The traditional photo by the pool with Olive taking part this year

On Wednesday we drove to Iowa for our annual summer trip. The kids have had a great time with their cousins and grandparents. They have had a lot of time by the pool, been bowling, watched movies, played games, went shopping and Jude even took a ride in the MG. And Grampsy let him drive, it was his first experience of a stick-shift and apparently he did ok.

Because we won’t be back for Christmas, the kids got their next birthday cake early

It has been really warm which has meant lots of time in the pool. I played golf with Nate On Saturday and Sunday but today, July 4, we all stayed home and just hung out. Games were played, we watched the movie Independence Day and we had a typical American dinner: burgers and hot dogs.

Opening their stash of goodies from the Easter Egg hunt

This afternoon the kids did a July 4 Easter Egg hunt. Baba had stuffed over 100 eggs with goodies and we hid them around the house. It was a nice break from the heat. This evening all the kids went to see the fireworks with Baba.

Waiting for the fireworks to start on July 4

On top of Searle Pass (12,034 feet) on the Colorado Trail Segment 8

Marcy and I left on our backpacking trip on Monday morning. We hiked 51 miles over four long days, completing Segments 8, 9 and 10 of the Colorado Trail. The first day was the toughest, gaining over 4,000 feet of vertical with full packs on. We didn’t find a campsite until after sunset so we were eating dinner in the dark that night.

Olive and I on the trail

Marcy did really well the whole trip. She is so strong and I slowed us down for the most part. Olive didn’t do that great, we have decided she is more of a day-hike dog. She loved being on the trail but whenever we stopped she was on high alert, never really relaxing. And she didn’t really eat, having only two meals (instead of a normal 8 meals) over the four days.

I am glad we did four days because by the fourth day I was starting to feel strong again. Except for one blister on my right big toe, my body held up really well. We are already planning next year’s trip, which will also likely be on the Colorado Trail.

Enjoying a celebratory beer after four days of hard work (Earned It IPA)

On Friday we picked up Jude from his camp. He didn’t really like it much this year, the people were not as fun and he thought the counselors were weak. The different sports were fun, though. They did rock climbing, mountain biking, stand-up paddleboarding, kickball, tubing and more. He was ready to get home when I picked him up.

Anna’s cabin mates at Geneva Glen (Anna is middle front row)

Anna, on the other hand, loved her camp. At 13 years old, she is considered a “senior” camper and as such has a less structured camp and is able to pursue what is most interesting. She did a lot of archery, softball and ropes. Marcy picked her up on Saturday morning.

Jude on the driving range

I decided to get to the driving range this weekend as I haven’t swung a club all year. Jude joined me and actually hit the ball pretty well.

The Avalanche win the Stanley Cup!

Jude and I don’t watch much hockey during the regular season but come playoff time we take a keen interest in the Avalanche. Both of us missed games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup finals because he was at camp and I was backpacking but we watched the other four games and were ecstatic that the Avs won tonight. It was super fun watching the playoffs with Jude the last couple of months.

Jude goes off to camp

This week Anna was away at camp, and so it was just the three of us. Jude had soccer training three mornings this week and they made the kids work really hard. Lots of serious fitness was the order of the day.

On Tuesday, Marcy and I took the afternoon off work to go for a hike in the foothills. We did a six-mile hike on Green Mountain, a nice warmup for our big hike this coming week. Then suddenly it was Sunday and it was time to drop off Jude for his Avid camp. He is heading to Wyoming for five days.

After dropping off Jude Marcy and I got all our camping gear ready and then drove to our end-point at Mount Massive trailhead to drop off Marcy’s car. Then it was back to Keystone, where we are spending the night before heading out on our backpacking trip tomorrow. If all goes well, we will hike 51 miles from Copper Mountain. The weather looks good so we are excited to get on the trail.

Anna getting ready to head off to camp (after Cheer practice)

Anna had just over a week of summer break before her first camp. She loves Geneva Glen and has been looking forward to it for some time. She managed to get in a cheer class literally on her way to camp as she is bummed to miss any of her cheer trainings. Marcy took her to cheer and then to Panda Express and to get a boba tea, and then it was straight to camp where it was a full hour wait to check-in. And then it poured with rain so both Marcy and Anna got drenched along with many other campers. But Anna was still in good spirits as Marcy left.

On top of Mount Morrison with Mount Evans in the background

Jude and I decided to go for a hike this morning. We took Olive with us and did the closest really challenging hike to our place. Mt Morrison is just over 8,000 feet and you gain 2,000 feet in elevation in around two miles. It was a warm morning, so it was a hot and sweaty hike to the top. Olive took advantage of the shade every chance she got. We were back in the car in about two hours and forty minutes, a solid workout.

The other highlight of the weekend is all four of us went to a movie for the first time since before covid. We saw the new Top Gun movie, and it was surprisingly good.

Watching a Rockies game with my girl

Jude enjoyed his first week of summer break and Anna joined him on Thursday when Rick’s had their last day of the school year. Anna was one of two seventh-graders chosen to help with the eighth-grade graduation and Marcy organized the finances for putting on a great spread. Anna had become quite close with a couple of the girls in eighth grade and it was a bittersweet time for her. She is particularly going to miss Ella who was her best friend at school.

It ended up being quite a busy weekend. It started Friday night when Anna and I went to a Rockies game, our first since before the pandemic. We had a lovely evening although the baseball itself was not great.

Jude taking a left-footed shot on goal – it was a solid shot but the goalie saved it

This weekend Jude had a soccer tournament to close the season. His team played well and they beat the leading team in their last game. Jude played really well and almost scored a couple of times. It was great to see their improvement over the season as the boys passed well and played as a team this weekend.

On top of Green Mountain on a beautiful morning hike

This morning I decided to get in an early morning hike to test out my new hiking shoes. They are super comfortable. I missed Jude’s morning soccer game but did a beautiful hike on Green Mountain – six miles through lush green meadows.

Once I got back from my hike it was time to take Anna to cheer. She is on the Cool Cats elite team and it was their first practice. They also had a parent’s orientation so we found out what to expect for this year. It is going to be an intense year.

Bo and I open the conference in New York

It has been a big week. Marcy and I were in New York all week for our big work event, our first big in-person event in three years. Everything came together really well in the end but it was a huge amount of work and we survived on very little sleep during the week. We left Friday morning to come back home so we could get back in time for Jude’s soccer tournament.

Jude driving everyone to Mustards for lunch

Marcy’s parents came to visit and it sounds like everyone had a good time. Jude and Anna had school all week and Jude actually had finals but they got to eat well, going out most nights. They left while we were in the air but we were home in time for Jude’s first soccer game.

About to board The Intrepid (in the background) for a party

On Wednesday evening Marcy and I went to a party on the Intrepid aircraft carrier. We had never been and it was truly impressive. They have a bunch of planes on there and inside they have an actual space shuttle. It was also Fleet Week so there were a bunch of other navy vessels and sailors wandering around.

This was a big soccer weekend with Jude’s team playing in a tournament. They won their first game against a decent team 4-0, it was their best outing of the season with everyone working really well together. Jude got an assist on one of their goals. Their second game was one-sided, winning 6-0 against a weak opponent. Unfortunately, their third game was canceled due to thunderstorms.

Anna with one her friend’s kittens

Anna had quite an open weekend. She went to one of her friend’s houses because they had just acquired three kittens. So cute. Then we found out that Anna made it on to Elite Level 1 for cheerleading, she had tryouts the weekend we left and did really well. Elite level cheer is serious, we had to sign a long document agreeing to our commitment. Practices start next weekend.

Olive missed Marcy terribly

Anna as the maid, Ms. Brill, an early scene in Mary Poppins

This week was the middle school musical at Ricks, which Anna had been working on for six months and had been excited about all year. This was a cathartic experience since the musical was canceled in both 2020 and 2021, it was another piece of life returning to normal.

Anna played the Banks family maid in the musical, with several speaking parts. She did really well and it was so great to see her perform on stage in front of everyone. All of us went to opening night and then Marcy saw the second night when they were even better.

After the second night with one of her best friends, Ella, who played Bert the chimney sweep

Jude was supposed to be playing a soccer game in Steamboat this weekend. So, we booked a hotel and decided to drive up Friday night. We knew there was a storm coming but thought we would be able to make it. We were wrong. Near the Eisenhower tunnel, the roads became really icy and we were stuck for almost an hour as they cleared a jackknifed truck. We decided to stay in Keystone and cancel the hotel in Steamboat.

On a morning hike near Tenderfoot Mountain

Word came early Saturday that they were canceling the game, even though Steamboat only received 1″ of snow. Up at Keystone we had at least a foot and down in Denver it was 3-4 inches. Anyway, we didn’t want to waste our time in the mountains so Jude and I went for a morning hike in the snow near Dillon. Then, of course, Chimayo for lunch.

Snow on May 21 in our backyard

Today, Marcy’s parents arrived and we only saw them for an hour or so before leaving for the airport. We have our big New York conference on Wednesday and Thursday this week so we will be here for the week while Baba and Grampsy look after the kids.

Jude and Olive on the Pick-n-Sledge trail at Apex Park

Yesterday Jude had Rapids soccer and they just lost a close and hard-fought game, Jude played well. Anna did some refereeing and had a party at a school friend’s house that night. Marcy spent some time cleaning out the garage and running errands.

Sunday was another gorgeous day and I decided it was time to break out the hiking shoes. Jude and I (with Olive) did the closest challenging hike to our house – Apex Park right at the base of the foothills. It is only 20 minutes from our door to the parking lot and the hike gains a quick thousand feet in elevation. Jude and I were done with the 4.5 miles in just over 90 minutes. It was great to be out on the trail again and Olive enjoyed herself as well. We did see a baby rattlesnake but it was not interested in us at all.

Anna has been working hard on her school musical, staying back after school and working on it at home as well. They perform this coming week, we will all be going to her opening night performance.

Anna and her friend Caroline who is also working on the musical

Anna’s school group in Beverly Hills

On Monday morning this past week Anna and I were out the door at 7:15am to drive to the airport. A bunch of seventh and eighth graders were heading to Los Angeles for the week on a school trip that has been months in the planning.

Anna and Ella at the La Brea Tar Pits

Anna was beyond excited and we were so happy for her to go. There were a few last minute covid cases in her school which meant some people missed out but Anna stayed covid-free thank goodness. It was great for Anna to experience something that seems close to normal.

Sitting on the Friends couch at Warner Brothers studio

They had an action-packed five days in LA. They went to the Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Boulevard, the Chinese Theater, Universal Studios, a Dodgers game, J Paul Getty Museum, Warner Brothers and more.

At the J Paul Getty Museum

Anna said it was over so quickly and she was sad to leave. She had a wonderful time with her friends and it seems the whole group got along really well.

Anna and her roommates Ella and Chloe on their last morning

We picked Anna up at the airport around 8pm on Friday night and she was in great spirits and not even that tired. She was right back to refereeing on Saturday but it was a low key rest of the day

Today, of course, was Mother’s Day. Marcy wanted to focus on the yard and so we went to the gardening store and Home Depot. We bought lots of plants for the yard and we even found the perfect fountain. We have talking about getting one for years, today was the day. It was super heavy but the four of us managed to get it from the car to its spot in the backyard.

Celebrating Mother’s Day with our new fountain

Jude passes the ball

Both Jude and Anna are enjoying their soccer. Jude got moved up to the Burgundy team on the Rapids and he is more than holding his own. This weekend his team had their second victory in a row and he is loving it. On the drive home (he was driving) he kept commenting what a great game it was. They were two evenly matched teams but Jude’s team took advantage of the best chance and won 1-0. And Jude had his best game of the season.

Anna is playing for her school team. She is one of the strongest players on the team and was responsible for three assists in their latest victory and she scored a goal in their previous win. The most important thing is that Anna loves it and one of her favorite teachers is the coach.

Today, we had a quiet day at home. Jude and I watched Arsenal win their third game in a row this morning. Then this afternoon we did some gardening, getting rid of all the dandelions in the front yard. Marcy was a machine this weekend getting both the front and backyards ready for spring.