Anna goes off to camp

This was a quiet week after all the excitement in Keystone last week. The kids enjoyed being back at home after three of the last four weeks away. Lots of time spent in the park, on the trampoline and then we bought Jude a new goalpost after they took the ones at Veterans Park away. Marcy and I started playing one on one soccer with Jude in the backyard again with the new goal.

A big downpour bought some flooding near our house

We had several afternoon thunderstorms this week as is typical this time of year. Anna decided to get out in the rain and go to the corner near the park that always floods.

At the lake on the Herman Gulch hike

On Friday, Marcy took Jude and Anna (and Olive) on her favorite hike. Just off I-70 before the tunnel is Herman Gulch and the kids had not done it before. They managed to do it quite easily and were done in time for lunch at Chimayo in Silverthorne.

Snuggling with Olive this week

Today, Anna went off to camp. It is an Avid “Paddling” camp in Buena Vista where they are camping. One of her best friends from school is going and we think she will have a blast. This is the only camp of the summer for Anna (I think she did four camps last year) and we were comfortable that they are minimizing the health risks. It gives just a little bit of normalcy into this crazy year for the kids.

Everyone in their Covid Camp No Camp shirts

Every summer the Dahlens come out to Colorado for a week. And during that week the kids usually do camp at Keystone Science School. But this year we decided against it due to covid and instead we came up with the idea of doing our own “camp” which we called Covid Camp No Camp (CCNC). Anna made t-shirts for everyone to celebrate this unique year.

Playing by the river and trying to catch some fish

We had a full week of activities here at CCNC. It started off with the kids doing some exploring in the wetlands around the condo. We had a bike ride down to Lake Dillon and on several evenings we played golf at the River Course. Anna, Jude and Chloe were the keen ones here although Ella came along for the ride one day. There was a lot of time spent by the river with Olive who just loves the water and plenty of hiking too.

Anna teeing off on the signature 7th hole at the River Course as the sun sets

One day we decided to head down to Buena Vista for some white water rafting. All the kids had been rafting before and loved it so we thought it be a fun activity for us all to do together. With nine people we thought we would be split into two boats but they gave us their largest boat which just fit us all. We got lucky with the weather as it threatened to rain the whole time and it wasn’t as cold as we expected. We all had a blast with several of the kids saying it was the highlight of the entire week.

Enjoying the rapids on the Arkansas River outside Buena Vista

We had a hiking day where several of us drove past Breckenridge to do a beautiful hike to some lakes. Anna and Lily did their own thing, hiking up the mountain behind the condo.

On the hike to Mayflower Lake outside Breckenridge

Speaking of hiking Jude and I decided to tackle Buffalo Mountain outside Dillon one day. This is the mountain that looms over Lake Dillon and I have been wanting to climb it for years after Marcy did it solo some time ago. The climb is just under six miles roundtrip with 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Jude carried the backpack the whole way and he had plenty of energy left when we finished in just under five hours.

At the summit of Buffalo Mountain

Today, we did the big bike ride to Frisco marina. I did the same ride last weekend with Jude and Anna but all nine of us did it this time and everyone did well on the 27-mile roundtrip. Again we got lucky with the weather as it threatened to rain but we stayed dry the whole time. It was a big achievement for the nine-year-old twins as it was their longest ride ever.

Anna is so excited about her new bike

It was only five days at home and then the kids and I went up to Keystone. It was incredibly hot in Denver all week and we were happy to escape to the cool of the mountains. We drove up Friday night and so had the whole weekend here. But before that happened, earlier on Friday Marcy and Anna went to Sports Plus, our local used sporting goods store, and Anna came home with a new (to her) bike. It is a little big for her but she will grow into it and she loves it so much. Her old bike was just getting a little small.

Enjoying a late lunch at the Frisco Marina after our ride around the lake

We immediately put Anna’s bike to good use on Saturday morning as we did the almost 14 mile ride to Frisco Marina. We did this last year and Anna struggled a bit, particularly on the way home but this time she did great on her new bike. We had a bit of a mishap on our first attempt as Jude got a flat after 6 miles. Once we got that sorted, we tried a second time and we made it there for a late lunch in just 65 minutes from the condo. By the time we got back we were all exhausted but pleased with the effort. Jude showed what a strong rider he is also, leading us all the way back.

We made it to the Colorado Trail

Today, we decided it was a day for hiking. We thought about doing Buffalo Mountain but decided that we too tough after a hard day’s biking yesterday. So, we decided to do a much easier hike up to the Colorado Trail from Keystone Gulch Road. We took the road all the way to the Outback at Keystone Resort and parked by the lift there. Then we hiked about 2 miles to the Colorado Trail only about 500 feet of elevation gain and then came back. We got caught in a downpour just 15 minutes from the car. It was 61 degrees when we got back to the condo where it also started raining.

Golf at the River Course to round out the weekend

We had a relaxing afternoon at home watching a movie and then we decided to play some twilight golf. Both kids were a little rusty at first as it was their first time on the course this year but they were playing well by the end of it. Although we didn’t get to finish as once again, a rainstorm came through and we had to stop after 8 holes. It was a full weekend and I expect the kids will sleep well tonight.

Marcy spent the weekend at home with the pets

You will notice there was no mention of Marcy in our weekend activities. She had a Ridhwan weekend so she stayed in Denver and is coming up first thing in the morning. Tomorrow night the Dahlens will be here and I will be taking the rest of the week off work to spend time with them.

Hiking in Ledges State Park

The week started off with a morning hike in Ledges State Park about a half hour drive from West Des Moines. The kids enjoyed the trails and playing in the river. Then on Tuesday we drove up to Clear Lake to visit our friend Scott and hang out as his place on the lake. They have had this place on the lake for over 50 years and they have every type of water craft you can imagine, including jet skis which we used to explore the lake.

Riding the jet ski on Clear Lake

They also had stand up paddle boards which the kids used to go the whole way across the lake. The trouble was there was an offshore wind and they couldn’t make it back. Not to worry, Scott’s sister got the boat out and we went and rescued them and Marcy and I paddled back. We also explored the lake on Scott’s boat, it is a beautiful 50 year old wooden boat that Scott has restored.

Jetting around Clear Lake in Scott’s old (but beautifully restored) wooden cruiser

On Friday, it was Baba and Grandpa’s 50th wedding anniversary. We had a low-key celebration that involved dinner and drinks at home along with multiple desserts.

Lon and Connie’s 50th wedding anniversary

On Independence Day Nathan and I played golf and when we came home the kids had a surprise in store for us. They had filled dozens of water balloons and we were attacked as soon as we got home. It was such a hot day we didn’t mind at all. As night fell we had our own mini fireworks display. The kids all lit sparklers including some fancy ones that shined in multiple colors.

Lighting sparklers on July 4

And, of course, there were “snakes” as we have been doing each year.

Watching the “snakes” emerge on July 4

Overall Olive did great on the trip. She became reasonably comfortable there but she was always excited whenever we went swimming. If we did laps Olive would greet us at the end of each lap by barking loudly. She also fell in the pool a couple of times and seemed to be afraid of getting in. So, yesterday Marcy took her in the pool and calmly let her get used to the water. When she gently released her Olive swam straight for the steps, she wanted to get out.

Marcy giving Olive a quiet introduction to the pool

Today, we woke up in West Des Moines and did the long trip home. It was just over 12 hours door to door, a bit longer than usual because of bad traffic and a long stop in Lincoln for lunch. Everyone was exhausted after a fun-filled two weeks.