Jude receiving his first place medal for the Race for Research 5K

This morning we all participated in the Cancer League of Colorado Race for Research 5K. One of our old Waldorf friends always organizes a big team and we did this race a few years ago. But this time Jude and I both trained for it. Jude had a fantastic race and won his age group (12 and under boys) with a time of 23:08. I had my fastest time in about 20 years with 26:51 but I couldn’t keep up with Jude. Marcy and Anna both walked the race and finished in under an hour.

Jude mountain biking near Bear Creek

This was the last full week of school vacation for both Anna and Jude. Marcy did lots of activities including a mountain bike ride with Jude. Ever since his Avid 4 Adventure camp he has wanted to go mountain biking, so Marcy took him on a trail in the foothills. She even went and bought a used mountain bike so she could lead him.

Anna next to her new middle school locker all ready for the start of 5th grade

Anna had a couple of play dates during the week and she also had three soccer practices in the afternoons. Then she had the annual back to school picnic for families on Thursday night and after soccer practice she really wanted to go to Target to get everything ready for the middle school orientation on Friday morning. Marcy was at the Mumford & Sons concert so I took her shopping. This worked in Anna’s favor because I basically let her buy whatever she felt she needed.

Marcy paddle boarding with Olive

Friday, I took off early from work and joined everyone for some stand up paddle boarding at Big Soda Lake in Bear Creek Lake Park. We even took Olive along and she had her first taste of paddle boarding. She was not a fan at first. She fell in the water a couple of times and Marcy had to pull her out (she was wearing a life jacket so we knew she would be ok). She was out on the water with Marcy for well over 30 minutes though and settled in by the end, sitting on the board and enjoying the sun.

Anna treated us all to Dairy Queen to say thanks for a great summer

Tonight was the last night of school vacation for Anna (Jude goes back on Wednesday). She wanted to buy everyone Dairy Queen with her own money as a way of saying thanks for a great summer. Olive was happy to come along too. Anna and Marcy also spent several hours today at Ikea and they bought a desk and chair for Anna the office so she can do her homework. So, now Jude, Anna and I all have desks in the office.

Anna and Reed floating down the creek near Lyons

I had my first work trip in more than six weeks as I had to go to New York for three nights this week. And the kids ended up with nothing scheduled so it was a completely open week. They went standup paddle boarding one day at Bear Lake but they got rained out after an hour or two. They also took a trip to Lyons to go tubing with Anna’s friend Reed, They went down the creek many times and also did some cliff jumping off about a 15 foot cliff.

Anna started soccer practice at Skyline this week and she had her first friendly game this weekend against one of the really good teams. Anna was able to hold her own and played really well, setting up her team’s only goal.

Jude had refereeing class today. He is training to be a referee which you do at the Rapids once you are 12 years of age. He will start refereeing his first games after Labor Day, for 9 and 10 year olds and he gets paid $8 per game. If he likes it, when he turns 13 he can get certified and earn $20 per game. Jude is quite excited about this as an avenue to make some money.

Teeing off on #18 at Bethpage Black in New York

While I was in New York I took a morning off to play golf with my work colleague Todd. He lives just 5 minutes away from Bethpage State Park which has five golf courses including the famous Bethpage Black Course, which has hosted several majors including this year’s PGA championship.

Olive trying desperately to play with Pickles

Olive is starting to get along a little better with Pickles. She tries to play with her but Pickles, being a typical cat, is generally not interested. But that doesn’t stop from Olive from continuing to try to play.

Roasting marshmallows on the makeshift campfire in the driveway

The past week with the Dahlens went by so quickly. It was a busy week with the kids in camp all week. The girls all did Keystone Science School and Jude did his last Challenger Soccer camp (they are only open to kids 12 and under). They all said they loved their camps.

Hiking Chihuahua Gulch trail after a big snow season meant lots of (very cold) water

Nate and I played a lot of golf this week including two rounds at Red Sky Ranch, a truly beautiful course about 40 miles west of Keystone. On Tuesday, Marcy and I did a great hike with Mandy and Nate near Keystone. We did the Chihuahua Gulch trail, one of of favorite hikes (and also the hike where I proposed to Marcy). But with the great ski season we had there was a ton of snow melt which meant way more water than usual. What were usually easily navigable creeks were roaring torrents that posed some difficultly in getting across. It also meant we missed a turnoff on the trail because it was flooded so we didn’t make it to the lake. But it was still a beautiful hike and I know Mandy and Nate were blown away by it.

We took the kids golfing (twice) at The River Course at Keystone

While Nate and I played a lot of golf, the kids (except Lily) decided they wanted to get in on the action. Kids golf for free at the River after 5pm, so on two of the evenings after camp this past week we headed out with the kids. Anna and Chloe loved it, Jude played well but was not that into it and Ella just liked coming along for the ride.

The family Five Crowns Championship

Over the past year we have played a lot of the card game, Five Crowns. And four members of the family have all had a perfect score in different games. So, the idea was conceived of a family championship among those four. We had planned to do it in Iowa over July 4 but had never got around to it, so it happened at Keystone this past week. Mandy came out at number one, and now we are back to the beginning with everyone getting the chance to achieve a perfect score this year and compete in next year’s championship round.

The kids all used to be able to stand under the kitchen counter…no more

The Dahlens drove back on Saturday morning. Jude had a soccer tryout on at 11am so we also left then. Marcy and Anna drove back later that afternoon. We didn’t do much the rest of the weekend. Jude was so happy to be home having spent only six days out of the past 34 days at home. Olive was also glad to be home.

Olive back in her dog bed at home

Anna and the Dahlens go for a hike in Breckenridge

The annual trip to Keystone began on Friday night when the Dahlens arrived from Iowa. Saturday Marcy and I had to go and pick Jude from camp in Bailey. It was a 2 hour drive each way so that occupied most of our Saturday. It was so great to see Jude after 2 weeks, we had really missed him. His camp went really well, even the backpacking trip they did. He said his favorite part of the trip was “cowboy camping” where they slept under the stars. Jude said he had never seen so many stars before and he was mesmerized by it. Meanwhile, Anna went with the Dahlens and Olive to Breckenridge for a hike.

Jude enjoying his first lunch at Chimayo after camp

We didn’t get back from picking up Jude, after a late lunch at Chimayo, until 3:30pm. The rest of the day was pretty low key. Jude watched a movie and played video games after going screen-free for two weeks.

Fitting on the giant chair at River Run

Sunday ended up being a big day. We walked over to River Run in the morning where they had an art show. Then we all went to lunch at Chimayo (Jude’s idea). After lunch, we decided to rent bikes but first it was done to Keystone Lake for a stint on the kayaks and standup paddleboards.

Lily, Jude and Anna at Keystone Lake

Then we were off on an epic bike ride. We intended to ride all the way around Lake Dillon to the Frisco Marina, around 14 miles. We didn’t know whether we would all make it but the kids (Lily, Jude and Anna) did really well and made it there easily.

We made it the 14 miles to Frisco Marina

The kids refueled at the Island Grill right on the lake as well as at the candy store and then it was time for the big ride back. We took it a bit slower on the way back and Anna struggled for some of it. She was trying to keep up with the older kids and had an asthma attack part of the way back. But we had her inhaler and she was able to recover well. She really pushed herself hard.

Anna was a trooper on the 28 mile bike ride, the longest of her life

It was after 7:30pm by the time we made it back but we did it. It was the longest bike ride of the kids lives and they were rightly proud of themselves. Marcy, Jude and Lily waited for Anna and I several times and right at the end they waited at the top of our street so we could all finish the ride together.

Finishing the epic bike ride just before sunset

Meanwhile Mandy and Nate had Olive and the twins. They all went on the paddle boats, including Olive who seemed to enjoy herself out on the water for the first time.

Olive and Nate paddle boating on Keystone Lake

It was a great start to the week in Keystone. The kids are all really tired tonight, especially Anna whose little legs and lungs got a real workout today.

Anna with her new crutches and sprained ankle

Anna had 2-4-1 Sports camp this week, one of her favorites from last summer. She had a great time on Monday and most of Tuesday. She played tennis, soccer, handball, spike ball and others – they are really in to providing a variety of sports at this camp. Unfortunately, on Tuesday afternoon Marcy got a text from the camp administrator: Anna had sprained her ankle and could not put any weight  on it. So, Marcy picked her up and took her to get crutches so she could at least get around. Anna was a trooper and went to camp Wednesday to Friday to participate where she could and watch her campmates. She still said it was a good week.

Hanging out at the gas station waiting for the spare key

I had Ridhwan class this weekend so Anna and Marcy (and Olive) were on their own. Yesterday, they hung out at home and today they decided to go to Lair o’ the Bear, a favorite hiking trail in the foothills. It was Olive’s first time out hiking.

Unfortunately, it did not go smoothly. They stopped to get gas on the way and Marcy dropped her car key in the sink while she was washing her hands in the bathroom. When she tried to start back up the car it didn’t work. She called AAA and they could not help. So, I left class at lunchtime, drove home to get the spare key and then dropped it off at the gas station. They continued on to Lair o’ the Bear, getting there a couple of hours later than expected.

Olive had a great time in the creek at Lair o’ the Bear

Olive went crazy at Lair o’ the Bear. It was first time out in nature like this and it was incredibly stimulating for her. She absolutely loved playing in the water and was running and leaping all over the place. They hiked only a short while because Olive was well and truly getting her exercise.

Jude got in some rock climbing at his camp

We did not hear from Jude all week but we could follow along with some photos. We saw him canoeing, standup paddle boarding, rock climbing, tree climbing, mountain biking and more. He seemed to get having a good time, we all can’t wait to find out all about it when we pick him up on Saturday.

Jude all set for his two week camp

Jude has a two week camp that started today. So, much of the weekend was spent getting Jude ready to go. Marcy worked like crazy to get everything together, it was a long list. In the end Jude seemed really excited to go on his camp, which includes a three night backpacking trip. Marcy got to see his cabin where he will be staying for most of the next two weeks, it is a beautiful mountain setting.

Anna showing off her new baseball at Coors Field after the Rockies game finished

Meanwhile Anna and I rode our bikes downtown to the baseball game. We had been given free tickets from a friend and we decided to skip the first few innings so we got there halfway through the game. It was just the right amount of baseball and we included a break during the seventh inning stretch so Anna could go shopping. She bought a souvenir baseball for $7 with her own money. Then we had dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery before riding home.

Evening family tennis at the local courts

Jude decided early this past week that he wanted to go and play tennis. He and I played one night and then for the next three nights we had the whole family playing. It became a routine thing after we put Olive to bed to ride our bikes to South High School to play tennis.

Olive gets a clean bill of health from the vet

The big news this week was that Olive can now run around like a normal dog. On Tuesday, Marcy and Anna took her to the surgeon who took an x-ray of her leg and said it was healing well. She was free to run around now like a normal puppy. She has been easier to deal with as well now that she is tired out at the end of the day. And we can also start really training her again now.

I have to mention the incredible morning of sport we witnessed this morning. The cricket world cup final was probably the best game of cricket I have ever witnessed. We were sad to see New Zealand lose but what an effort by England to take the cup. And between overs I would switch over to the Wimbledon final where Federer should have really won 9-7 in the fifth. Both games ended differently to what we had hoped but it was a truly spectacular morning of sport that I will never forget.

The traditional photo by the pool with all five cousins

We spent the past week in West Des Moines visiting Marcy’s family. Marcy, Anna and I arrived on Monday afternoon meeting up with Jude, who had flown out four days earlier. While it looked as if the weather might not cooperate we actually had a great week with just a couple of thunderstorms. As always, it was great to hang out with everyone and spend some time in the pool.

Waiting for the West Des Moines July 4 parade

Nate and Mandy took all five kids to Adventureland one day where they went on roller coasters and spent some time in the water park. On July 3, there was the annual West Des Moines July 4 parade. Ella and Chloe where in the parade on the VFW float and there were plenty of politicians as well. Marcy even got to shake Bernie Sanders’ hand.

Sparklers on July 4

On July 4 Nate and I went and played golf while the kids spent the day at Baba’s house in the pool, having a water balloon fight and then doing this fun food challenge based on Ellen Degeneres’ show. The kids were in teams of two, both blindfolded, with one tasting the food and then the other asking questions trying to guess the food.

Anna doing the blindfold game with Chloe trying to guess the food she is tasting (cinnamon)

On Friday Nate and I were gone all day, playing 36 holes of golf while all the kids went bowling with Baba and Grandpa. Then it was off to Dairy Queen for dessert.

Enjoying some DQ

Saturday was our last day and the kids decided to go to Living History Farms, where they have an 1850’s Iowa town and some working farms using 19th century technology. We visited various farmhouses, a church, a school and many of the businesses in the town. This also happened to be the place where Mandy and Nate got married so the kids posed for a photo under that very gazebo.

The gazebo at Living History Farms where Mandy and Nate got married

Jude stepping off the plane to meet Baba at the gate in Des Moines

It all started last weekend in a dinner conversation. Marcy talked about how she took a solo plane trip (actually she was with her then two-year-old sister Mandy) when she was 12. Jude said he wanted to do that, too. After he and I chatted for a few minutes we realized that there was no reason he couldn’t do it this week and fly to Des Moines early.

I went to United and sure enough there was a free ticket we could book for Thursday afternoon. So, we called Baba and it was all set. She was not going to tell anyone so Jude could surprise them. Marcy drove Jude to the airport on Thursday and was able to get a pass to go to the gate to see him off. The plane was a bit late but other than that the trip went off without a hitch. Baba was waiting for him when he got off the plane in Des Moines. She drove him to his cousin’s house and surprised them all.

Jude surprising his cousin Chloe at her house

So, Jude arrived for the annual Des Moines trip three days early. I am writing this as we are driving along I-76 on our way there. He is apparently having a great time, he is hanging out in the pool a lot and they have gone bowling. It has been nice for him to be there without us.

Lily reading bed time stories

So, Marcy and I were empty-nesters (kind of, we still had an injured dog to look after) were a couple of days. We had date night on Friday night, the first one in Denver all year, we rode our bikes to Jax so that was nice. Then, Saturday morning arrived and it was time to pick up Anna. We were both so excited to see her and find out about her camp. There are no electronics allowed at camp, so we had resorted to communicating via the mail. Anna wrote us a letter pretty much every day and Marcy sent her one each day as well. I was traveling a bit during this time so I sent her two postcards from San Francisco and one from Detroit.

Anna with her Geneva Glen camp mates, the Prospectors, wielding pretend pick axes

We brought Olive along to pick up Anna and we saw where she slept and met some of her cabin mates. We also walked around the grounds a bit and Anna went to the camp shop to buy a blanket.

Where Anna slept for two weeks at camp

Anna loved telling us all the details about her first long sleep-away camp. While she truly had a great time she did miss us, particularly Marcy. She even sat in Marcy’s lap this morning before breakfast, something she hadn’t done in ages.

It was great for Anna to reconnect with Marcy

Marcy spent a good chunk of today working on her big sprinkler project she has undertaken. And then it was time to pack for our trip. We dropped Olive off at the boarding place where she will spend the week and we were on the road just after 4:30pm. We are only driving halfway tonight, staying in Kearney as we often do.

Olive sporting a new cast

Anna was at camp all week and we all miss her but we have been communicating with her via the mail (there are no phone or any electronics allowed). Marcy is writing her a letter every day and Anna is also sending a letter each day. I was in San Francisco this week and I sent her two postcards from there. From what we gather she has been struggling with bad allergies but other than that is having a great time.

Olive is slowly recuperating. She went in on Wednesday for a new cast but by Friday she was healing well enough to take the cast off. The challenge now is that she is still a puppy that is full of energy but she is not allowed to run on her fractured leg any time soon, so, it has been a bit of a struggle.

No cast but the dreaded cone

This weekend we actually had no plans whatsoever. It was unusually cold and rainy so we didn’t want to be outside that much. Jude and I watched a bit of the women’s soccer World Cup as well as the World Cup Cricket. We did play soccer in the park on Saturday and then Jude jumped on the trampoline in the rain with the neighbor kids.

On Sunday, the weather was a little bit better and Jude and I rode our bikes to Aqua Golf and then played basketball in the alley. Marcy got more work done in the yard and it is really great now.

Olive at the Vet hospital after surgery to her fractured leg

A lot happened this week. But the biggest news of the week concerned Olive. It all started with a tree, or more precisely a hole in the ground for the tree. We wanted to plant a tree in the backyard so we dug a hole but discovered a sprinkler line. So, we left the hole while Marcy worked to re-route the line. In the meantime it became a play area for Olive as she jumped in and out of this hole many times. Until one time she jumped in the hole and immediately started yelping and she didn’t stop. She could put no weight on it so Marcy called the vet and took her in. Sure enough x-rays showed two fractures.

Olive arrives home from hospital

She went to the vet hospital on Thursday night and had surgery on Friday. We all went to see her Friday night and she was a bit groggy and looked really sad. We kept her there overnight to give her a little time to recover from the surgery and we picked her up on Saturday morning,.She had no energy on Saturday but by this morning she was hopping around the backyard on three legs.

On our new trampoline before the safety netting was put up

We also got a new trampoline this week. Everyone, including some of the neighbor kids, helped put it together although Marcy did the lions share of the work. It has already been a big hit with Jude and Anna jumping on it every day and having a blast.

Anna with her end of elementary school ice cream cake

Anna finished up fourth grade a couple of weeks ago and we finally got around to getting her celebratory ice cream cake. At Ricks she will be in middle school next year as it starts in fifth grade. So, like we did for Jude last year, we all celebrated with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

Marcy with the now infamous crimson maple tree

Before Olive came back from hospital Marcy had planted the tree and filled in the hole where Olive got hurt. It is a beautiful tree but will always be associated with the injury to Olive.

At the golf course on Fathers Day

Today being Fathers Day, I got to do whatever I wanted. I decided that I wanted to head to the golf course with Jude and Anna. Marcy stayed home with Olive. We headed to CommonGround Golf Course where they have a nice Par-3. It was filled with other dads playing with their kids. We had a nice time with both kids playing decent golf.

This afternoon was a big deal for Anna. She headed to Geneva Glen for her first ever two week sleep-away camp. This camp is quite famous in Denver, it is almost 100 years old, and supposedly one of the top camps there is — some families have had multiple generations attend camp there. Jude and I said goodbye to Anna, and Marcy drove her to camp this afternoon. She has a good friend from the Waldorf School going but otherwise she won’t know anybody. It is going to be strange not having her around for the next couple of weeks.

Finally, my last fun part of Fathers Day was watching the US Open. I was able to sit and watch pretty much the entire final round starting with the leaders. It was a real treat.