Jude defended well against a great striker from Regis

When Jude started the varsity soccer season at South High School he had one major goal: to make the playoffs. And he was able to achieve that with the team coming in 27th in 5A. They were matched up against Regis Jesuit who came in fifth in the regular season. While South were able to hang with Regis for the first 20 minutes of each half, in the end they were much too good and defeated South 5-0.

Jude was not that disappointed. He played really well and was able to handle a striker headed to a D-1 school. And they all played their heart out so they knew that there was nothing more they could have done. The four years went by so fast and it is hard to believe that Jude has played his last high school soccer game. He had a great run with two years on JV and then two years on Varsity.

Maggie, Isla and Anna dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz

Halloween was a low key affair at our house this year. We had the neighborhood kids parade and then we had a few kids come by but it was not busy. Anna got dressed up and went trick-or-treating with some school friends. We only saw her briefly that night.

Anna’s Avalanche team at Blue Debut

There was not much going on this weekend. On Sunday Jude had soccer tryouts with Réal and Anna had the annual Blue Debut where all the Cheer Athletics teams do their routine in front of an audience but it is not scored. Anna was filling in for her old Frost team from last year and she also performed with her regular team: Avalanche.

Jude and Anna at the lake in Wash Park on Homecoming night

This was Homecoming Week at South High School and it was a big week.

Jude played in the Homecoming soccer game on Tuesday night, playing against the number one team in the competition, Broomfield. They played their best game of the season and only lost 1-0. It could easily have been a draw but for a lucky shot.

Anna has been talking about Homecoming for weeks. We bought her a new dress and she was excited about the big night.

Many of the students were gathering at the Boathouse in Washington Park for photos. Marcy and I decided to go check it out and there were hundreds of kids taking photos by the lake.

Maggie, Isla and Anna at the Wash Park lake

After photos it was off to dinner. Jude went to a friend’s house and they Doordashed Thai food. Anna went to a nice restaurant in Cherry Creek. They all went to the dance but didn’t stay very long as it was super hot in the gym. They spent some time in the park and then went to a party. Anna stayed over at Maggie’s house.

They both said it was a fun night and they all made it home safely.

Doing the Centennial Cone hike on our anniversary

Wednesday was our 20-year anniversary so Marcy and I decided to take the day off and go for a good hike. We chose Centennial Cone Park where they have a 12-mile loop hike I have been wanting to do.

There were possible afternoon thunderstorms and the weather looked a little iffy for a while but somehow we made it through without getting too wet. We went pretty fast, finishing the 12.2 miles in just under 4 1/2 hours.

The restaurant bought us a dessert cocktail for our anniversary

That night we went downtown for dinner at Jax, one of our favorite restaurants, where we had a sumptuous dinner. Across the street from Jax is the Oxford Hotel, where we spent our wedding night. We left the kids at home and spent the night there.

Jude made a great move down the right side in the first half

Meanwhile, soccer continues at South High School. They had their third game of the season on Thursday night and suffered their first loss in a game where South was clearly the better team. But Jude played well.

First day of Senior Year

After a great summer break it was back to school this year for Jude and Anna. They both started their new school year on Tuesday. Jude kicked off the year bright and early as the seniors all went to Red Rocks to watch the sunrise, so he was out the door just after 5am.

Anna starting her sophomore year

Anna started her sophomore year and is delighted to no longer be a freshman. This year, instead of being a cheerleader on the South Varsity cheer team, she decided she wanted to be an assistant coach, and they were delighted to have her. So, she is still attending all the practices, just in a different capacity.

Jude’s first competitive soccer match of the new season was on Thursday night. He is the starting right back on the South Varsity team, and they started the season with a solid win. There is a lot of room for improvement, and no doubt they will get better as the season goes on, but it was great to start with a win.

Since this is Jude’s last year of high school, I decided to create a slideshow of every first day of school since 2009 when he started preschool.

At the summit of Pikes Peak on the balcony of the visitor center

Yesterday, Jude and I hiked to the summit of Pikes Peak. This was no regular 14er hike. For a start, it was our tenth annual hike, haring started when Jude was eight on the Grays Peak hike. But Pikes Peak is also the 14er with the most vertical feet of hiking. It is 7,500 vertical hike over almost 12 miles from the town of Manitou Springs to get to the summit.

The sunrise over the clouds around 6:15am

Jude and I awoke at 3:30am on Saturday morning to drive down to Manitou Springs with the goal of being on the trail at 5am. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the trailhead, the parking lot was full so we had to park in town and then walk up. This added a mile and 20 extra minutes to the hike. But we were on the trail by 5:30am when it was just light enough to see.

Right after we made the summit at noon

It was a beautiful morning and the trail was busy but not like the popular 14ers in the front range. It was all uphill with virtually no respite and we were tired when we made it to the summit at noon. Pikes Peak is unique among 14ers in that it has a fully staffed visitor center and cafe at the summit as well as a train. It was a little jarring to see hundreds of people at the summit, almost all of whom had either driven or caught the train while we had put in a hard 6.5 hours of work. But the good part was that we were able to catch the train back down to Manitou Springs. This made a huge different to how exhausted I felt at the end.

Getting ready for Olivia Rodrigo

Meanwhile, Anna and Marcy went to see Olivia Rodrigo when she came through Denver recently. Anna has become a huge fan and she enjoyed it every bit as much as the Taylor Swift concert last year, maybe even more. She finished her lifeguard shift at 7:15pm and then went directly downtown for the show.

About to start her first day of work as a lifeguard

On Tuesday of this week, Anna started work as a lifeguard at a nearby rec center. Anna is officially a part-time employee of South Suburban Parks and Recreation. Her first week wasn’t without incident but no rescues were needed. She is super excited to have her first job, taking home a cool $15/hr. She will be picking up as many shifts as she can during summer break and hopes to keep some work during the school year.

Anna with some of her Avalanche cheerleading team

This weekend, Anna had Spirit Camp for Cheer – this is basically two full days of cheerleading, and Anna had a blast. They worked the girls hard, but that is way Anna likes it. She couldn’t be happier with her team this year. She loves being on Level 4 and has nothing but good things to say about her stunt group.

Enjoying the thunderstorm

Last night we had a huge thunderstorm. Strong winds, pounding rain and lots of lightning. Anna decided she wanted to be out amongst it, so she enjoyed a cold shower in the wind. And this is after she had just taken a warm bath.

Jude and Olive on the summit of Plymouth Mountain

Today, Jude and I went for a hike with Olive after dropping off Anna at Cheer. Deer Creek Canyon is close to cheer and a park I have never hiked in before. It was a cooler day and perfect for a hike after a little rain last night.

Marcy is away in California for a Ridhwan retreat for the next week.