To Colorado and back again (posted by Ann)

On Thursday, Steve and I flew to Denver and then drove 4 hours across the mountains to visit Colorado Rocky Mountain School. It is one of the final two that we are considering for him next year, and the visit was very good. The location is absolutely beautiful, in a valley with beautiful mountain vistas, and the school seems to be a good fit for Steve. We'll see what he thinks after we visit the second option on May 19.

After the visit Friday morning, we had lunch in Carbondale and I ate a piece of mixed berry pie that I'm still dreaming about. Very yummy, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I am headed to the grocery store this afternoon and I think I might have to try to re-create it.

Then we drove to Lani and Steve's. I'm going to steal her thunder - NO CANCER!!! Clean lymph nodes, and no cancerous cells in the shark bite they took out of her leg. What a relief! Once that was out of the way, we could enjoy the visit. She's still recuperating, of course, and we did so much yesterday that I have a feeling she's laying down right now. Hope the drugs are working, Lani!

I knew that their new house was gorgeous from the pictures, but they hardly do it justice. Wow. Just wow. I don't know where to start - handpainted Mexican tiles in the kitchen, light fixtures that fit the space just perfectly, different flooring in different spaces that fit just perfectly (a theme emerges!), windows wrapping around so you don't miss one single bit of the view. And the view is just breathtaking. It's even worth snow in mid-May, which is what we had overnight Friday night.

We really enjoyed our visit, but one of the things we all had fun with was trying to figure out how to address the two Steves. We had Young Steve, but that comes with Old Steve and that's hardly true. Then we tried Employed Steve, and Unemployed Steve, but we had to revise that to Student Steve since it sounds like he's a slacker. We had Drinker Steve and Non-Drinker Steve, but we don't want to make anyone sound like a lush. We discussed Little Steve and Big Steve, but one look at the two of them and we're not sure who's who.

We wound up with Hunter's Steve and Tater's Steve as being the best of the bunch, and watching the two of them with the animals it's clear that is the right choice. You can't tell whether Pippin is Lani's dog or Steve's dog, and Tater's Steve played with all of them, even trying to get Jesse-the-man-hating bird to like him. Lost cause, but he tried!

I love the hummingbird feeder you sent, Mom, and was thrilled to find that there was an extra one floating around for me. Thanks, and look how gorgeous it is - when the sun hits it, it just glows.

We enjoyed watching all the wildlife. The birds are different, as are the squirrels and chipmunks. The chipmunks are tiny, but they have a fluffy tail which isn't the case here. Here, they have a short skinny tail that they hold straight up when they run. Look at this guy's fluffy tail - and look at Onyx eyeing him.

All in all, we had a great visit and I'm sure we'll be back again, though not too often since we don't want to wear out our welcome. Thanks for the hospitality, Lani, and next time you won't be able to avoid the camera!