Jude stepping off the plane to meet Baba at the gate in Des Moines

It all started last weekend in a dinner conversation. Marcy talked about how she took a solo plane trip (actually she was with her then two-year-old sister Mandy) when she was 12. Jude said he wanted to do that, too. After he and I chatted for a few minutes we realized that there was no reason he couldn’t do it this week and fly to Des Moines early.

I went to United and sure enough there was a free ticket we could book for Thursday afternoon. So, we called Baba and it was all set. She was not going to tell anyone so Jude could surprise them. Marcy drove Jude to the airport on Thursday and was able to get a pass to go to the gate to see him off. The plane was a bit late but other than that the trip went off without a hitch. Baba was waiting for him when he got off the plane in Des Moines. She drove him to his cousin’s house and surprised them all.

Jude surprising his cousin Chloe at her house

So, Jude arrived for the annual Des Moines trip three days early. I am writing this as we are driving along I-76 on our way there. He is apparently having a great time, he is hanging out in the pool a lot and they have gone bowling. It has been nice for him to be there without us.

Lily reading bed time stories

So, Marcy and I were empty-nesters (kind of, we still had an injured dog to look after) were a couple of days. We had date night on Friday night, the first one in Denver all year, we rode our bikes to Jax so that was nice. Then, Saturday morning arrived and it was time to pick up Anna. We were both so excited to see her and find out about her camp. There are no electronics allowed at camp, so we had resorted to communicating via the mail. Anna wrote us a letter pretty much every day and Marcy sent her one each day as well. I was traveling a bit during this time so I sent her two postcards from San Francisco and one from Detroit.

Anna with her Geneva Glen camp mates, the Prospectors, wielding pretend pick axes

We brought Olive along to pick up Anna and we saw where she slept and met some of her cabin mates. We also walked around the grounds a bit and Anna went to the camp shop to buy a blanket.

Where Anna slept for two weeks at camp

Anna loved telling us all the details about her first long sleep-away camp. While she truly had a great time she did miss us, particularly Marcy. She even sat in Marcy’s lap this morning before breakfast, something she hadn’t done in ages.

It was great for Anna to reconnect with Marcy

Marcy spent a good chunk of today working on her big sprinkler project she has undertaken. And then it was time to pack for our trip. We dropped Olive off at the boarding place where she will spend the week and we were on the road just after 4:30pm. We are only driving halfway tonight, staying in Kearney as we often do.

Olive sporting a new cast

Anna was at camp all week and we all miss her but we have been communicating with her via the mail (there are no phone or any electronics allowed). Marcy is writing her a letter every day and Anna is also sending a letter each day. I was in San Francisco this week and I sent her two postcards from there. From what we gather she has been struggling with bad allergies but other than that is having a great time.

Olive is slowly recuperating. She went in on Wednesday for a new cast but by Friday she was healing well enough to take the cast off. The challenge now is that she is still a puppy that is full of energy but she is not allowed to run on her fractured leg any time soon, so, it has been a bit of a struggle.

No cast but the dreaded cone

This weekend we actually had no plans whatsoever. It was unusually cold and rainy so we didn’t want to be outside that much. Jude and I watched a bit of the women’s soccer World Cup as well as the World Cup Cricket. We did play soccer in the park on Saturday and then Jude jumped on the trampoline in the rain with the neighbor kids.

On Sunday, the weather was a little bit better and Jude and I rode our bikes to Aqua Golf and then played basketball in the alley. Marcy got more work done in the yard and it is really great now.

Olive at the Vet hospital after surgery to her fractured leg

A lot happened this week. But the biggest news of the week concerned Olive. It all started with a tree, or more precisely a hole in the ground for the tree. We wanted to plant a tree in the backyard so we dug a hole but discovered a sprinkler line. So, we left the hole while Marcy worked to re-route the line. In the meantime it became a play area for Olive as she jumped in and out of this hole many times. Until one time she jumped in the hole and immediately started yelping and she didn’t stop. She could put no weight on it so Marcy called the vet and took her in. Sure enough x-rays showed two fractures.

Olive arrives home from hospital

She went to the vet hospital on Thursday night and had surgery on Friday. We all went to see her Friday night and she was a bit groggy and looked really sad. We kept her there overnight to give her a little time to recover from the surgery and we picked her up on Saturday morning,.She had no energy on Saturday but by this morning she was hopping around the backyard on three legs.

On our new trampoline before the safety netting was put up

We also got a new trampoline this week. Everyone, including some of the neighbor kids, helped put it together although Marcy did the lions share of the work. It has already been a big hit with Jude and Anna jumping on it every day and having a blast.

Anna with her end of elementary school ice cream cake

Anna finished up fourth grade a couple of weeks ago and we finally got around to getting her celebratory ice cream cake. At Ricks she will be in middle school next year as it starts in fifth grade. So, like we did for Jude last year, we all celebrated with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

Marcy with the now infamous crimson maple tree

Before Olive came back from hospital Marcy had planted the tree and filled in the hole where Olive got hurt. It is a beautiful tree but will always be associated with the injury to Olive.

At the golf course on Fathers Day

Today being Fathers Day, I got to do whatever I wanted. I decided that I wanted to head to the golf course with Jude and Anna. Marcy stayed home with Olive. We headed to CommonGround Golf Course where they have a nice Par-3. It was filled with other dads playing with their kids. We had a nice time with both kids playing decent golf.

This afternoon was a big deal for Anna. She headed to Geneva Glen for her first ever two week sleep-away camp. This camp is quite famous in Denver, it is almost 100 years old, and supposedly one of the top camps there is — some families have had multiple generations attend camp there. Jude and I said goodbye to Anna, and Marcy drove her to camp this afternoon. She has a good friend from the Waldorf School going but otherwise she won’t know anybody. It is going to be strange not having her around for the next couple of weeks.

Finally, my last fun part of Fathers Day was watching the US Open. I was able to sit and watch pretty much the entire final round starting with the leaders. It was a real treat.

Fresh off her first grooming

Olive received her first grooming this week and she came home as soft and cuddly as a teddy bear. There was no soccer or other sporting activities this weekend. Although Jude did have a babysitting class all day Saturday. He wasn’t all that keen on going but he committed to it a few weeks back as he is thinking about ways to make money this summer. He didn’t hate the day and he did come out of it with his babysitting certificate.

Jude saying goodnight to Olive

Saturday was a quiet day for Anna and me. We spent most of the morning at home with Olive but then took her to the Cherry Creek farmers market, where she met dozens of people and a lot of dogs as well. She was a big hit and was in constant demand the entire time we were there. We came home and she was exhausted and happy to be put in her crate. Saturday night we walked down to Reivers for dinner, a bit of a reward for Jude for completing the babysitting class.

Sunday, we did some work in the yard. We dug a hole for a new tree but discovered our sprinkler line straight down the middle of the yard so we had to postpone that project. Then in the afternoon Anna did some more work for her lawn care and gardening service. We also started to assemble our new trampoline which was delivered this week.

We ended the week with Food Group at our good friend Rick’s house. It was a lovely time but a little bittersweet as it was the first one hosted at their house since Jen passed away six months ago.

The five girls in Winter Park

Anna finished school at lunch time on Friday. Then she came home and drove to Winter Park with Marcy. There was a sleepover birthday party for one of her school friends who has a place in Winter Park. A couple of moms went along as well including Marcy. Jude and I stayed home, ordered pizza and watched a movie.

Anna and Marcy in the woods in Winter Park

Jude’s soccer team had their annual end of season tournament at Aurora Sports Park. They had three games and because they were undefeated they also made it to the final. Unfortunately, they lost the final but it was a great tournament for them, they have improved so much over this season.

Jude relaxing with Olive after a soccer game

Anna and Marcy went to see Wicked on Saturday afternoon and they both loved it. It was a pretty crazy day for Anna. She started the morning in Winter Park, had to drive back down to Denver and then quickly get changed to go downtown to see Wicked. Meanwhile Jude and I were at the soccer fields most of the weekend.

They had a weather delay in the soccer which meant Jude’s first game today was at 7am so it was a bright and early start for the two of us this morning. He had two more games, at 11am and 4pm so he was pretty tired at the end of it.