makin' pizza

Taran & Rasesh came over for dinner (Wendy was out of town). Taran was really into the process of pizza-making.

We made several pizzas: some were red (sauce-based) and some were white (olive oil based). Taran enjoyed "painting" the olive oil onto the dough.

He was good about sprinkling herbs judiciously.

The pizzas turned out great... a good time was had by all.

surveying the land

Tom was admiring the scenery on our way back down the mountain. This was on our way to the 5th lake of the day, Nymph Lake (which was more of a pond than a lake, if truth be told). We feel very lucky to be living so close to RMNP.

Emerald Lake

The day just kept getting prettier and prettier. I took this photo around 5p. Can you believe it?

enjoying the scenery

I love bluebells.

While Tom was fishing at Dream Lake, I hiked a little further to Emerald Lake. This was on the way up to Emerald Lake, which was well worth the extra (mere) 1/2 mile.

brown trout

Did I mention that Tom had a great day fishing? They weren't interested in his lures, but they sure like the fly that he tried...

view of the valley

We could not have asked for a better day. It was about 75 degrees and very slightly breezy.

Lake Haiyaha

This was our first major stop: Lake Haiyaha. It was gorgeous. We'll definitely be going back -- not only because it was so beautiful, but because the fishing was so awesome.

Alberta Falls

We had a fantastic day at RMNP on Friday. We took a long, loop hike through the park -- and visited 5 lakes. This was on the first part of the hike: Alberta Falls. What an awesome day.

S.Spencer originals

When we bought our house, Sarah told us that she'd make us a house-warming gift. Well, it was worth the wait! She painted 4 original canvases for us. Upstairs is a series of 3 instruments. Downstairs (by the bar) is a wine-themed piece. We LOVE them.

Thank you, Sarah!!!!!

more fishing photos

Are you tired of fishing photos yet? The boys never got tired of fishing....

cool dragonflies

While the boys were fishing, I was busy admiring the many dragonflies buzzing around. Here is one that I managed to capture on "film."

showing off their treasures

Erik and Tom each caught nice fish at Lily Lake.

fishing is a team sport

Erik appeared to be doing pretty well that day -- he caught about half a dozen fish.

But just in case he needed a little coaching, Sarah was nearby -- spotting the fish, advising Erik where to cast, etc. What a great team!

next stop: Lily Lake

After fishing/jogging/conference calling, we went out to lunch... and then to Lily Lake. What a difference a day makes!

Sarah and I walked around the lake (it was only about a mile), while.... you guessed it: Tom and Erik went fishing.

the day after the rain

The following day was MUCH better. We wanted to go up to Estes Park to hike & fish, but Sarah also had a conference call. So we dropped her off at the Stanley Hotel for a couple of hours, where she conducted her business/conference call in style.

Meanwhile, Tom and Erik fished at Lake Estes. I jogged around the lake -- there is a gorgeous 4 mile path. This was my view as a jogged... quite possibly the most scenic jogging route I have ever taken.

stormy Colorado afternoons

Sarah took this photo about 20 min before it started to rain. We ended up hiking for about an hour and a half in a pretty steady downpour... not exactly the best situation. At least there wasn't lightning.

Also before it started to rain... Sarah and I admired these crazy little trees. I'm not sure if they were dwarf versions of "regular" pine trees (because we were basically at the tree line) or something else entirely.

This was our view of Lake Isabelle (Sarah and I hiked past the lake while Tom & Erik fished).

hiking at Brainard

We took a hike up to Lake Isabelle so the boys could go fishing. Last year, Tom had a great day there. Unfortunately, this year there were no fish -- Tom thinks maybe there was a hard freeze.

Sarah and I still enjoyed the hike -- especially the wildflowers. This one is called Fireweed.

Sarah and I also saw this little critter, which looked a lot like a beaver, but didn't have the characteristic big tail. If anyone out there knows what this is, let me know, and I'll update the blog!

the finished product

Thank you, Erik! He and Tom did a fantastic job, and our deck is done. Now, we just need some patio furniture...