Fair in the afternoon. They have all sorts of kids activities and then of course, there is the cotton candy and sno-cones as well. Jude and Anna took turns at the bungee and were very lucky to get their turn in before the rains came. It poured for about half an hour which put a damper on the fair.

Jude and Anna playing a focused game of baseball in the park

The weather cleared up and Jude wanted to go play baseball in the park. We just bought a bat and we have some gloves and a ball now, all from our local used sports gear store, so we went down to the park to play our first game of family baseball. It was a lot of fun and a great way to end the weekend.

Midnight Oil at the Paramount Theatre

Finally, I must mention our night out this week to see Midnight Oil. This was a band I grew up with and saw many times in Sydney. They were a big part of my youth and I hadn’t seen them in over 15 years. Marcy bought great tickets, we booked a baby sitter, and we went out downtown to the Paramount Theatre. It was fantastic. I first saw them live 33 years ago and they still have the same great energy today.

Playing Jude’s new table baseball game

For the first time in at least five years Marcy went away for the weekend. She attended a health and fitness conference in Austin. So, Thursday night she left and spent a long weekend away. So, it was just the three of us this weekend.

To top this all off Anna was sick on Thursday and had to come home from school. There was strep throat going around her class and sure enough she awoke on Friday morning feeling lousy with a really sore throat. She obviously didn’t go to school, so I took her to the doctor and sure enough she had strep. So, we had a pretty low key day Friday which was good considering the weather – it was a cold and snowy day.

Enjoying chocolate sorbet at Glacier

Saturday Anna was feeling much better so after a quiet morning playing Jude’s new table baseball game we all ventured off on a bike ride. First to Chipotle for lunch and then to their favorite ice cream place, Glacier. It was quite the ride, probably 6-8 miles in all and Anna was pooped afterwards.

Marcy had recently bought a foosball table that was on sale and it arrived this weekend. So, Anna and I spent several hours putting it all together and it was ready to go on Sunday morning. We played several games on that today. We walked down to lunch at the Gaylord block and then we bought a baseball glove for Anna. We bought Jude one a couple of weeks ago so Anna really wanted one to. We then went to the park to play catch.

Our final fun part of the weekend was a visit to the local putt-putt golf place – we took one of the neighbor kids who was playing with Anna and Jude today. Overall, we had a nice weekend although the kids missed Marcy a lot.

Jude and one of his school friends at Bent’s Fort

This was an unusual week. Jude had a two night field trip with his class to Bent’s Fort, on the Santa Fe Trail, the oldest fort in Colorado dating back to 1833. Jude’s class has been studying Colorado history and they have read about this fort. So, the class took a field trip down to La Junta in southeast Colorado which is the closest town to this fort. Marcy accompanied Jude along with several other parents. They all slept at the Koshare Indian Museum in La Junta, and with 24 kids and 10 adults in one large space, both Marcy and Jude arrived home a little worn out. Thankfully we had a quiet weekend to recover.

Anna on the class field trip to White Ranch Park in Golden

So, I was at home with Anna, it was just the two of us. Coincidentally, Anna had a field trip on Thursday of this week and I accompanied her class – the first time I had been on a field trip with her class. The class went on a hike to White Ranch Park which is near Golden. We did a solid 4-mile hike and then had lunch back at the trailhead. Anna did great, she even ran some of the hike both up and down.

Playing tennis on Mother’s Day

Today was Mother’s Day and it was a gorgeous weather. We did a ton of yard work – weeding, mowing, pulling dandelions and just spending time outside. I bought Jude a baseball mitt this weekend so we spent a lot of time throwing the baseball as well. Then this afternoon we went on a bike ride around the park and we played another family tennis match at the local courts. It ended with a lovely sushi dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Jude walking around the Maypole at the school MayFest celebration

Friday was a big afternoon at school. It started at 2pm with the school assembly where the kids all performed for the parents. There was a variety of performances, from reciting poetry to singing and dancing. Then there was MayFest from 3pm – 6pm with lots of fun activities for the kids including walking around the Maypole.

Anna made herself a floral headband at MayFest

I missed both the afternoon festivities because I was flying back from London but I did get to the main event which was the high school concert. This started at 6pm and involved the 3rd through 5th graders as well as the high school performing with their string instruments. Jude’s class got to participate in Ode to Joy with the high schoolers and they did a great job.

I brought a genuine Arsenal jersey back from England for Jude

This weekend was mostly about soccer. Jude had two matches on Saturday and one on Sunday. They won all three quite easily – the team has really come together well and they are now in first place in their division. This marked the last weekend of their games and they will find out the final standings after next weekend. Anna had one game on Saturday morning and she still has a couple of weeks to go.

I bought Jude an Arsenal jersey on this trip – he wanted Mesud Ozil, No. 11 for Arsenal and I had to go to the stadium in North London to get it. Anna wanted a book on the Queen which I got from a local bookstore.