On Capitol Hill about to testify before a Congressional committe

There was a big day for me this past week. I was invited to testify before the House Small Business Committee on Capitol Hill and so I flew to Washington DC for 24 hours this week. It was quite an enjoyable session with the congressmen and women eager to learn about peer to peer lending.

After seemingly just getting started, the soccer season is now over. The Spring season is only six weeks and with us being away for two of them and then some washout weekends we only really had a couple of weekends of soccer. But they tried to make up for it this weekend with soccer both days. Both Jude and Anna liked playing with their team again.

Anna’s soccer team with Coach Matt showing off their trophies

While we were away in Sydney we had some work done in our backyard. We finally had a play set put in after talking about it for years. When the weather has been nice they have both played on it a lot since we got back.

Jude, Anna & Lily on the new play set

We have had some visitors this weekend. Lily and Baba caught the train out from Iowa to come for a short visit. They have trooped around to all the soccer games this weekend but also played quite a bit together at home. And tomorrow Jude and Anna are not going to school so they can be with their cousin and grandma for the day.

Lily, Jude and Anna doing some drawing before bed at our kitchen table

Jude catching a wave on the boogie board

This week started in Sydney with more crappy weather. The last few days there we hardly saw the sun at all and we had several days of rain so very little beach time. Monday was our last day and we were determined to get out and enjoy the beach. I organized with a good friend of mine to borrow some boogie boards for the day and off to the beach we went even though it was 65 degrees and cloudy. And the water was cold. But the kids enjoyed it, both catching some good waves.

Anna ready to go on the boogie board

The clouds finally departed late on Monday, just in time to see a spectacular full moon rise up out of the ocean. Then, on Tuesday morning we awoke to beautiful sunshine but we had a morning flight so we couldn’t enjoy it at all. The flight back went about as well as we could hope and Jude and Anna were very happy to be home.

The view from our apartment of a spectacular moonrise over the ocean on our last night in Sydney

Our luck with bad weather continues. As Sydney enjoyed glorious sunshine after we left when we got to Denver it has been rain, rain, rain….and snow. We awoke this morning to 4″ of snow on the ground. We have barely seen the sun in two weeks.

As today was Mother’s Day we made the best of it. The whole family went to a yoga class and then we went and got donuts. This afternoon we spent at home and this evening Marcy wanted to go out to our favorite local restaurant, Chop Shop, which is just two blocks from our house.

Mother’s Day dinner at Chop Shop

Jude showing off his commemorative coin in front of the Opera House

The weather has not been kind to us this week. After a glorious weekend we had five days of rain this week which meant not nearly as much beach time as we would have liked. Luckily there are many other good things to do in Sydney and some of them are indoors. We went into the city on consecutive days to see the Opera House and the Wildlife Experience (a small zoo) and there was also Manly aquarium.

Jude and Anna fighting with their “light sabers”

One of the great things about staying in Manly is that you have the beach, the harbour (with a short ferry ride to downtown Sydney) and the walk to Shelley Beach. We have done that walk many times and Marcy took the kids one day this week while I was with my dad and they had a blast. There is a also a nature reserve with a trail that leads to the Sydney Harbour National Park. On this day the kids saw an echidna in the wild and explored some caves as well. They also “fought” each other with sticks that were supposed to be light sabers after having watched a Star Wars movie the previous day.

Bareback horse riding down on the farm

This weekend we did two long trips out into the country. On Saturday we drove down to Uncle Mark and Aunt Robyn’s new farm. They have five horses and as soon as we got there Anna asked if they could go and ride the horses. One of them is a docile old thoroughbred named Cruise who the kids have actually ridden before three years ago when we were last here. This farm backs on to some pretty thick forest and when we went exploring Jude and Anna saw kangaroos in the wild for the first time.

The baby alpaca is curious about Anna

On Sunday we went to my friend Richard’s farm where he keeps about 80 alpacas. There were six baby alpacas that had all been born in the past couple of months and the kids loved seeing them. Then Jude was put to work at feeding time – he had to fill the buckets with new grass and the male alpacas were very happy to see him.

Feeding the male stud alpacas at Richard’s farm

This past week we caught the ferry back to our old Cremorne neighborhood, where we lived when we were in Sydney. Jude recognized quite a lot of things and Anna even ran up to the “super axe hacker” tree where they spent some time carving three years ago. We also went to the old field, a place where the kids spent many, many hours playing and exploring. We all felt quite nostalgic as we had such a great time when we lived here in 2012.

Recapturing an iconic photo from three years ago on the Cremorne ferry

At Mum’s grave on the one year anniversary of her death

We landed back in Sydney on Tuesday morning this week amidst the worst rain/wind storms in more than a decade. There was a lot of flooding around Sydney which we mostly avoided but it was certainly not the weather we were hoping for.

We arrived back on the one-year anniversary of Mum’s death so we went straight from the airport to the cemetery to pay our respects. Then it was on to Manly Beach where we have an apartment booked for two weeks.

Dad with his three grandkids

One of the reasons for the timing of this trip was to meet the new addition to the family, young Sarah Jane Renton who is just two months old. The kids were really excited to meet her and they loved taking turns holding Sarah. She is a very easy going baby and didn’t mind all the attention and camera flashes in her face.

Saying hi to my new niece for the first time

One of the things the kids, particularly Anna, was looking forward to on this trip was the visit to Luna Park, the amusement park that is right on the harbour. When we lived in Sydney in 2012 Anna was too small to go on many of the rides so she was very happy to now be big enough to do the Wild Mouse and other rides.

On the Ferris Wheel at Luna Park

While the weather has not been great we have had two nice days in our first week. And we have spent most of those days on the beach. We are literally 50 yards from the sand so it is very convenient. With sand and water Jude and Anna are happy campers and could easily spend all day there. There are a ton of surfboard riders at Manly Beach so Anna decided she wanted to give surfing a shot. We rented a board and she discovered it was a lot more difficult than it looks. The water is also quite cold so she didn’t last long. Jude also gave it a try and did quite well, catching a wave on his knees successfully.

Jude learning how to surf at Manly Beach

Story time with Aunt Mandy and the twins

It has been quite the crazy couple of weeks in the Renton family. The kids have been on Spring Break and so for the second week of their break they took a trip to Iowa to see everyone there. Unfortunately, I was not able to go because I had my big annual LendIt conference this past week.

This was the longest time I have ever been away from the kids: it was 12 days. I left for New York before Marcy and the kids got back to Denver and I didn’t arrive back home until Friday.

Jude loves all the animals in Iowa especially Ozzie

As always the kids had a fantastic time with their Iowa family. Jude even commented that he wants to go and live in Iowa for six months some time and go to school there with Lily.

Some of the highlights were a trip to the Science Center, Lily took a day off school so they could hang out together and she also had a couple of sleepovers. Most of the time was spent at Baba and Grandpa’s house playing. And just before they left they all went to see Lily’s soccer match.

My last two weeks were very different. I have been totally focused on putting together the LendIt Conference and I have been working around the clock on that along with our great team. We pulled off a truly great conference, almost 2,500 people which was way more than we expected.

Anna watching me give a presentation at LendIt USA 2015 – it was streamed online

The highlight for me was introducing the former Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton (and President Obama’s chief economic advisor) Larry Summers. He gave a brilliant speech and was very gracious as our keynote speaker. The photographer shot this quick photo right after he came off stage.

With former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers at LendIt USA 2015 in New York

As I am writing this we are on a plane bound for Sydney where we will be spending the next couple of weeks. We have taken the kids out of school so we can go visit the Australian family and we can all meet young Sarah, the kids new cousin.

Anna painting her nails while talking on the phone with Baba – a sign of what is to come…

Jude on the hunt in the backyard for Easter Eggs

Jude and Anna have been counting down the days until Easter since February. Literally. They both made a paper countdown and every morning since late February they have cut one spiral off their countdown.

So, this weekend was all about Easter. It started yesterday morning with the traditional egg dyeing. Marcy hard boiled 18 eggs and Jude and Anna spent most of the morning coloring and decorating their eggs.

Anna and Jude goofing around as they dyed their Easter Eggs

Last night they were both so excited as we started getting things ready for the Easter Bunny. We put out a bowl of spinach and carrots and Anna wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny. They also put all their decorated eggs out on the table.

Getting ready for the Easter Bunny on the night before Easter

This morning Jude woke up early, we think he only had about eight hours sleep, and Anna was up by 6:45am and the Easter festivities began. They each received a few small presents from the Easter Bunny and of course there was chocolate. There were eggs hidden all over the back yard so Jude and Anna grabbed their Easter baskets and filled them as quickly as they could. Inside each egg was either chocolate or a couple of quarters so they both had a stash of money and chocolates after they opened all the eggs.

Anna is ready for bed

At the Colorado Rapids home opener

We have been blessed with some great weather these past couple of weekends. Last weekend I took the kids to the Colorado Rapids (our professional soccer team) home opener. It was a gorgeous day, it was actually hot sitting in the sun for a couple of hours. Jude was glued to the match, which was a good one, while Anna would have been happy to leave at half time. Her favorite part of going to these games are the treats – she loved the blue cotton candy I bought her.

I had to do another quick trip to New York last week and actually flew back to Denver on my birthday. After the kids got home from school we celebrated with apple pie & ice cream (my favorite) and then we played some soccer in the backyard before heading off to Benny’s, my favorite Mexican restaurant.

My birthday celebration at Benny’s

For over a month now there has been a major sporting event happening that most of America is oblivious to. I am talking about the Cricket World Cup. This has been played in Australia and New Zealand and included the 16 best cricket playing countries in the world – these are former British colonies for the most part. I have introduced Jude and Anna to the World Cup by having them watch the 5-minute highlights online of every Australian match.

This weekend was the World Cup Final and Australia played New Zealand in Melbourne. I was delighted to see when I woke up this morning that Australia won the game quite convincingly and were world champions. After watching the highlights of the final this morning Jude asked if we could play cricket in the backyard. We just happen to have a kids cricket set from when we lived in Sydney in 2012, so we dusted it off and had a 1-hour family game of backyard cricket.

Playing some backyard cricket

Today, Marcy took the kids to the craft store because Jude wanted to make a diorama. Jude spent most of his savings on some caveman and prehistoric animal figures and then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon working on his creation. Anna followed Jude’s lead and put together her own diorama.

Jude created this diorama from a cardboard box, paint, clay and some little animal toys. It is a work in progress, he has plans to complete the sides and back tomorrow.

Ringing the opening bell at Nasdaq with the LendIt team on March 11.

Well the good news this week that I am starting to feel better and I was able to make the trip to New York to ring the opening bell at Nasdaq on Times Square. This was a huge honor for LendIt, a company that has been in existence less than two years, but one that is at the epicenter of the fast growing peer to peer lending industry.

I got back to Denver late on Thursday night and left my suitcase open on the couch. Anna discovered it when she got home from school and thought it would be funny to wear some of my clothes.

Anna trying on some of my work clothes

This weekend we worked around the house and got some projects done. We had a short brick wall under our carport that we decided to knock down, so Marcy and the kids went at it on both Saturday and Sunday. The kids worked really hard, they carried every brick down to the sidewalk, and they were able to get the wall demolished by lunch time on Sunday. I was not much help in the process as I spent a good chunk of this weekend working on our taxes.

Jude hard at work demolishing our brick wall

Marcy showing Anna how to use a chisel and hammer

The weather was gorgeous this weekend. Today was the warmest day of the year so far and the kids spent pretty much the whole day outside. After working on the brick wall they played in the backyard and we went up to the playground for some soccer and frisbee. And they also spent some time climbing trees.

Climbing the tree in our front yard

It has been quite the week and weekend. I have been sick with the flu since last Sunday, only starting to really feel better today. Marcy and the kids were hit with it as well. The kids both had a couple of days off school although the flu didn’t hit them as hard as it hit Marcy and I. For me, it was the most sick I have ever been as an adult – I lost 7 pounds in less than a week and I am nowhere near 100% recovered eight days later.

The week wasn’t all about sickness thankfully. Anna showed off her yoga style below.

Anna doing the “crow” yoga pose which takes tremendous upper body strength

I had promised Anna that we would have a special Anna and Daddy date on Saturday. I bought tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters in the afternoon and while Anna enjoyed it somewhat we were both too sick to really get much out of it. We both complained that it was too loud and we left at halftime.

Anna and me at the Harlem Globetrotters at the Pepsi Center

Jude barely left the house all weekend so this afternoon I made them both head to the playground. Jude had enough strength to climb some of the bars and that was about it.

Jude lets a butterfly land on his face at the Butterfly Pavilion

The week before last the kids were off school and we decided to stay in Denver for a change. This is the week we have been going to Mexico for the last couple of years but with our big trip to Australia coming up in April we decided a Mexico trip would be too much.

So, one of the activities that Marcy planned was a trip to the Butterly Pavilion. It had been a while and the kids had a great time. Anna and Jude were both brave in letting the tarantula crawl over their hand. But most impressive was Jude who as you can see in the photo above he let a butterfly land on his face and let it stay there for 10-15 seconds. Marcy was so impressed with how still he stayed for it, something she would not let happen (nor I).

Anna lets Rosie the tarantula crawl over her hand (with adult supervision of course)

After a pretty mild January with virtually no snow February hit us with a steady flow of snowstorms. Last week the school had a snow day and it was so cold that Marcy stayed around the house all day with the kids. They ventured outside for shoveling and to build tunnels in the snow.

Jude digging a tunnel in the snow in our front yard

The other major pastime of the past couple of weeks has been Monopoly. We have probably played 10 games of Monopoly in the last two weeks and that is saying something given they can last for 3 hours or more. Jude is really into it, he gets so excited that sometimes he can barely control himself. He is quite the competitive game player. But having said that, he is learning to lose graciously, something we have had to work on a lot. Win or lose Jude loves to play often talking about the game for hours afterwards.

Anna likes it as well although she is probably not quite as passionate as Jude. What she has taken to is being the banker. She needs help but she takes the job very seriously and likes to help out in this way. She is also much more fair. If someone has run out of money she will want to give them some so they can stay in the game.

We love Monopoly because it really helps build many important skills. They obviously get to learn math, but with Jude starting to read, he gets to practice reading the Chance and Community Chest cards. Even Anna is starting to try reading for just that reason. It also teaches about spending money and delayed gratification.

Monopoly has been the game of choice in the Renton household lately

With so much inside time the kids can get a bit antsy. So, after our Monopoly game yesterday we said they had to get out of the house and run around the block. Today, they did the same thing. Jude ran 7 laps around the block with is roughly 2 miles and he ran hard and strong. Anna ran the better part of 4 times around, with some rests in between. We are going to continue to encourage this activity.

Anna in full stride running around the block outside our house