Jude racing towards the finish line in the 10-12 year old triathlon (photo taken by Anna)

Our weekend started bright and early. The kids had a triathlon down in Lone Tree and they had to be there to check in for their race by 6:45am. So, we were out the door around 6:25am.

The 10-12 year old age group went off first. Jude did really well. He loves to compete and the triathlon provides a great place to do that. He was towards the back of the pack out of the pool but he had a strong bike leg and by the end of the run he was in 6th place (out of 26 kids). A great effort considering most of the kids were older than he was.

Anna on the bike leg of the 8-9 year old triathlon

Anna’s age group went in the race after Jude’s. Anna had a strong swim and a solid bike ride. She found the mile run a challenge and by the end was having some breathing issues. But she still finished strong and was the second girl across the line. Most importantly, Jude and Anna both loved it and want to do it again next year.

Marcy giving Jude a boost after his triathlon

This past week Anna had bank camp and Jude had robotics camp. Jude loved his camp mostly because they got to play video games for a good chunk of the day. He said he learned a little about programming but he was clearly more interested in the fun aspects. Anna had bank camp and one of the thing she was most excited about was getting selected for a “job”. She wanted to be a doctor and this is what she was given after her interview. She had another great camp week.

Anna won a job as a doctor in her bank camp

We have just arrived up in Keystone with the Dahlens and we are looking forward to a nice week up here. The kids are all in camp and so we will have some time for golf and other fun things.

On a hike near Genessee

I had a long business trip these past couple of weeks. We had a conference in Shanghai and then I spent a week in London last week returning home late on Friday night. So, Marcy has been a single mom for most of the last two weeks. She organized lots of fun activities for the kids. They went hiking on this great hike by a river 30 minutes from home and the kids stopped to play in the water and check out the wildlife along the way. They also played mini golf with Anna’s school friend, Reed to celebrate his 9th birthday.

Playing mini golf with Reed

This weekend we had a quiet day yesterday. Anna and Marcy rode their bikes to the farmers market while I stayed home with Jude and watched the British Open golf. In the afternoon we went kayaking and canoeing in the Wash Park lake.

Canoeing and kayaking in Wash Park lake

After dinner last night Anna decided to go skateboarding down our street in her pajamas.

Anna skateboarding in front of our house

Today we decided to go hiking again. We went down to a beautiful park southwest of Denver called Roxborough Park. We hiked to the top of Carpenter Peak, the highest point in the park. It was a solid hike, over six miles round trip and both kids did well.

Jude and me atop Carpenter Peak in Roxborough Park

An iconic canal in Copenhagen

It has been quite a busy three weeks in the Renton household. We drove to Iowa over two weeks ago right after the kids finished camp on Friday afternoon. Well, we actually spent the night in Kearney, Nebraska on our way. Then I was in Iowa less than a day because on Sunday morning I flew out to Copenhagen where I was attending a conference. I was there for three days and then flew to England where I met up with Marcy.

Near the summit of Mt Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales

She flew out of Iowa on Tuesday and met up with me in Cambridge on Wednesday night. I had a conference at the University of Cambridge and we had a dinner there and then a conference on Thursday. On Thursday night we drove to Wales where we stayed at a B&B for a couple of nights. We hiked around the coast of Wales on Friday and then on Saturday we climbed Mt Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales at 3,400 feet. Given that you start the hike from close to sea level it was quite a challenging day.

Marcy outside Buckingham Palace in London

After the hike we drove to London where we stayed right near Trafalgar Square for a couple of nights. Sunday we wandered all over London, visiting many of the major sights. We took in Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and we walked along the Thames for most of the afternoon. It was an unusually beautiful day in London, warm and sunny so we made the most of it.

Near Tower Bridge

Monday morning we flew back to Des Moines to rejoin the kids. While they had had a great time with their grandparents and cousins they were really happy to see us. The weather was warm so we spent a lot of time in the backyard by the pool as we normally do and the kids staged a serious water balloon fight one day.

A cousins water balloon fight

I played some golf with Nathan on July 4 we had some sparklers in the backyard then we went and saw some of the local fireworks. On our last full day Baba and Grandpa took all five grandkids to Perkins for breakfast. This is a treat for Jude and Anna as they are order “Rainbow Pancakes” which is basically pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles.

The kids love to go to Perkins for breakfast, look at those pancakes!

It was over all too quickly and on Thursday we were driving back home. After so much time away we had a pretty low key weekend here. We spent a lot of time at home but today we did venture up to the mountains for a hike which was fun. And this afternoon we all went to the local putt putt for some golf.

Hiking near Conifer, a solid 4+ mile hike