Jude enjoying his “end of elementary school” ice cream cake

The countdown began over a month ago. Literally. Both kids created paper countdown chains and had been cutting off a paper link every school day. Then on Friday the long awaited day arrived and school was out for the summer. They were both mostly excited but with some sadness because they knew they were moving on to different schools next year. Jude is officially done with elementary school now and he wanted an ice cream cake to celebrate so Marcy ordered the beautiful soccer themed cake pictured and he loved it.

Jude showing off his bowl he made in woodworking class

On the last day of school it was time to clean out the lockers and bring everything home. Then it was on to the end of year celebrations. Anna’s class had a pool party and Jude had a popsicle party in the park. Then I took Jude and a friend to lunch and back to our house while Anna hobnobbed from the 3rd grade to the 6th and 8th grade pool party (with a friend who had a sibling in 6th grade).

This weekend Jude had a soccer tournament. I was pretty sick with a head cold for most of the weekend so Marcy took Jude to his first game, where he received MVP, while I stayed in bed. I managed to rally for his second game and saw his team’s only win of the weekend with Jude scoring a good goal.

Jude played table football with Anna

Today, Jude played one soccer game in the morning and then we had the afternoon to ourselves. We watched a couple of British Baking Shows, our new favorite family show, and just hung out at home. Jude introduced Anna to his table football game with some adjusted rules. It was a fun game and it was good to see the kids playing together.

Anna playing the cello in her school concert

As school is winding down for the year, we went to the last concert of the school year. Both Jude and Anna played their instruments with their class for the last time, and Jude even got to play the drum for When the Saints Go Marching In. It was a bittersweet moment because both kids are moving on to new schools next year. Anna is heading to Ricks Center and Jude is heading to the International School of Denver. So, this was our last event with the school where we have been for eight years..

Jude playing the clarinet in his school concert

One of the funny things about ending at Waldorf is that both Jude and Anna’s teachers are leaving. They announced it after we had already made the decision to leave. After five years as the teacher for Jude’s class, the kids decided to throw a surprise farewell for Ms Faustina. There was a lot of crying and even Jude was sad that she was leaving. For Anna, Ms Gaillot had been their teacher for three years, although Anna also had her as an assistant teacher in kindergarten, so there was sadness there too.

Anna with her teacher since kindergarten, Ms Gaillot

Jude’s half birthday happened on Wednesday this week but we all forgot about it. Jude reminded us on the following day. So, as we do for every half birthday, we went out for donuts but we waited until this weekend. Jude is now less than six months away from his 12th birthday, a fact that feels a little surreal sometimes.

Jude enjoy his LaMar’s bar donut to celebrate his 11 1/2 birthday

This weekend we had no major plans. Marcy worked in the garden for a lot of the weekend. On Saturday she took Anna to see the new Star Wars movie, Solo, while Jude and I stayed home to watch the Champions League final. It was a really hot day and we rode our bikes to one of favorite sushi restaurants on Saturday night.

Anna and Reed working on creating a birdhouse

On Sunday, Anna had her friend Reed over for a play date that ended in a 24-hour sleepover. They were busy beavers working on creating a birdhouse for a good chunk of time. They actually slept surprisingly well sleeping in past 7:30am.

Jude showing his golf style at the Kennedy Par-3

On Sunday afternoon I booked a tee time at one of our local Par-3 courses. We invited one of Jude’s best school friends and his dad and so we had a foursome. Jude had a great time, as did all of us. We had a bit of a rain delay so we went back to the clubhouse which worked out for the best because when we restarted we had the course pretty much to ourselves. Jude had some great shots sinking a 20-foot putt and striping a drive about 120 yards down the fairway.

Anna on the velcro wall at the Gaylord St fair

Every Memorial Day weekend they have a street fair just four blocks from our house. I took the kids along as well as one of Jude’s school friends who came over for the day. Anna went on the bungee and all the kids enjoyed a few of the other attractions. Their favorite was the velcro wall where they donned a special suit and jump on to a wall and stayed stuck.

It was a good long weekend and the kids now just have 3 1/2 days of school left for the year. And then it is summer break for 10+ weeks.

Anna hard at work on the farm

Anna had been looking forward to this trip for weeks. It was her first ever overnight field trip with her school and they were going to a farm. This is something that the third graders at Waldorf do every year. Marcy was one of four parent chaperones to take the trip as well. They drove to a farm just outside of Boulder, less than one hour from the school.

They had a lot of chickens on the farm

The trip did not disappoint. Anna had a blast. They rode horses, shoveled compost, milked a cow, planted seeds, made butter by shaking cream in a mason jar, collected eggs, camped out with a fire and s’mores, and learned about life on a working farm. While Marcy and Anna were away, it was only one night, I stayed with Jude who had soccer practice and we went out to dinner afterwards.

This weekend was cold and dreary in Denver. It rained quite a bit on Saturday but Jude had a soccer game in Laramie, Wyoming and the game was going to be on rain or shine. Luckily it was an 11am game so we didn’t have to get up too early for the more than 2 hour drive. It was a good game, Jude had his best game of the season, but his team lost 3-1. He was voted MVP of his team for the game, the first time he has received that award so he was pretty happy with the game overall.

Doing Mommy-Daughter yoga on Saturday night

On Saturday night Marcy went to a special Mommy-Daughter yoga class with Anna. Not only did they do yoga for an hour or so but they also got a henna tattoo, a temporary design that Marcy and Anna got on their arms.

Today, we spent the day around the house. Marcy worked in the garden, Anna and I did grocery shopping and then we made macarons this afternoon. We are all motivated to do baking after continuing to watch the British Baking Show.

Jude shooting baskets in the basement

Finally, Jude plays a lot of soccer in the basement but we also have a kids basketball setup and he spends significant time doing that as well. This evening he was down there for almost an hour playing games against himself.

Jude getting ready for the Pentathlon

Every fifth grade class in Waldorf studies ancient Greece. And part of that study involves the ancient Olympics that began in Greece almost 3,000 years ago. They learn about the different events in these Olympics and they train all year for an all day ancient pentathlon. There are five events: sprint, long jump, roman wrestling, discus and long run. They also do a javelin throw at the end.

The Denver Waldorf School 5th Grade singing to Zeus and Athena

Six Waldorf schools from all over the region went to Boulder on Friday for the Pentathlon. They traveled from as far as Kansas and New Mexico. Jude was only lukewarm on the whole thing although he did like missing a day of regular school. I took the day off work, so Marcy and I drove Jude to Boulder very early while Anna went to a friend’s house before school. All the kids do not compete for their school, rather they are divided into five ancient city states – Jude was in Ithaca. His favorite event of the day was the long run. He did really well here. He came second in his heat, second in the semi-final and then third in the final. A pretty good effort out of 100 kids or so.

Jude showing his determination near the finish line of the long run final

Today was Mothers Day and Jude was the first one up. Without any prompting he made Marcy yogurt and granola and cut up some strawberries as well. Anna got up to make Marcy coffee just the way she likes it. Marcy went to the gardening store to buy some plants and we worked in the yard most of the day. We have some nice pots filled with flowers on our back porch now.

Marcy wakes up to coffee and breakfast courtesy of Jude and Anna

Jude in action this weekend for the Colorado Rapids

As we do pretty much every weekend in Spring we went to see Jude play soccer. He had another solid game and he was easily the best offensive player on his team. But they played a good team and lost 3-0. Jude was the only one on his team with some good opportunities on goal and one hit the post so he was unlucky not to score.

Anna showing off her baking skills

Over the last month Anna has started watching baking shows. The Great British Baking Show is her current obsession and we all watched the season finale of Season 1 tonight. It has also really motivated Anna to start baking herself. While she has always shown some interest in this it has reached a new level since she watched the show. She bugged Marcy for days that she wanted to make a cake so on Saturday she made one all by herself. It was actually pretty good.

Jude enjoying his special sundae as his reward

In fifth grade the big project they had to do was a state project. Jude was assigned Mississippi and he had to write a report and do a presentation on it. He worked hard on it and was excited to find out his grade. We said that if he got an A he would be rewarded with a special treat at Glacier, his favorite ice cream place. Well, the grade came in on Friday and he got an A-. So, we were off to Glacier today to celebrate.

Anna showing off her no hands skills on her bike

We have tennis courts about a quarter of a mile from our house. One of the neighbor kids asked Anna if she wanted to play. So, she got out her backpack and racket and rode her bike to the courts. She has been doing both golf and tennis lessons this spring and she likes tennis the best.

Anna baked the challah for our Shabbat celebration on Friday night

Our weekend began on Friday with Anna wanting to do a formal shabbat celebration. When Jude was in third grade (when they study Judaism in the Waldorf school) we had these nearly every weekend but for Anna we have only down it a couple of times. So, Anna found a recipe for challah bread, kneaded the dough and wrapped the braids to make the challah. The result was a delicious warm bread to have with our grape juice.

Jude making a “countdown” until the end of term, 23 1/2 school days to go

The weather was fantastic this weekend, the warmest of the year so far with both days close to 80 degrees. Jude had soccer on both Saturday and Sunday which made him happy. He also scored his first goal of the season and played well during both games.

Anna after her golf lesson with her new bag

Anna decided not to play soccer this season so she has had tennis and golf lessons. Tennis ended this weekend, it was just a four week program but Anna would like to continue to play. She is in the middle of the golf program and she seems to like that too. She also loves the accessories and we had to buy her a new bag because the one we got her last year broke. We picked up a nice $5 used bag that she loved.

Anna making her pizza crust

There was more baking tonight as we made our own pizza from scratch. This was something we used to do regularly a few years ago and it was Anna’s idea to do it again. Marcy made the pizza dough and we each made our own pizza with our favorite toppings.

Anna and Reed eating cupcakes and enjoying the fruits of their labor

We woke up on Saturday morning to snow. It is not unusual for late April in Denver but it is still disruptive nonetheless. We only had a about 2″ but it never stuck to the sidewalks or roads. It was enough snow that all sport was canceled on Saturday, this included Jude’s soccer, Anna’s tennis and Jude’s golf.

We just hung around at home most of the day venturing out to the bookstore and for Indian food at lunch time. Then on Saturday Anna went for a play date at Reed’s house while Jude had a friend over here. That evening Jude, Eric and I went to the school to see the senior projects which was really fun. Reed came over to our house for a sleepover – they slept on the top floor where they built a fort.

This morning they wanted to make cupcakes. So, Marcy found a recipe and for the most part left them to it. The made their own frosting and they were quite delicious.

The weather turned gorgeous today with bright sunshine and 65 degrees. Anna had her golf lesson at 10:30am and then afterwards we met up with her for lunch at the golf course and then did Aqua Golf (putt putt). It went much better this time than last time, with no meltdowns. Then we had a bike ride around Wash Park to end the day.

Speaking at LendIt Fintech USA 2018 in San Francisco

Last week was the annual LendIt USA conference. This is an all-consuming event that takes up a huge amount of my time. This year it was in San Francisco on April 9-11 which was last Monday to Wednesday. Marcy’s mom (Baba) came out to from Des Moines to stay with the kids so Marcy could make the trip to California.

The view from the Lounge where we had every meal at Half Moon Bay

On Thursday morning we checked out of the Marriott in San Francisco and headed to The Ritz-Carlton at Half Moon Bay where I had cashed in a bunch of Marriott points for three free nights. It was fantastic. The view in the above photo was literally our view for every meal we had there. We never tired of this.

Walking along the coastal trail at Half Moon Bay

We had a full three days in Half Moon Bay. On Thursday, we went for a long walk along the coastal trail that hugged the shoreline. Friday, I played golf on the Ocean Course while Marcy went for a 20-mile bike ride and explored the town. Saturday, we caught an Uber out to the redwood forest where we did another long hike but this one was in the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space so it was a forest trail the whole way. And we had some decent elevation gain along the way. We then rented bikes in the afternoon and went down to the end of the coastal trail.

Hiking in the redwood forest

Today, we went down to the beach. If you know this area you will realize that at any time of year the ocean is cold but in April it is downright freezing. We planned on spending a bit of time walking along the beach but after a few minutes our feet were numb from the cold so we headed back.

Walking along the beach with the hotel in the background

Meanwhile, back in Denver the kids were having a great time with Baba. They had ice cream every day, watched movies and Baba drove them to their regular weekend activities like soccer, golf and tennis. But they were both happy to see us when we arrived home this evening.

Enjoying some frozen yogurt at Pinkberry

Outside the Buell Theater getting ready for Hamilton

We got very lucky back in January when Hamilton tickets went on sale in Denver. There were tens of thousands of people going for only a few thousand tickets. Tickets were allocated at random and we got in early so we got good seats for the Thursday matinee show while the kids were on Spring Break.

Jude was not all that keen to go as you can see in the above photograph. But he ended up loving it, as did all four of us. Despite the hype and the buildup it was the greatest show I have ever seen and Anna said it was the best night of her life. Marcy wants to see it again in New York or even Puerto Rico where it will be playing in January.

Decorating Easter eggs at our neighbor’s house

With the kids on Spring Break this week and no major commitments they were very much into the Easter spirit. We decorated eggs at home yesterday and then went over to our neighbor’s house for dinner where the decorated some more. Last night Marcy and I set the eggs in the backyard and some in the house for the kids Easter egg hunt. They found them all pretty quickly. They were filled with coins or candy.

Doing the backyard Easter egg hunt

The big presents we gave the kids were golf clubs for Jude and a new bike for Anna. She was eager to test it out so she went for a solo ride around the neighborhood. Then we all got on our bikes and went to Aquagolf, the local putt-putt place.

Anna testing out her new bike for the first time

Finally, in these pages I focus on the highlights of our week and I intentionally leave out the difficult or painful parts of our lives but of course these things do happen. Today was one of those days that was difficult. We all went to mini golf and what started out as a fun family outing ended in screaming, crying and worse as Jude and Anna had a huge fight. We tried to deal with it as best we could but it was very, very difficult for all of us. It lasted most of the rest of the day and we could not get past it. We continue to work on managing conflict and meltdowns, and it is by far the hardest part of parenting for us right now.

In the outdoor hot tub at Keystone the night before the last ski team

A two week update this time as I was on my way to London last Sunday. That weekend marked Anna’s last on her ski team. She had a great final day and was sad to have the season end. She has progressed so well as a skier this year and is now pretty much the fastest skier in the family.

I enjoyed these ski team weekends as I took Anna to the majority of them. We would hang out on Friday night and then I would drop her off to ski team bright and early on Saturday morning. Then I would usually do some work in the morning and then head out to the mountain after lunch and meet up with Anna where we would ski a few more runs together after ski team.

Yesterday was my birthday and even though I had just got back from London late on Thursday night I decided that I wanted to spend my birthday weekend in Keystone. So, on Friday night we drove up to the condo. We awoke Saturday morning to 6″ of fresh powder so we made an earlier start than usual, getting to the lift by nine.

It ended up being a perfect ski day as far as conditions go. It was warm and sunny and we had fresh snow. At the top of the Outback in Keystone they have a Snowcat ride where they take you to the outer bowls where you can make fresh tracks. This is my favorite type of skiing so I wanted to do it given the great conditions. It was challenging for the kids but I had a great time skiing the fresh powder.

Anna happy to be skiing the fresh powder at the Outback in Keystone

We had a pretty full ski day and we all tired and sore by the time we called it a day. We all went to my favorite Mexican restaurant right by the condo for dinner and then we came home and watched a movie, Apollo 13. It ended up being a bit of a late night but it was a thoroughly enjoyable birthday.

Enjoying my birthday margarita with my two favorite kids

This was the first time we had left our cat, Pickles, at home by herself. We left her extra food and water to get through the two days she would be alone. She seemed to do fine. I think some of us missed her more than she missed us.

Jude was very happy to be reunited with Pickles again

Jude and I like to go for runs around the local park here. A lap around the park is about half a mile and Jude and I have done some races there. He is now officially faster than me at that distance and he is getting stronger all the time. We had another race last weekend just before I left for the airport.

Running a lap around the park