Snow shoeing is hard work

Anna was on Spring Break this week so she and Marcy stayed up in Keystone on Monday and Tuesday. Monday they went snowshoeing up near Montezuma and then they went tubing in the afternoon back at Keystone. On Tuesday, they both tried cross country skiing for the first time. The nordic center at Keystone is the golf course so they both rented skis and skied down the open fairways.

Cross country skiing on the 10th hole at the River Golf Course

They arrived back Tuesday afternoon as I had to fly to DC for work. After a very active four-day weekend, while back in Denver Anna and Marcy saw a couple of movies, had a mani-pedi and both thoroughly enjoyed the week.

Enjoying the mountains on Spring Break

We had snow on Friday night, just a couple of inches, but it was enough to cancel all soccer games on Saturday. So, we ended up with a quiet weekend at home. Jude and I played some soccer, Anna ran errands and cleaned out her bedroom with Marcy and then on Sunday morning we went to the car show.

Sitting in a purple Dodge Challenger they both thought was cool

We got there right as it opened and the kids got to sit in some of the cars. They had a Jeep terrain park which was fun and I got to see some of the latest cars. But they were a little bored after about an hour or so. But they both want to come back again next year.

With the AAA robot who was amazingly life like

At the top of the Outback in Keystone

The four of us had not been up to Keystone all ski season. So, when my my birthday weekend came around (today was the big day) I said I want us all to go and ski both days. Jude was not that happy about it because he had to miss a soccer tournament for it and he said he didn’t like skiing any more. But it was my birthday so up we all went Friday night.

My two favorite kids wishing me a happy birthday

Yesterday, we took it pretty easy as it was Jude and Marcy’s first ski day of the season. And I was recovering from being sick on Thursday. Marcy cooked a nice dinner last night and we had my birthday pie (I prefer it to cake). This morning the kids were super excited about my birthday and gave me my presents before breakfast.

Then it was on to the slopes. What was crazy is that Keystone was pretty empty today. The longest we waited in line all day was 2 minutes and most of the time we just skied straight on to a lift. We went all over the mountain including a couple of epic runs through the trees on the Outback.

The kids did great skiing the trees

The kids also wanted to race against each other so they did the race course both days. While Jude won both times what was interesting is that their times today were four seconds faster than yesterday. And this was at the end of an epic day. We skied 15 runs and over 20,000 feet of vertical today, longer than either of them had ever skied before. And Jude ended up having a blast and said he wanted to ski again next season.

The start of the kids official ski race

We had a snow storm on Wednesday that ended up closing school for two days although it really wasn’t that bad, barely 6″ of snow. But the kids were excited because that meant two snow days. Anna spent the time building a fort in the basement with one of our neighbors, where they napped, watched movies and hung out during the bad weather. Of course, there was also lots of sledding to be had.

The completed five-room fort in the basement

On Thursday Anna woke up not feeling well at all. She threw up a few times so she had a very quiet day in bed. Jude was unaffected and played outside quite a bit as well as enjoying more than the usual amount of screen time including a few movies.

This weekend Marcy had class and Anna was feeling a bit better although, as often happens with her, the illness had spread to her lungs and she was wheezing a bit. The little exercise she did left her coughing and feeling worse. So, we were back on the schedule of nebulizers several times a day and that did make her feel better.

Anna showing Jude her latest ipad game

Jude gets a bit antsy when he doesn’t get a lot of outside time. And his soccer game was canceled this weekend because of the snow. We did manage to play in the park each day and on Saturday Jude stayed out a bit longer and played in the standing water that was on the field. He came back completely soaked and full of grass from sliding on the snow-soaked ground. But he was happy.

Playing soccer in the park this weekend

Preparing the Arsenal poster together

We started the weekend bright and early, leaving for Jude’s first of two soccer games at 8:30am on Saturday. Jude played quite well in both games but they lost both of them. Saturday afternoon Jude played with the neighbors and Anna had a gymnastics function. Both were exhausted by the time they went to bed.

Sunday, Jude was super excited about the Arsenal game. One of our neighbors are big Manchester United supporters and they put up a sign in front of their house. Jude said we had to do an Arsenal sign (they were playing each other in a big game in the Premier League). Anna wanted to help so both kids worked on the poster and we had it ready to go before the game. BTW, Arsenal won 2-0.

Showing off their creative work before the big Arsenal game

Later today, Anna went to a friend’s birthday party and then Jude and Marcy went to see Captain Marvel which they both loved. While they were doing that Anna went to cotillion where she learned manners, eye contact and the foxtrot.

All dressed up for cotillion

Jude had Friday off this week because of parent-teacher conferences (he is doing well in school) and he went with Marcy to Anna’s school where they were doing a presentation on a big group project they had been working on. It was on the respiratory system and Anna talked about what they did.

Anna presenting her school project

The entire Renton family at the Heath-Renton wedding

We thoroughly enjoyed our week at the beach on Manly. The weather was pretty good for the most part and we spent part of every day on the beach. Both kids got really good at catching waves on their boogie boards as they spent many hours honing this skill.

Jude catching a wave on his boogie board at Manly

We also did some ocean swimming and Anna did her first Shelley Beach to Manly swim, over half a mile in the ocean. Jude did several runs along the beach and there was a lot of just playing in the sand and surf. Then, of course, we had the daily trip to Moevenpick for ice cream. We also had an afternoon of standup paddle boarding on the calm harbour beach of Balmoral. Marcy had a bit of an issue one day that led to three hospital visits in a ten hour period. She dove under a wave and came up with something in her eye. And then she couldn’t close it. She was in a lot of pain so we got to the hospital where they said there was some loose skin in her eye and a abrasion on her cornea. She is ok now, thankfully.

Stand up paddle boarding at Balmoral

The reason for our trip back to Sydney was for Robyn, my sister, and Mark’s wedding. On Saturday morning we drove about 2 hours to the small town of Moss Vale for the wedding. Anna was a flower girl in the wedding and was beyond excited about it. We dropped her off a couple of hours before the wedding so she could get ready with the bridesmaids and Robyn.

Getting her hair done with the bridesmaids just a couple of hours before the big event

I had the honor of walking Robyn down the aisle given our Dad passed away six months ago. She was a bit nervous but carried herself well. The ceremony was beautiful and funny at the same time. The celebrant was quite the character and he put everyone at ease.

Walking Robyn “down the aisle” and across the bridge at her wedding

Robyn arrived at the wedding, along with Anna and the bridesmaids, in a horse and carriage. And Marcy actually hitched a ride as well. It was an outdoor wedding on a country estate and they got married by a lake. Anna had a basket of flower petals and she walked in front of Robyn and I throwing out rose petals. Then she stood with the bridesmaids through the entire ceremony.

The flower girls, Anna and Sarah, with the bride and groom in front of the horse and carriage

After the ceremony they had some outdoor games setup which helped Jude stay amused. There were not many kids there but Marcy and I played with him. I thought that Jude and possibly Anna would be bored by the time the dinner came. But they actually both had a great time. Jude loved playing with his cousin Sarah and Anna was happy to be at the center of it all. By

Jude showing Sarah a Pez dispenser

By the time the dancing started it was quite late but Anna was raring to go. I had several dances with her and Jude joined in as well. Little Sarah was also tearing up the dance floor with her dad, Ian.We ended up staying to the very end and we got back to our hotel at about 11:30pm. The kids did really well and slept soundly that night.

Celebrating Sarah’s fourth birthday

The next day we drove back to the coast and celebrated Sarah’s 4th birthday. She was actually turning four on Monday but we celebrated a day early since we were all together anyway. Ian chose this beautiful restaurant overlooking the Wollongong beaches.

Jude taking a last swim in the Pacific Ocean before heading to the airport

We spent the last two nights at Maroubra which was the closest ocean beach to the airport. On our last day we drove to Coogee and Bondi where the waves were perfect for boogie boarding. The trip was over all too quickly and on Tuesday morning we had one last swim in the ocean before heading to the airport.

Anna in the cockpit on the plane from LA to Denver

The trip back was ok, but long of course. Anna has often said she would like to be a pilot when she grows up so when we boarded the flight to Denver from LAX I mentioned this to the flight attendant and they let her in to the cockpit. She was thrilled.

This weekend was a cold and snowy one. Jude’s soccer tournament was canceled but he did have a sleepover birthday party on Saturday night which kept him entertained. Anna also had a sleepover on Friday night. Then this afternoon Anna had her first cotillion class so she got all dressed up for it.

Anna all ready to go to her first cotillion class

Anna and I about to ski some powder in Keystone

It has been three weeks since the last update because I was in Paris for a conference and then we had the Superbowl party. So, we will start with skiing. Anna and I had a fantastic ski day in Keystone a couple of weeks ago. It had snowed all week and we drove up Friday night, just the two of us, to stay at our place. We were on the mountain early Saturday and had a full ski day. We even took the snowcat to the top of the mountain to ski some of the untracked powder.

Last weekend we hosted the annual Superbowl party. We had a lot of kids over as Jude and Anna both invited several friends. It ended up being a bit of a crazy evening with the kids being a little boisterous. And the game was really underwhelming.

Anna dissecting a sheep’s lung

This week at school Anna has some interesting classes. The theme for the year in her class is systems, and this past week she learned about the digestive system and other parts of the body. They learned about lungs by dissecting a sheep’s lung. Marcy came in for that class to help out and Anna thought it was pretty cool.

Anna making Valentine’s Day cookies

Anna has been a busy beaver in the kitchen lately. She loves to bake and today she made Valentine’s Day cookies, lots of them. She made a package for all the neighbors and delivered them this afternoon.

Jude “working” at his desk

Jude had a playdate this afternoon with one of his school friends. They went rock climbing at a gym and then watched a movie. Jude did not have much homework this weekend but he still spent quite a bit of time at his desk on his Chromebook. He likes to watch Youtube videos and play video games. It can become quite the battle as he is always pushing for more screen time.

Anna having a conversation with Pickie this weekend

Anna with our neighbors near their cabin in the woods

We had another pretty quiet weekend. Friday we had a couple of inches of snow but not enough for good sledding. Anna had a friend over on Saturday while Jude and I went to our neighbor Vera’s 90th birthday party. And of course we watched the Arsenal game and played some soccer in the park in the afternoon.

Playing soccer in the snow covered park

Sunday we were invited to our neighbors cabin which is near 10,000 feet on the road to Mt. Evans. Jude had a futsal game so it was just Anna and I who went. We had a blast. We had to park the car a mile from the cabin and hike in because they don’t plow the road in winter.

Enjoying the camp fire

We built a fire, played in the snow and did some sledding. Anna even tried some snowboarding down the road. Anna went nonstop for several hours barely sitting down for lunch. The best part was that instead of hiking out, it was downhill, so we sledded most of the way back to the car.

Doing a little snowboarding down the snow covered road

Jude flying through the air after using his sled as a snowboard

First a short note from Jude: After a dry winter so far in Denver, we received about 5” on Friday night, to be sledded in by yours truly (Jude), and Anna. I tried to use my sled as a snowboard and failed miserably each time, making it about six feet before going OOF! Other than that, all I did was watch football and soccer, both of which ended in bad results. Then on Sunday, I burned about 10 calories all day, and other than that I played video games and watched TV.

Anna sledding on the local hill

Jude is right, we did have a pretty quiet weekend. There was some sledding on Saturday and then both kids built a snowman in the park. Of course, there was also a snowball fight and playing with some of the neighbors in the snow.

Jude with his snowman in the park

Anna had a school friend for a sleep over on Friday night and they had a great time. They watched a movie and in the morning made cookies and Marcy set up a little spa in the living room. It was quite indulgent.

Doing a “mani-pedi” at home

Today, was spent mainly in front of the TV with Premier League soccer in the morning and the NFL playoffs in the afternoon. Anna watched a movie while a lot of this was going on. Jude and I did get out during the day for a game of soccer in the snow and he also had to take a run during the afternoon. Anna had another friend over and they played in the park making an igloo.

The traditional New Year’s Eve balloon drop

The week began in Iowa on New Year’s Eve. As always there are lots of festivities for the kids including a balloon drop and countdown (video here) and this year Baba bought champagne flavored cotton candy that was served in fancy wine glasses for the New Year’s toast.

Cheers to 2019, with a cotton candy “drink”

There was confetti and lots of it as the kids enjoyed enjoyed a shower of the colorful stuff.

It is raining confetti

Jude and Baba stayed up to watch the ball drop in New York, everyone else was asleep by then. Jude then went to his bedroom and secretly stayed awake until midnight so he could bring in the New Year.

Enjoying a quiet moment with Chloe

On New Year’s Day we made the long drive back to Denver. The kids were off school all week so Marcy had lots of fun things organized including bowling, Spider Monkey and some play dates.

Saying goodbye to Lola

This weekend Marcy had Ridhwan so I had the kids to myself. We played soccer in the park, went to putt putt golf, played some games and watched soccer and the NFL playoffs. It was a nice weekend topped off with a sumptuous steak dinner on Sunday night.