Jude finishing his first cross country race for his school team

On Tuesday afternoon Jude had his first cross country race for his school. It was a meet with about two dozen other private schools so there were probably more than 500 kids there. I was flying home from a conference in Miami and this event just happened to be close to the airport. So, I was able to make it to see the last part of his run. He pushed himself really hard and came in the top half of finishers, not bad considering he was racing against all middle schoolers (up to eighth grade).

We had a pretty quiet weekend. On Saturday I made my first batch of green chili for the season in preparation for our neighborhood block party today, a chili cook-off. Anna played soccer on Saturday afternoon and then we came home and tested out the chili for dinner. It was too spicy for the kids but I liked it and it was a hit at the block party.

The neighborhood kids at the block party

We enjoyed the block party this afternoon. It was good to spend more time with the neighbors and the kids had a great time playing all afternoon. There was badminton, spike ball, jenga, soccer in the park and the climbing of trees. The food was really good too, with some good chili choices.

Anna, Reed and Jude at Dart Warz an indoor nerf run shooting place

I had my wisdom teeth out on Thursday night so I had a pretty quiet weekend. I was feeling low energy all weekend and didn’t want to do much of anything. Marcy took Anna and Reed to the pool on Saturday afternoon and then to Dart Warz, I had a nap while they were away.

Old friends since 2 1/2 years of age…

Today, we had a quiet day at home. I watched some soccer, football and golf and I accompanied Jude on a 5k around the park (I rode my bike).

This evening we went and saw a show at the Newman Center at DU called Potted Potter. This was a Harry Potter parody where two actors pack all seven books into a 70-minute performance. The four of is went and had a blast, it was a hilarious show that the kids enjoyed as much as us.

At the summit of Mt Sherman

This weekend Jude climbed a fourteener with me for the fourth year in a row. This time we decided to climb Mt Sherman near Fairplay, to get out of the front range and the crazy crowds on 14ers these days. We drove to Fairplay on Saturday afternoon staying at a hotel that night. We were up bright and early this morning to drive to the trailhead and we were on the trail before 8am.

Mt Sherman is a relatively easy hike as 14ers go, just over 2,000 feet of vertical and a six mile roundtrip hike. We were back to the car in 4 hours 20 minutes, the quickest 14er we have done together. Then it was off to lunch in Fairplay where Jude wanted to go to a sports bar to watch the Packers game.

Enjoying lunch and the Packers game after the hike

Friday night we went to a function at Jude’s school and then Jude had a sleepover with one of his new school friends there. Anna was up first on Saturday, that in itself is a first, and when we came down for breakfast it was all set up for us. Then she decided to make herself a giant pancake. It was all very sweet.

Anna made breakfast for everyone on Saturday and a giant pancake for herself

Anna had her second soccer game on Saturday. We all went to watch and it was another super hot day. But Anna was undeterred. She ran all over the field and was easily the best player on her team in my opinion. They lost 3-2 and Anna was hot and exhausted afterwards. But she had a birthday party to go to right after soccer so she got changed and went to Spider Monkey to play. It was quite an energetic afternoon.

Marcy took this great closeup of a bee in our backyard

I left town for Shanghai early Tuesday morning, which also happened to be our 14th wedding anniversary. We had our annual China conference and it was a whirlwind trip for me. I arrived on Wednesday night, the conference was Thursday and Friday and then I flew out Saturday lunch time. The conference went well, although it was a bit smaller crowd than last year.

While I was away both kids were sick each taking a day off school. Marcy then felt sick herself so it was a pretty miserable week all around in the Renton house.

Opening the Day 2 Keynote stage in Shanghai

I arrived home on Saturday afternoon and drove straight to Anna’s soccer game. She is playing on a new team this year in a different league and she likes it a lot. She had a really good game and her team drew 3-3. Today, we were all pretty low energy so we rode our bikes to the farmers market, caught some of the DU women’s soccer game (Anna got some free tickets) and then Jude and I watched a bit of football.

Mark, Robyn, me, Sarah, Leila and Ian outside the chapel (Mark had just cracked a joke)

This week began for me in Sydney where we laid my father to rest. It was a beautiful ceremony and I think Dad would have been happy. I had a few of my friends come and some of Dad’s old friends made the effort as well.

Great photo of Jude at his camp in Breckenridge

I returned home on Wednesday and it was a little strange because Jude was away at his 6th grade camp. At his new school all the 6th graders go to Breckenridge for three nights in the second week of school. They had lots of fun activities to help all the kids get to know each other. Jude said that he had a good time and that most of the kids in his class are nice.

The favorite ride for everyone was Shipwreck Falls and we all got really wet

This weekend we had a lazy day on Saturday. We all needed it after a pretty hectic week. Sunday we rode our bikes to Elitch’s and spent the day there. Lots of rides, bad food and some time in the water park and we made it home just before dark. Both kids were troopers, it was a full day and they did not complain much at all riding their bikes home.

Anna convinced me to go on the “Brain Drain” where you do about 10 loop-the-loops

Today, we decided to go see this street art fair in the River North district near downtown. Again we rode our bikes and had lunch on the way. It turned out that even though the festival officially started today, it wouldn’t get moving until later in the day. So on the ride home we passed Coors Field where the Rockies were playing. It was the 6th inning and we decided to all go in to watch the end of the game. It was a close game and we all had a great time (the Rockies won 9-8). This was a great way to do a family baseball outing.

At the Rockies game