Cool Cats in full flight. Anna is on the far left facing the camera looking up

Saturday was a busy day in the Renton household. Anna had a morning cheer competition in Colorado Springs. Her team, the Cool Cats, did great and once again they won their division for I think their fourth victory of the season. And it was their best-ever score: 97.22. Anna was understandably thrilled, and part of the reason was that she did the routine on a bad ankle after tweaking it at practice the night before. But the adrenaline kicked in and she was fantastic as they “hit zero” (no major stunting mistakes) once again.

With the winner’s trophy and jackets

Jude and I had to leave right after Anna competed to drive the other direction to Loveland where Jude had a soccer match. It was basically a two-hour drive from Colorado Springs but we stopped at home for a quick lunch on the way.

Jude’s team played a hard-fought match and were satisfied with a 1-1 draw courtesy of a goal in the last minute. His team had more chances and could easily have won by two or three goals.

Today, was spent around the house doing odd jobs and catching up on work. Anna soldiered on and went to cheer practice despite her sore ankle.

Easter baskets full of their favorite goodies

We had a wonderful Easter weekend here. Yesterday, Jude had his soccer game where he played really well, his team won 6-1 with Jude scoring a penalty after they fouled him inside the box. He almost had a second goal late in the game.

Anna has been having some epic cheerleading practices, often three hours long and he is completely exhausted when they are over. She has her next competition on Saturday so it is crunch time.

Last night Marcy worked incredibly hard putting Easter baskets together and stuffing easter eggs in what might be one of the last Easter Egg hunts we do, as the kids are outgrowing it. But they still love their Easter baskets.

Sitting down to a delicious Easter dinner

For dinner we had a miso chicken, radish and chard dish which was delicious. Anna baked Brioche dinner rolls which were to die for and Marcy baked a strawberry and cream layer cake. It was all fantastic.

Playing catch as the sun sets over the mountains

After dinner we went to the park to play. We threw around a football for the first time in ages and Anna practiced some of her cheerleading moves on the grass.

Anna practiced some tumbling moves

One last thing. Anna turned 14 1/2 this week so we had the usual donuts before breakfast celebration. Then I signed her up for Drivers Ed, she is keen to get started studying for her permit.

Family time at the park