Jude about to blow out 16 candles

It has been a big week First, we have the World Cup soccer on the TV constantly as there have been four games a day all week and with Jude off school that was heaven for him. Then, of course, Jude turned 16 on Wednesday. He chose dinner at Chop Shop and a key lime meringue pie for his “cake” when we got home. Then we settled in to watch a movie, The Other Guys.

Jude towers over Marcy on his 16th birthday

The next day was Thanksgiving and Jude and I had signed up for the Turkey Trot, the annual 4-mile run around Wash Park. We both ran well, beating our records. Jude was anxious to get back to watch the World Cup so we walked back quickly.

Sitting down to a deliciousThanksgiving Dinner

We had our usual Thanksgiving feast: turkey and gravy, twice-backed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and fresh bread rolls. And, of course, pumpkin pie for dessert.

Playing basketball after dinner at the Cherry Cricket

Friday, we decided to head downtown to do a little Black Friday shopping, something we had never done before. But I wanted to visit the Patagonia store to get a sweater and look at their outdoor gear. Except for Jude, we all found something we liked. Then we had dinner at the Cherry Cricket downtown, where they had a games parlor.

On Larimer Street after dinner on Black Friday

The rest of the weekend was quiet. Jude and I got covid booster and flu shots so we were happy to have a quiet day today. There were lots of good games at the World Cup, Jude and I got up at 4:15am on Saturday to watch the last 30 minutes of the Australia vs Tunisia game that Australia won 1-0. It was very exciting.

The before picture

It had been six months since Jude decided to get a buzz cut. He has let his hair grow out since then so as you can see here it was super long, the longest of his life. He went to my new hairdresser and she did a great job shearing most of it off.

and after

Anna had no cheer practice this weekend but she did a private lesson and worked on a new skill. She can now do a roundoff back handspring back tuck which looks super impressive. She was so excited when she came back from the lesson as she continues to make steady progress.

On Tuesday Taylor Swift tickets went on sale and to say Anna was looking forward to this is the understatement of the year. Tickets went on sale at 10am and Anna was at school so it left Marcy and I to go online for tickets. Marcy got great seats on the floor for her first concert (she is doing two shows in Denver) and the seats I secured were in the stands, halfway back. It took us most of the day to secure these tickets but we got there in the end.

Finally, after months, no years of buildup for Jude the World Cup finally got underway today. He started an official countdown in his bedroom 89 days ago and he was been cutting off a link in the chain every day since then. Today, Ecuador defeated Qatar 2-0 in the opening match. There are four games a day for the rest of the week and Jude intends to see every minute of every game given he is on Thanksgiving break.

The Cool Cats team with their coaches

Anna’s cheerleading team, the Cool Cats, has been working towards this day for several months. They have been training three times a week working on their Blue Debut routine and today, in Anna’s words, they “slayed it”.

Coach Eddie was delighted after they hit their first stunt

It was an excellent performance and in cheerleading parlance, they “hit zero” which means they had zero falls. We all made it down for the performance and were cheering on Anna’s team, the Cool Cats.

The pyramid at the end of the routine (Anna is second from the right holding up their flyer)

Anna was so happy it all went off without a hitch. The team had a couple of people off sick yesterday, but everyone came together and performed well under pressure.

Apart from that, it was a pretty quiet weekend. Jude and I went for a run, I cooked a couple of tasty dinners and Marcy did some work around the house.

Jude is still very focused on the World Cup Soccer, less than a week to go now.