Bear Creek/Father's Day

We went for a short hike at Bear Creek Nature Center today. There weren't many people around, so it was really nice. There are a few trails at Bear Creek that loop around & connect to each other (easy to moderate). A ton of ladybugs are out. We also saw birds & butterflies. The weather got very warm today - in the 80s, but there was a good breeze. Seems like Summer is suddenly here - the forecast shows us in the mid-upper 80s for the next 7 days.

Summer thunderstorms

Nice, warm day with stormy afternoons...Now, this is the weather people had told us about when we moved here. We got some hail yesterday & some lightning & thunder today. I don't mind it, just don't like the tornado watches that come along w/it sometimes.

We took advantage of the nice, warm part of the day today & went for a bike ride. This is something that I hope becomes a habit :)

Sunny days

You can get quite spoiled by the sunshine in CO. The average is somewhere around 300 days of sunshine a year. Impressive :) Although, that means that the few days when it's cloudy all day I get a little blue. I just expect to see the sun every.single.day, even in the winter.

We've gotten quite a bit of rain & had some cooler days this late in the Spring season. We managed to meet our May avg. for rainfall, which makes the grass & my water bill happy. It's only been in the 60s the last few days. That's ok. I'm not ready for the heat yet (it's been in the 90s & 100s in other parts of the country). We can save that for late July/early Aug. Thanks, Mother Nature!

Gold Rush Day

We went to the Western Museum of Mining & Industry today for Gold Rush Day, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Colorado Gold Rush (1859). Admission was an easy $1.50, while the kids under 3 were free (bonus!). I was disappointed that the burros weren't out, but it was fun. The kids got to pan for good (or spill water all over themselves). We also got to see the Stamp Mill up on the hill. It's not always open, usually only in the summer/warmer months. The kids also received a "gold" spike which was a cute keepsake.

What survived...

Looks like we can finally call it - the Eastern Red Bud tree did not make it back. It was planted in early Nov, but there's no sign of life now. We'll probably wait a bit longer to replace it just b/c we have no clue what to put in its place.

On the other hand, the vine (have to see if I can find the name or type) that we planted looked completely dead only to sprout leaves in the last few days. It's the strangest thing I've seen. The vine looks seriously dry & dead, but the leaves are poking out.

We relocated a few of the dwarf Korean lilacs so that we can add an evergreen(s) to the front of the house. We want something that will stay green or with color through the winter since everything we planted dies off or goes dormant. We're considering Firethorn (Pyracantha) since it's orange berries hold through winter. Or there's Rhododendron...