Anna skiing the powder on Keystone’s North Bowl on my birthday

On Wednesday of this week I had a birthday. I decided to take the day off work and go skiing with Anna who was on spring break. We drove up in the morning with a bit of a late start but we had a fantastic day. Keystone had received 7″ of fresh snow in the previous 36 hours so it was pristine. We hiked back in the North Bowl where there was a ton of untracked powder which was so fun. Anna skied really well on it.

Celebrating with my two favorite kids and some birthday cheesecake

We finished around 4pm and then it was back to Denver for my birthday celebration. We ordered Thai food which was delicious and then Marcy made her classic cheesecake with some cherry sauce. Yum!

This weekend it was back up to the mountains. Jude’s soccer on Saturday was canceled because the ground was still too wet from the last snowstorm. He did manage to get a game in on turf on Friday night, his first game of the season which made him happy.

We met up in Keystone with an old friend of Anna’s from Waldorf and his dad. They were also good skiers so we did more powder and tree runs as well as some cruisers. It was a a full day and I was beat by the end of it. It was my third ski day in the past seven days.

Hiking on a snow covered trail was hard going

This morning I didn’t want to go skiing so Jude and I decided to try a hike on the south facing mountain behind our condo. Anna wanted more skiing so we dropped her off at 9am and told her we would meet her back at 11:30am. We wanted to leave for home by lunchtime to avoid the traffic.

Jude and I had an adventure. The first mile the snow was really packed down and it was easy hiking. But at the four wheel drive road after going about half a mile it became impossible. Each step would sink me down to my thighs so we decided to turn back. Keystone has had over 18 feet of snow so far this season and even on the south facing mountain there was still plenty of snow.

Anna’s official school photo for sixth grade

We end this week with Anna’s school photo that we received this week.

Building an epic snowman in the park

Last Monday arrived and it was a Snow Day for everyone. We ended up with about 18″ of snow and the snow day was good timing as Jude and Anna could hang out with their cousins for the day. They worked on a huge snowman in the park and played in the backyard for a lot of the day.

Tuesday it was back to school and then Wednesday, Baba and Grandpa, along with Ella and Chloe drove back to Iowa. Of course, Baba left a bunch of gifts for the kids, including candy, which they have been enjoying all week.

It was a nice warm ski day in Keystone

With so much snow it took a while for it to melt so consequently Jude’s first soccer game of the season on Saturday was canceled. I had a feeling this would happen so I booked us a day of skiing at Keystone.

Unfortunately, Jude woke up on Saturday with a sore throat so he decided to stay home. Anna and I had a great day, it was warm and mostly sunny, it really felt like Spring skiing.

This morning Jude was still not feeling well and he was really stuffy, So, Marcy took him to get a covid test but thankfully it came back negative. So, today was a quiet day for him, he did try to kick a soccer ball in the park this morning but he didn’t have much energy.

Anna is so surprised to see her grandparents

On Thursday afternoon the kids had a major surprise. Their grandparents had driven out from Iowa along with their two ten-year-old cousins. They had no idea and were both so excited to see everyone.

Playing on the trampoline with their cousins

Baba and grandpa came into the house first and the cousins were hiding in the back yard, jumping on the trampoline. Jude saw the girls first whereas Anna just thought that Baba and Grandpa had come to visit. She was even more surprised to see them and then it was straight out to the trampoline to do some jumping.

Getting ready to go sledding and snowboarding

This weekend we had a monster snowstorm. It snowed a little on Saturday but by Sunday it was coming down fast. The sledding hill had plenty of snow so they took the sleds and snowboards this morning and had some fun.

Chloe getting some snowboarding lessons from Anna

Then it was home to warm up before heading outside again this afternoon.

Ella and Anna were covered in snow when they came in

This afternoon we told the kids they needed to clear the snow off the trampoline and off my car as well. We thought they would be out there for 20 minutes or so but they ended up being out for more than two hours. They built some snow steps up to the trampoline and then some snow chairs and were well on their way to building an igloo before they decided to call it a day.

Clearing the snow off my car (they did a great job)

As of tonight the snow was still falling. The official tally was 16″ so far in Denver with another 3-6″ expected overnight. It was a good night to stay in. Baba decided to teach the kids how to play poker. We had all four kids playing for a while and then after dinner Jude and Anna had Baba to themselves. They were getting the hang of it by the end of the night.

Baba teaching the kids how to play poker

Anna in the photo shoot

For the past few months Anna has been taking acting and modeling classes. She really wanted to do this because she wants to start acting in commercials and other things. She really enjoyed working on the school musical and was extremely disappointed when it was canceled this year (and last year). So, this has been a great outlet for her to learn more about what it takes to be an actor.

Part of the course is a photo shoot that Anna actually did several weeks ago but we finally got the photos this week. There are many great photos, we are just including two from the more than 60 photos they took.

My favorite photo from the shoot

It has been 10 days since a foot of snow fell here and this weekend was warm and sunny with today being the warmest day of the year so far. So, the snow has all melted. Whereas last weekend we we trudging through snow at the park this weekend Jude was out in shorts and t-shirt and no shoes.

Catching the football at the park

Jude had his first refereeing game of the season yesterday, it was good to get back into it he said. Today, with the warm weather Anna and the neighbors decided that they wanted to hook the hose up to the trampoline and jump. It was kind of like a trampoline shower and as you can see they are having a blast.

Cooling off on the first warm day of the year