It was a bit too much snow for Olive

On Wednesday night we had a big snowstorm. It was supposed to only be 3-6″ but we ended up getting around 12-14″ at our place. They said it was Denver’s biggest snow storm in five years. The kids loved it because they called a snow day for both schools so it was a fun day in the snow for them.

Anna on her snowboard at the local sledding hill

It ended up being a sunny day, although it was pretty cold. The kids spent time on the sledding hill with their snowboards and then Jude tried to chase Olive around the park. Olive was her usual perky self in the snow, even though she had to work hard she just loved it.

Olive is a bit too quick for Jude

Yesterday was Olive’s birthday, she turned two. To mark the occasion Marcy and kids took her to the pet store and bought her some new toys. Then they went to our favorite ice cream place, Glacier, and got some special doggie ice cream which Olive enjoyed. Of course, there was ice cream for the humans, too!

Eating her birthday ice cream

Skiing the trees on the Outback

The kids were really looking forward to getting back in the mountains again. So, on Friday night after dinner we drove to Keystone and were greeted with a warm day when we woke up on Saturday. We had a great day, skiing all over the mountain. Jude really liked skiing the trees on the Outback and he even preferred going to where the trees were really tight rather than more open. They both have improved dramatically this year, particularly on the moguls. I did the most bump runs (around 7) I have done in probably 10-12 years and my knees were hurting by the end of the day.

Anna doing a jump in the terrain park

Today was much colder and it was windy as well. We had a bit later start but we were all ready for a lunch break by 1pm. We had cold feet and hands and Jude wasn’t feeling well. So, after lunch we just did one run and called it a day. This was fine with me as I was still sore from yesterday.

Jude had the week off school this past week. He spent the days playing soccer in the park and playing video games.

Anna with our neighbor at their mountain cabin

This weekend was the first really cold snap of the season. I mean really cold. The temperature never made it into double digits all weekend and the high today was 5 degrees (which I am not even sure we hit). As I write this it is -4. That’s Fahrenheit folks, for the metric enthusiasts that is -20C. Needless to say, the only time I went outside today was to get the newspaper this morning.

Anna had other ideas, though. When the neighbors said they were going to their cabin in the mountains today she jumped at the opportunity. They have a great remote cabin that is off the grid and Anna braved the cold to play outside with them. They went sledding, ice skating on the river, exploring and Anna learned how to whittle a stick.

Anna had a sleepover with some school friends

On Friday night Anna invited some school friends over for a sleepover. They played games, watched a movie and generally had a good time. The next morning they all painted photo frames for this photo here. They even slept reasonably well.

Hard at work on his Rubik’s cube

Jude had a quiet weekend. It was too cold to ever play soccer. He went out once, but was back five minutes later. He went out today with some of the neighbor kids but again only lasted a few minutes. So, this was an inside weekend for him. There was lots of soccer on TV which Jude enjoyed and then he spent a lot of time on his Rubik’s cube. He can solve it regularly now in under 40 seconds but he wants to get faster so he has been trying a new method.

Finally, we received Jude’s school photos recently and I couldn’t resist including it here.

Jude’s official photo for the 2020-21 school year

A gorgeous Superbowl Sunday had us at the park throwing the football

Every year for the past 20 years we have hosted a Superbowl party at our house with chili and brownies. But covid put a stop to that this year. So, what we decided to do is make our chili and brownies like we do every year and deliver it to some of the regulars who come. So, we drove around town making deliveries before the game.

Before that, though, we spent some time outside. We played catch with a football in the park this morning while Olive went for a run. Then I took Jude for his second drive in my car, still just around the local parking lot. And before the game we went for our regular Sunday run around Wash Park.

Jude practicing his shot at the sports ground.

Since the summer Jude has been going to the South High School sports field to practice. They have a football field and track with multiple soccer goals set up. We have a key so we can go and practice at any time. It is only a five minute walk and Jude has been going multiple times a week. I try and get out at least once with him every weekend but he is also happy to go by himself. He likes to practice and he is getting so much stronger. I can even tell he has a more penetrating shot than he had even over the holidays. His soccer team just started practicing two nights a week which he loves. With all of his practice he has progressed to become probably the best player on his team now.