Olive loved the snow

We often get a May snowstorm or two in Denver and this past week we had, what will likely be, the last snow of the season. It was just a couple of inches and only stuck to the grass but it gave Olive a chance to get acquainted with the fluffy white stuff.

Anna with her two school friends presenting their business idea

Anna’s class has been studying entrepreneurship and business and for the culmination of this unit they had to present their business idea along with prototypes of their product. Anna’s group chose a business called CampItOut and they had two products; one was an Alumi-Blanket (a blanket lined with aluminum foil to help campers stay warm) and a “Bag-o-Matic” that was a warming and drying bag for wet clothes. Marcy and I went to school to see her group present their business.

On the Continental Divide atop A-Basin

They have been getting great snow in the mountains even this past week so Anna and I decided to get one last day of skiing in. Keystone closed six weeks ago but our pass is also good at Arapahoe Basin which is just five miles away. We drove up Saturday afternoon and stayed at our condo. We were up bright and early Sunday and were on the slopes by 9am. It was a little crusty in the early morning but by 10:30am it was warm and the snow softened up. We had a great day. Anna skied Pallavicini (twice), a double black and one of the steepest runs in Colorado.

Anna about to tackle one of the steepest runs in Colorado

Meanwhile back in Denver Jude and Marcy were having a fun time with Olive. Jude donated one of his old socks to Olive and they had an amazing tug of war with their teeth.

A teeth tug-of-war between Jude and Olive (and yes Olive is airborne)

We also got out the old kids pool and gave Olive a good soaking after she spent a lot of the afternoon playing in the grass and mud. Jude even got in on the act.

Jude joined Olive for a backyard bath

Arriving ay Union Station in Denver 

This weekend Baba and the Des Moines cousins, Lily, Ella and Chloe caught the train out from Iowa to Denver. Lily and Baba had done this before but the twins had not. It is an overnight train and a big adventure for everyone. The train was supposed to leave before 8pm but it didn’t end up leaving until 11:30pm so they were late getting in to Denver.

We had a surprise for the twins when they got here. They didn’t know we had a puppy so they were so surprised when Jude and I answered the door with Olive in our arms. Anna had baked chocolate cookies to welcome them all so we all had them for dessert that evening, along with ‘hamburgers’ (cupcakes) from Baba’s neighbor Ruth.

All five cousins with their desserts

Speaking of dinner, it was quite a production on Saturday night. We had chili for dinner but the girls prepared printed menus and put a lot of effort into preparing the rest of the meal.

Sitting down to a lovely Saturday night dinner

Today, Anna had a soccer game in the morning so we all went out to cheer her on. It was her last game of the season and once again Anna had a great game but her team narrowly lost. They all went for lunch at Noodles afterward. I picked Anna up from there and she went straight to a school friend’s birthday party.

Anna’s Skyline soccer team

The kids all had a great weekend. Olive was a hit with everyone and she was exhausted at the end of each day. And the girls all wanted Jude’s attention this trip and even a big fight broke out over who would sit next to him in the car. We have all really appreciated their visit but they all leave on the train home tomorrow night.

Jude and Ella arm in arm

Marcy spent part of Mothers Day working in the yard

This weekend was dominated by kids sport. Both Jude and Anna had soccer games on Saturday and Jude also had a track meet. So, we had to divide and conquer. Jude had a 9am game at Dicks Sporting Goods park so he and I were on way before 8am. Jude had probably his best game of the season in a closely fought 0-0 draw. We barely had time for a quick lunch and then it was on to the track meet.

Jude running down the final stretch in his 400m race

Jude ran in the 1600m and 400m races. The 1600m was first and he did well coming in 5th out to 10 kids. His time was 6:29, pretty good for a mile. In the 400m Jude came third and ran a great race. He said as we were leaving, “That was so fun”. So, he will be doing track again I expect.

Anna looking after Olive on her way to soccer

Today was Mother’s Day. Marcy wanted to spend as much of the day in the yard and both Jude and Anna had makeup soccer games. I decided to take Olive along to both games to keep socializing her and also to make sure Marcy was able to get some things done. Anna played her best game of the season today and was very unlucky not to score a goal. She was playing so well that the coach never subbed her off. Jude played in the afternoon and they had another good win. With seven wins, one draw and one loss Jude’s team won their league.

After presenting to Anna’s 4th grade class at Ricks

On Monday, my week started off with a presentation to Anna’s class. They are doing a unit on business and finance, so I came to talk to them about starting a business and we also played a fun little business game that Anna and I devised. It seemed to go over quite well.

Saying goodbye to the play set that has been part of their lives for the past six years

This week we said goodbye to the play set. We got this back in 2013 at our old house and the kids got hundreds of hours of use out of it. But they have pretty much grown out of it now so Marcy put an ad on Nextdoor and someone came to dismantle it and take it away. Now, another family will get to enjoy hundreds of hours of fun.

Getting ready for the cotillion dance

I was in London this week so Marcy had to manage the puppy and the kids all by herself. While Olive is doing great she is a 9 week old puppy and as such is a lot of work. The good news is that she is sleeping well.

Yesterday both Jude and Anna had their soccer games and then last night one of our neighbors did a sleepover with Anna. Then today, Anna and I took Olive to Paw School for some pre-agility training. She did well and Anna had fun leading Olive through the obstacles.

The opening dance at cotillion

Then this afternoon we all got dressed up and went downtown to the ballroom at the Brown Palace hotel for the end of term cotillion dance. Parents and siblings were invited.

Two siblings dancing together…warms their parents hearts

When it came time for Anna to chose a partner from her family she chose Jude. He reluctantly agreed and they danced the first number together. Then it was my turn.

Dancing with my girl

Afterwards, we celebrated with dinner at Elways. Marcy had to leave early to tend to Olive who had been left alone for the longest time since we had got here.

Olive still loves to stick close by most of the time