Ready for the Blue Debut – her first Cheer performance

The highlight of the weekend was Anna’s first cheer team performance, known as the Blue Debut. Her Cheer Athletics team did a performance they had been working on for months. It was our first time seeing Anna in action and it was really cool to see all the things they could do.

Anna forming the base (she is in the middle looking up)

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. Jude and I watched Australia play New Zealand in the T20 World Cup Cricket final this morning which was a blast. It was a close game but Australia prevailed in the end for their first-ever world cup title in that form of the game.

Jude and I watching the T20 Cricket World Cup Final – go the Aussies!

The cool weather suits Olive and she loves to run at the park. Here she is returning her ball during a game of fetch.

Fetching the ball in the park

Anna doing the vault at her gymnastics meet

Anna had another gymnastics meet on Saturday and she did great. Her back was bothering her in the lead up to this and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to compete in everything. She even adjusted her floor routine to make it easier on her back. It was undecided whether to do the vault but she was feeling ok and went for it.

Anna comes 2nd in the vault out of dozens of girls

Anna performed really well, above expectations. She placed second in the vault, fourth on beam and fourth in the all-round (with a score of 34.95). This was the best performance on her team and she was really happy.

Raking leaves in the yard with Baba

On Saturday evening Baba and Grandpa arrived from Iowa for a few days. The kids were so excited to see them again and as always they arrived with lots of goodies.

Today, the kids had a quiet day. They played games with Baba, did a little yard work and then Anna had Cheer practice in the afternoon where she received her new competition uniform.

Showing off her new Cheer Athletics uniform

Getting ready for the Halloween parade

We started this weekend with Anna refereeing. Then I picked her up and drove her to Cheer practice. My car was being rented on Turo so I decided to rent a Tesla Model 3 for the day. Mainly because Jude and I were booked in to do the Manitou Incline (hiking 2,000 feet in elevation in around a mile – 2,768 stairs).

So after we dropped Anna off Jude and I grabbed some lunch and then drove down to Manitou Springs in the Tesla. It was so much fun to drive, it was the performance model and it was the fastest car I have ever driven.

It was a gorgeous day, 68 degrees and sunny, and Jude and I had a great time on the hike. Jude made it to the top in 31:56 and I tool 46:21, the fastest time I have done.

At the top of the Manitou Incline

Halloween arrived today as a cold and cloudy day. While the kids still like Halloween they are not as super excited about it as they once were. Still, they got dressed up and did a little trick-or-treating.

Our block did another afternoon Halloween parade and we laid out the candy on the ground in our front yard (like we did last year). We were done by 6 pm and there was only a couple of trick-or-treaters that came by in the evening.

Anna competing on the balance beam

Anna competed in her first-ever gymnastics meet today. She has been building up to this all year and was super excited and somewhat nervous about it. But she did really well. She started off on the balance beam and was asked to go first by her coach. She did an almost flawless routine, better than her practices and she ended up in third place out of everyone.

Doing her floor routine

Next was her floor routine and she had another excellent performance. Jude and I had to leave after that one to take him to soccer practice. But Marcy said she did great on vault but struggled a little on bars. Overall, she did so well that she placed 4th overall and 4th on floor and vault to go with her 3rd on beam.

She has been building this up for months and we know she was nervous about it. You never know what to expect in your first competition. So it was wonderful to see her perform well, she certainly tried really hard.

After the meet with her medals

Meanwhile, Jude wrapped up his first season of JV soccer this week. He had a great first year and by the end of it, he had really come into his own in the midfield. Their last game was against East, a perennial foe and their team is really strong. While they lost the game 2-1, Jude played well and his team fought hard until the end. What was cool is that the last two games of the season were held in All City Staidum so they got a taste of what it was like playing in a real stadium.

Jude controlling a bouncing ball in his last match of the season

Getting ready to open presents on her birthday morning, with cupcakes

After what seemed like weeks of buildup Anna finally turned 13 this past week. She was beyond excited. There is something about becoming a teenager that feels like a marker, like you are leaving childhood behind. Anna certainly feels that way. She also took 36 homemade (individually wrapped) red velvet cupcakes to school that day to celebrate.

Marcy reached out to a bunch of people who have been important in Anna’s life and had them send a letter or an email with words of wisdom or encouragement. Anna loved this and read all the letters and had some tears as she did.

Singing happy birthday on the balcony with her cheesecake

Anna took off from school after lunch and Marcy took her for a special mani-pedi. That evening Anna wanted Dominos pizza for dinner and then she went off to Cheer practice and handed out more cupcakes. When she came home we invited the neighbors on to the top balcony where we sang Happy Birthday and we all enjoyed cheesecake.

Birthday drinks at the Four Seasons bar

Then this weekend Anna had three games of refereeing on Saturday morning and in the afternoon we went to the Four Seasons for a special night away. We were supposed to go to New York this weekend but with Anna’s school demanding a one-week quarantine still for every trip out of state, we nixed that idea. So, I booked a night at the Four Seasons downtown and we had a wonderful night.

Dinner on beautiful Larimer Square

After drinks at the hotel bar we went to a video game arcade then dinner on Larimer Street. Then it was back to the hotel for a hot tub and then the 8:15pm movie screening of the latest James Bond movie. We were back in our room around 11:40pm, so it was quite the night for Anna. Today, we slept in and ordered room service before checking out to catch the train home.

Anna’s pizza party with her school friends

Anna turns 13 on Thursday of this coming week but the celebrations have already begun. Today, Anna decided to have a few friends over for a pizza party and Marcy made eight individual cheesecakes as per Anna’s request.

Anna getting ready for her first game of refereeing

Yesterday, Anna had her first day of refereeing. She had three games in the morning refereeing for U9 and U10 boys. She enjoyed it and did really well. One of the parents even complimented her on doing a great job. So, she will be doing this most Saturdays until the end of the season now.

At the Broncos vs Ravens game

Today Jude and I went to the Broncos game. It was a gorgeous day so we rode our bikes down to the stadium. The Broncos were a bit outmatched by the Ravens so we did not have a win but it was fun to see Lamar Jackson in action.

Marcy and Anna at The Gold Over America Tour

Tonight Marcy and Anna went downtown to see Simone Biles and the US Olympic Gymnastics Team, along with several other accomplished gymnasts in action at The Gold Over America Tour. The show is described as a celebration of powerful female athletes that celebrates the pure joy of performing. It was just that with great music and inspiring narrative threaded throughout the show.

Anna in action on the soccer field

Anna has been asking about taking up refereeing for some time. Jude has been doing it for two years now and loves it. And while Anna doesn’t have the same passion for the sport that Jude does she has been playing it for many years now. She is on the team at Ricks and is playing every Monday and Wednesday.

So, on Saturday morning, while Marcy was driving Jude to his refereeing games I drove Anna to her day of training. She was given five minutes of training and then told to shadow with the regular referee (a 13-year-old girl). Anna really enjoyed it and so we signed her up. And she will have her first games refereeing solo this coming Saturday.

Jude practicing tricks in the park

Jude refereed four games yesterday but today was all about practicing his soccer tricks. He spent a lot of time in the park today (several hours) mostly by himself. He broke his record for juggling (884) and he completed a new trick for the first time. And he practiced some of the tricks he had already done before. In the morning we watched Arsenal have a good win and both the Broncos and Packers won so he was a happy camper by the end of the day.

Anna getting ready for her social – western theme

On Friday night Anna had her school social and it sounds like she had a really nice time. She was certainly dressed for it.

Jude doing soccer tricks in the park as the sun goes down

We finally got our house back this week with all the sewer work done and the dirt removed from our basement. Now, we have to decide what we will do exactly with a blank slate to work from. We are thinking of making a few changes.

It was a busy weekend for all of us. Jude refereed four soccer games on Saturday, earning himself $100. Not bad for a day’s work for a 14-year-old. I was Jude’s taxi driver, picking him up and taking him to lunch. Anna cleaned my car, this has become her job since I have been renting it out on Turo (we only need one car most of the time). She also kept busy with Cheer on Saturday and gymnastics on Sunday.

This morning we tried a new church, one that Anna had researched and wanted to try. It was the Unitarian Universalist Church and it was a lovely service. This afternoon we spent a good chunk of time in the basement setting up the washer and dryer on new pedestals that Marcy purchased.

Jude, as always, spent time in the park working on his soccer game. He has been trying to do this “round the world” trick with his left foot for some time and he finally nailed it this afternoon.

Anna shows what a mess our backyard is in

A couple of months ago we had some flooding in our basement. For a couple of years we had noticed some water bubbling out of the basement toilet or shower drain. We have had people out to look at it but no one had a definitive answer as to what was wrong. Then when we had this major flooding we knew we had to take action. We got several opinions and realize we needed to redo our sewer lines which should have been replaced by the builders but were not.

Mud, torn up concrete and big holes in the basement

So, this week they dug up the old sewer lines all the way from the alley to our basement toilet. So, we now have shiny, new 4″ lines that will hopefully last us for decades. Now, we have to decide what to do with our torn-up basement and backyard. We are thinking of using this opportunity to make some changes.

Jude swinging the sledgehammer at our neighbors house

This weekend Jude started refereeing again. They have a big shortage of referees in Colorado right now so Jude can take as much work as he wants. He did three games on Saturday morning.

Anna had Cheer Sunday afternoon and this morning Anna and Jude went across the road to our neighbors house to help demolish a 40-year-old playhouse in their backyard. And football season started so Jude and I spent the afternoon cheering on the Broncos. And they actually looked good.

Near the summit of Gray Wolf Mountain, Mt Evans in the background

On Saturday, it was our 17-year wedding anniversary, and Marcy and I decided we wanted to spend the day in the mountains. I found a trail that I thought would be great, not too crowded on a holiday weekend but also close to Denver and challenging.

Olive had a blast running all over the mountain (Marcy is in the distance)

The Gray Wolf Mountain hike looked like it would fit the bill. It sure did. We got to the trailhead by about 10am and there were only about five cars. This hike started on a well-defined trail that slowly became less defined and then disappeared altogether once you hit treeline. We arrived at the false summit (that we thought was the actual summit) just after 1:30pm. After lunch and a nice, long break it was time to head back. We got back to the car around 5:15pm.

Near Gray Wolf Mountain summit

We only saw six people all day and none after 11am. We had the entire mountain to ourselves. We didn’t quite make the summit but where we stopped had magnificent views and was a comfortable place for lunch.

We didn’t arrive home until almost 6:30pm, so this was the longest time away from the kids while they were at home. They seemed to have a good time and were not that excited to see us. We had a lovely sushi dinner with a good bottle of champagne. It was a memorable anniversary celebration.

Olive has found a new place to keep cool on hot days…in the strawberry patch

The rest of the long weekend was pretty low-key. Marcy did a ton of work getting ready for the workers coming to start on our basement tomorrow morning. They are digging it up to put in new sewer lines replacing the old ones that were not done to code. This should stop our basement from flooding.