It has been a busy three weeks since the last Renton family blog update. A couple of weeks ago Marcy and I went on a snowshoeing date, something we hadn’t done together since the kids were born. It was part of an organized group that also included dinner and wine afterwards, although we had to pass on that because some bad weather moved in and we didn’t want to be stuck 50 miles from home on a Sunday night and have the babysitter stay very late.

The big part of the last three weeks, though, was our trip to Mexico. We went to Puerto Vallarta for 8 days staying at the Sheraton Buganvilias resort through the timeshare deal with Marcy’s parents. It was great to be by the ocean and in some warm weather again. The Sheraton is walking distance to downtown Puerto Vallarta which we took advantage of one day – this photo was taken on the boardwalk that runs through downtown.

While Anna wasn’t feeling the best during our trip Jude was completely fine. He stayed out late a couple of nights with me and we watched the sun set over the Pacific. Perfect.

While we spent quite a bit of time at the pool every day the beach was the bigger draw for the kids. Jude could literally amuse himself for hours looking for rocks, playing in the sand and chasing waves. The water was a perfect temperature for swimming although the onshore break was a bit rough at times. There were hawkers on the beach trying to sell us everything from trinkets, hats and clothing to whale watching trips. One day we were lucky and enjoyed our very own whale watching from the beach. A couple of humpbacks came in close to shore and I was able to zoom in on them and got this great shot.

But the highlight of the trip I think for all of us was the visit to Dolphin Adventure. The last time we were in Puerto Vallarta was over two years ago but Jude remembered it well and wanted to go and see the dolphins again. One of the places had a great kids program where they could touch, feed and even swim with the dolphins. So we signed them up.

This place also had sea lions and when we arrived we were greeted by this guy. The trainer asked Jude if he wanted a kiss from the sea lion and Jude being the brave one around animals said yes.

It was the dolphins, though, that everyone came to see. And they didn’t disappoint. Both Jude and Anna had wide grins on their faces the whole time and when Jude took a ride on the dolphin he could barely contain his glee. We bought the official video afterwards that you can see here on Youtube.

After 8 days it was back to Denver where we were in for a shock to the system. After enjoying sunshine, the pool and beach every day in glorious 80 degree weather we got hit with the worst blizzard of the season so far today less than 24 hours after getting back. So, it was time to get out the snow shovels.

There is some excitement brewing in our house these days: Jude has not one but two loose teeth. He is ecstatic to be catching up with some friends and a cousin who have already lost some of their milk teeth.

Most of the time Jude and Anna are great buddies. They can play together sometimes for hours on end with barely an argument. Of course, like most siblings they have their moments when they can barely stand each often but for the most part they are really good buddies. This was clear during Anna’s recent two-day hospital stay. Jude stayed home with me and couldn’t wait to see Anna at the hospital each day. And you could see the unbridled joy in Anna’s eye when she saw Jude had come to visit. Then there is the photo above taken by Marcy as they walked through the zoo on a recent visit. Jude just spontaneously put his arm around her shoulder.

When Anna was sick last week we had a Jude and Daddy date at the annual stock show. He was a little reluctant to go at first but when we got there he had a blast. The petting zoo was his favorite part. They had baby pigs, goats and sheep running around that you could feed and pet. Jude was particularly fond of the baby pigs. We also did a pony ride which he seemed to enjoy but not as much as in previous years.

The big news in Jude’s life recently was the start of Knights Club at his school. At the Denver Waldorf School they have two-year kindergartens and each January the older kids get to join a “club” where they go and do big kid kind of activities. Jude has been looking forward to this for the last 18 months. The transition to 1st grade is a big deal at Waldorf and they try and prepare the kids for it. Every Tuesday afternoon for the rest of the school year Jude gets to participate in Knights Club.

Jude still loves nothing more than making up imaginary games and stories in the backyard. Yesterday he had a lengthy discussion and game with the little boy statue in our yard and the reindeer.

Finally, I have been meaning to get a picture of our new car on the blog. We bought this fun little Audi TT in December and have been having a blast driving it. We haven’t had the top off much but in Denver you do get the occasional 60-degree day in winter where you can take advantage.

We have spent every weekend in January in the mountains as the kids started their four weekly ski lessons. Both Jude and Anna seem to be enjoying themselves and making progress. We hope to be able to take them skiing with us when their four weeks are up.

Last weekend I did something I had never done before – stay in a hotel with just me and the kids. Our condo was booked (or so we thought) and Marcy had class so I took the kids and we stayed at the Inn at Keystone, pretty close to the slopes. We all had a great time and the kids managed to get a good night’s sleep before they got to ski school bright and early on Saturday morning.

This weekend we went up to the condo and invited one of Jude’s school friends to come as well. We were having a nice evening and then Denise & Phil (our co-owners in the condo) showed up with their kids. They had invited some friends of theirs as well. So on Friday night we had eight adults and eight kids staying at the condo. That was pretty much at capacity. We had Jude and Anna sleeping on the floor of the master bedroom closet – something they didn’t really enjoy. Consequently, no one had a great sleep.

So, the kids had their weekly ski lesson that went well and Marcy and I have had the chance to ski together for the first time in many years. It has been great and we hope to have the kids ski with us after their lessons are done. They both seem to enjoy it which is the main thing.

But being in the mountains isn’t just about skiing. Today, we all went sledding. Jude had one of his friends from school staying at Keystone as well, so they joined us for some sledding in Frisco today. You can check out Jude’s style in the video here and below is a photo of Jude and his school friend hurtling down the hill (Jude is in front).

Jude has been progressing well in his swimming lessons. Both kids had weekly lessons for most of the last year and it shows. Jude can now pretty much do freestyle and he is even trying his hand at backstroke which he is doing in the photo here.

The other new activity the kids are doing these days is a creative movement class. These are kids only classes and Jude and Anna do it together along with two of their school friends. They both seem to like it and it fits in well with their schedule. They still both have plenty of free time with only doing half days at school. And we want to expose them to as many things as possible to see what grabs their interest.

To say it has been a busy last two weeks would be an understatement. It started off on Christmas Eve with our annual trip to the Denver Zoo to see the lights. As always they were spectacular and the kids enjoyed it as well.

Then Christmas Day finally arrived. Both Jude and Anna were very excited about Christmas this year. So excited that we were a bit concerned they make wake up in the middle of the night, or worse still, while Santa was delivering gifts and putting it under the Christmas tree. Fortunately though, Anna didn’t come to our room until 6:15, and waited patiently in bed with us for Jude to awake 25 minutes later.

One of the many gifts that Santa brought were some stilts. Jude thought it was pretty cool to walk around the house with them.

The kids didn’t get a lot of time to play with all their new presents because on December 27th it was off to Des Moines. Both kids were excited to be visiting their cousins and family there. With all the snow Des Moines had received there was plenty of snow for sledding the front yard and they went out a couple of different times to enjoy it.

As usual Jude loved seeing his cousin Lily and the feeling was mutual. Lily slept with Jude and Anna every night we were there except for one. And that was the night we tried to do a sleepover at Lily’s house, but that didn’t work out so well.

That was on New Year’s Eve. Jude and Anna said they wanted to sleep at Lily’s house but after we had put them to bed they both decided they wanted to be back at Baba’s house. This was a bit of a bummer because we had a game of cards planned for all the grownups but we never really got it going. Well at least we got a cute picture of the kids in their matching pajamas.

Marcy and I enjoyed a night away while we were in Des Moines. We just stayed at a hotel near the local mall so we could walk to dinner and a movie. We hadn’t seen a movie together since our last visit to Des Moines over the summer so it was a treat to have an entire afternoon and evening.

New Year’s Day was our last full day there and Baba made a delicious turkey dinner. But then it was time to say our goodbyes before our long drive back.

We arrived back after a smooth trip on Wednesday night and it was straight to Chipotle, the kids favorite restaurant. Then two days later it was up to the mountains for the start of ski school.

We were very curious to see how the kids would do and thankfully it went well. We booked them in Keystone ski school for the whole day – from 8:30am until 3pm. It is a long day for them both. It helped to have a schoolmate of theirs in class with them. Parents are encouraged not to hang around but we did sneak a peak halfway through the day to see how everyone was doing and thankfully they were both enjoying it. Here is a couple of videos I shot on the phone – one for Jude and one for Anna without them knowing I was there.

The great thing about having the kids in ski school for the day is that Marcy and I had the time to ourselves. We went back to our condo and read for a while before heading up the slopes for our first day of skiing together in many years.

We arrived back at ski school a little early and both kids were exhausted. Jude had had enough and just wanted to go and Anna was so tired her eyes were bloodshot. Afterwards, they were both in good spirits and wanted to do it again next week. Good thing, because it is every Saturday for the next four weeks.

Here is Jude at the end of the day posing with the ski school mascot.

Last weekend was Marcy’s birthday and she decided that we would go to a Christmas party at our old neighbor’s house. So, we all got dressed up and I took this cute birthday photo with Marcy and the kids.

The other big activity last weekend was getting the kids reindeer. Both kids picked out a reindeer to decorate and then displayed them proudly at home. Here is a photo of Jude doing his best “I am not smiling” face.

This weekend we made the two hour drive from Denver to Canon City to take the Santa Express Train. Marcy had heard other parents talking about how great the train was for the kids so we thought we would give it a try. We weren’t disappointed. The kids loved it. Santa came by and chatted with the kids and an elf gave them both special reindeer bells that they treasured. Then they got to sit on Santa’s knee for an official photo.

We hardly ever get a decent photo of the four of us so when we all got dressed up to go to the annual Briere Christmas party on Friday night I thought I would give it a try. So, here is the Renton family in front of our tree.

Last weekend we had the annual holiday fair at the kids school and we got there bright and early at 9am. There was so much to do with all kinds of crafts and activities including the little train that Jude and Anna enjoyed. They had a lot of friends there and the weather was nice so they spent a good deal of time outside playing. It was 1pm and time to go home but we could have easily stayed there all day.

Also last weekend we bought out Christmas tree. The kids enjoyed decorating, although Marcy did most of the work, but by the end it looked great. Both Jude and Anna are really into Christmas lights this year, always pointing them out when we are out driving. So, we put up some outside lights including some large candy canes in the front yard. The lights on the tree that we put in the little alcove at the front of the house are also pretty cool.

Today it was cold and cloudy – a great time to stay indoors. Marcy decided it was time to bake gingerbread cookies which was met with wild enthusiasm. It was a good 2-hour project and the kids helped every step of the way. Here is Jude and Anna licking frosting from the beater and spatula.

Jude has a new fun game that he plays by himself. Marcy bought 5,000 popsicle sticks at Hobby Lobby a while back and he has really taken to them. He will take these sticks and make all kinds of creatures from them, usually dinosaurs. But that is only half the game. The second part is where a predator will come along and eat the dinosaur. When this happens all the sticks are broken in two (Jude does this with his bare hands) and then put in the compost bin. The picture below is one of a dinosaur Jude made up that he called a carabarasuchus.

Jude had a rough start to the weekend on Friday night. It seems like there is a stomach bug going around at school. He picked it up and so he vomited few times. He was a bit pale and lacking in energy on Saturday. The only time he left the house was for a scooter ride around the block and that ended in tears. He was back to his chirpy self by this morning. We just hope Anna doesn’t pick it up.

After building up for weeks Jude finally turned 6 on Friday this past week, the day after Thanksgiving this year. As has become a tradition in our house we all headed out bright and early for breakfast at “Berries and Cream” – that is what the kids call the Original Pancake House because they serve that for breakfast. Jude ordered the kids serving of pancakes and we all sang Happy Birthday.

We told Jude that he was the boss on his birthday and of course he was thrilled about that. We gave his some options of things to do and he decided he wanted to go climbing. Marcy and I had checked out a climbing place where they had indoor walls and would accept kids. We had to learn how to belay the kids but they were both able to do it. Jude had a great time and was really good at it – reaching the ceiling on one of his climbs.

After that it was lunch time. Jude had been saying all week that he wanted Chipotle for lunch but at the last minute he changed his mind to Noodles which was great by us. We visit Chipotle once a week as it is and I wasn’t looking forward to a second visit. Then it was back home for dessert where Jude had a birthday cupcake – his actual birthday cake was happening at his birthday party the next day.

For the last few weeks Jude kept on saying that he wanted to invite some of his school friends to his birthday party. We had never done a party for him before but this year it became clear that it is what he wanted. So we invited all the kids in his class as well as Anna and Isabella Ferguson – good friends of ours who Jude loves to play with.

On the day of the party Jude was really excited. Marcy decorated the house and had lots of fun games planned. Jude had a blast. His two best friends from his class came and he was running around with them as well as playing all the games. What was great is that there were lots of boys there – all of our friends and family have girls so he doesn’t get to play with a group of boys that much. We were so glad it worked out well because we could see this was a big deal to Jude. He is already talking about his 7th birthday party.

Jude dressed up in a knight costume for Halloween. Here he is all decked out about to head to school on Halloween. That night, though, he decided to just wear his pumpkin shirt as he was out trick or treating. Anna went as a princess – they made quite the cute couple.

This past week was haircut time so they headed to the local kid’s hairdresser that both Jude and Anna love. They get to sit in airplanes or cars and best of all they get a lollipop afterwards.

This week we received Jude’s school photo that was taken a couple of weeks ago. He is quite the handsome fellow don’t you think.

Speaking of school we had the parent conference with Jude’s teacher a couple of weeks ago and it was great to hear he is doing well in school. We often wondered because he can be very impatient and mean to Anna on occasion at home. But apparently in school Jude is on his best behavior most of the time. And he loves it. He said this weekend that Monday is one of his favorite days of the week because he gets to go to school to see his friends. That was great to hear.

We had some big news this weekend. We have been renting here in Park Hill since returning to Denver in August but we have been quietly looking for a house to buy the last few weeks. We found a place we both loved a couple of weeks ago but someone beat us in putting an offer in. We put in a backup offer but we had pretty much given up on the place when we get a call from our friend and realtor, Melissa, on Saturday night. The first contract fell through so we are under contract now. Now, we know not to count our chickens before they are hatched but if all goes well we will be closing on the new house on Christmas Eve.

It was off to Des Moines for a few days this past week. The kids went to the Des Moines library for a Halloween Party and Jude, ever the gentleman in his knight costume, escorted his cousin Chloe to the party.

All the kids decided to climb the tree in the grandparents front yard while they were there. Yes, there are five kids in this tree with Jude being close to the top with the American flag. Nathan was underneath just in case anyone had a misstep.

Back in Denver we had a Halloween neighborhood bike ride yesterday.  Jude got dressed up in his knight outfit and we went riding round the neighborhood. He is getting much better on his bike these days – I ran beside him most of the way but he hardly needed me. Here he is enjoying a red velvet cupcake, his favorite, on one of the stops.

We also had our weekly trip to the museum this weekend, it is still the kids favorite place to go. I snapped this photo of Jude yesterday as he was riding on the wolves outside.

Anna’s preschool is in a church. One day when Marcy was picking Anna up after school she noticed a piano for sale for $100. We had been talking about getting a piano for some time. Marcy grew up with one and I also had one in my early childhood years.

So we paid $50 for a piano technician to come and look at it and he gave it a thumbs up. He said it was built around 1930 and then completely overhauled in the 1970’s. The woodwork needs refinishing but other than that it was in great shape. Both kids have been playing on it every day since we got it.

Last weekend we went to City Park for the Chipotle Festival. It was a cold and miserable day but Jude was happy as could be. He had on his gumboots and was happy to play in the mud in the rose garden.

In the last post we talked about Jude’s new dinosaur dig – well he bought another one today with some money he had earned. This one was much bigger with more hefty tools and he spent a good chunk of the day digging through clay to get to his two velociraptor skeletons that were buried inside. This was great for us because we spent the day organizing the garage and getting ready for a garage sale in a couple of weeks.

Jude has gone off bike riding lately but he is really into his scooter. And he is getting fast. This afternoon he wanted to go on a quick scooter ride. We got 100 yards from home and he thought it would be fun to go the museum which is about a mile away. So off we went. I had to run at a full sprint just to keep up with him. Just a couple of months ago he was quite tentative still. Not now – it is a great workout trying to keep up with him.