A year ago

About a year ago, I was hiking in Peru with my friends to Machu Picchu. What a spectacular place to visit and hike. Below was our second campsite perched high in the Andes at about 12,000 feet in elevation.

Much of the trail was literally paved with rock by the Inca people and the trail was laid out to provide some of the most beautiful views possible. Below, I'm hiking though the clouds to a place where we'll have lunch at 13,000 feet in elevation.

We were the first to arrive at the Sun Gate and take in the view of Machu Picchu. We spent the day here exploring the ruins and taking photos of the remarkable site.

A birth and a birthday

Daisy turned four while we were in Tucson, so we celebrated with presents, ice cream, and cake. Oooh that cake! The cake was really good, unfortunately, now I can say what I lack in muscle, I more than make up in flab!

We had lots of fun and Daisy was delighted with everything and her fun birthday. She was happy to be four but didn't brag about it. This indicated to me that soon she'll lie about her age. Then, when she gets married, she'll like about her dogs age.

One of Daisy's presents was a bike. So, grandma took her out for a spin on the new bike. It was great to get all the attention for a while. Most of the attention in the last couple of weeks has been on her new born little sister. Grandma is wonderful and picked out the perfect bike for her. I adjusted the seat and off she went.

Once Daisy got the hang of riding around the neighborhood, grandma took a break and enjoyed the baby while we all watched the kids ride and have fun. Multi-tasking is one of grandma's strengths. I give her lots of practice too!

Learning the game of baseball

It's great to see my grandson Andy playing T-ball and learning the game of baseball. Seth takes him regularly to practices and games and works with him in the backyard to hone his skills. I want to emphasize the word learning. These kids are learning. One of the players slid into home plate and he was just coming to bat. And, sometimes they get confused and run to third instead of first!

The kids are all five to seven years old and have lots of fun. Below is a photo of Andy getting a hit and then running to first. His stats were pretty good for the day. He was 2 for 3 and scored a run.

It looks like he was thrown out on this play, but he actually beat the throw... when the first baseman dropped the ball. Let's see that's an error right? Naw, who's counting? In fact, nothing was counted, not even runs and it's a good thing too. None of them can count that high!

Andy played shortstop and not only looked like a baseball player, he played like one. With these position players, the routine ground ball has become obsolete! One of the ballplayers on his team just finished his first book. Can you believe that! He will now try to read a second one!

How to rock my world

Yes, this is a great way to rock my world. Holding my fourth grandchild June is a great way to do this. Ely, Andy, and Daisy rock my world too. Isn't life grand!

June Has arrived! No, really!

Here is what has been keeping me preoccupied. My family is enjoying the love. Noelle arrived at the midwife's at 5:50a and delivered at 6:30a. Pretty close if you ask me.  More on this later.

Most Excellent Day on a Bike

We started our bike trip today by going up Waterton Canyon. The first thing we saw were deer running across the road, then another, and then we saw some in brush. A little further up the road we saw these big horn sheep grazing near the road.

Then, Nancy saw this black bird sitting on a rock in the South Platte River. Not sure what it is. We surmised it was looking for a nice big juicy rainbow trout to swim a little too close to the surface.

There is just something special about living in Colorado. Everywhere you look (presuming you look and are paying attention) you see wildlife. What a great state to live in.

As we were coming down the road, the wind was blowing up the hill, big time. We actually worked harder coming down the road than we did going up the road. And there is something a little odd about this photo too. Hmmm... isn't the road on the other side of the mountain? You're right, it's that big oval mirror about six miles up.

On our way back we stopped to say "hello" to our friends again. The grass is turning green and yum, it's good, I suppose. If I were a big horn sheep I would think it was good, I suppose...

Damian Lillard

I came home from a trip to Fort Collins today and found a box on the kitchen counter. It contained a Damian Lillard signed basketball, made out to me! Damian plays for the Portland Trailblazers, not my Denver Nuggets. Now I'm really torn since he will probably be the NBA rookie of the year for 2013! I'm torn because the Nuggets have been my favorite team for 33 years, and they are playing fantastic basketball this year. Nevertheless, I've got some business ties to the Blazers. Now that's really important. Hmmm...

My friend Sam got the ball for me and mailed it to my house. What a friend!

Anyone who can shoot 62% from the top of the key has my attention. So, below are Damian's stats. A lot of teams could use a guy that can shoot like this from the outside. Go Damian!