Skiing with Anna on my birthday

Anna was on Spring Break this past week and since it was my birthday on Friday we came up to Keystone for a day of skiing. It was a fantastic day. Jude and Marcy came up at lunchtime and Jude joined us for the afternoon on the slopes.

Anna took a tumble in the powder on the North Bowl

The thing I was most excited about for my birthday is our Sleigh Ride Dinner. Marcy and I did this 20 years ago and had not been back since. We met at Keystone Lake and took a shuttle out past Keystone Ranch. Then we took a two-horse open sleigh to the ranch house for dinner.

On the sleigh ride to dinner

We arrived at the homestead just before dark. There was no electricity here, so they were cooking with gas and had to truck in all their supplies. We were a little chilly when we arrived but had a bowl of piping hot beef and barley soup ready for us.

Arriving at the homestead

They had a country and western guitarist there who provided some great entertainment. The dinner itself was excellent, Anna and I had the steak while Jude and Marcy had the salmon. Then it was apple pie and ice cream for dessert, mine had a candle in it and everyone sang happy birthday.

Being serenaded during dinner

It was a memorable evening and it was over too quickly. On Saturday Jude and I skied at Keystone and we managed to get in 10 runs on the coldest day I have had skiing in many years (6 degrees with 20mph winds). We came home Saturday night and had a relaxing Sunday.

In front of the Bellagio

Jude and I flew to Las Vegas on Friday for his first traveling soccer tournament. His new team, Real Colorado, traveled for a “college showcase” tournament in Las Vegas, it was Jude’s first trip.

Our flight was very late out of Denver and he barely made it to his first game, arriving just 10 minutes before kickoff. The standard was very strong and they only one won of their four games but it was a great experience.

In action in Vegas

We stayed at a hotel and Casino just south of the main area and it was Jude’s first time ever in a casino. He watched me lose $10 in less than 10 minutes on the slot machines, a good lesson for him.

Jude about to enjoy his Beef Wellington at Hells Kitchen

On Saturday night we drove to the Strip to get the full Vegas experience. We walked around looking for a place for dinner and came across Hell’s Kitchen. This is Gordon Ramsey’s place and Jude has watched quite of a few of his shows and knew way more about it than I.

In front of the kitchen

The food was incredible. Jude had scallops for an appetizer and their famous Beef Wellington and I had the Lobster Risotto and salmon. The food was fantastic, Jude talked about it all day today.

Bruce and Steven Van Zandt rocking the crowd

This week Marcy and I went to the Ball Arena downtown to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was fantastic. Despite being in his early 70s Bruce is still a rock’n’roll god. He has tremendous energy and it feels very similar to when I saw him 20 and 30 years ago.

We were actually some of the younger people there

He played a few of his new songs and many of his old hits. We had great seats and it was a night to remember.

He still looks pretty good for 73!

Today, Jude and I went to a college fair where we were able to talk with a number of colleges. It was our first foray into this world so it was great to get a bit of a flavor of what to expect. Jude found several colleges that were appealing.

No cheer for Anna this weekend so she went to a birthday party with a school friend this afternoon.