#18 - Elk at Estes State Park

This shot is from a little further distance than the one below. We had our binoculars on and listened to the male bugle - pretty amazing! There is one bull per harem - approx. 12 females.

This is Lui & me up close and personal with the elk (closer than Lui would have liked!). The male wasn't too far away but he kept his distance while keeping an eye on his ladies.

#17 - Butterfly Pavillion

One of the sightseeing activities we did just outside of Denver was a visit to the Butterfly Pavilion. We were able to walk around in a room where the butterflies lived, it was warm and humid.
The Butterfly Pavilion imports pupa from all over the world. They attach them to a cork board behind glass so we got to see butterflies emerging.

Twice daily they do a butterfly release. Above is a cage of the butterflies that had hatched since the day before. Once a worker opened the cage, some flew out but others stayed in; in one case, a newly hatched butterfly's wings were still too wet to fly so the worker picked it up and placed it high in the tree where it's wings could dry without anyone bothering it.

One of the butterflies that flew out got too close to this little girl - it landed on her mom's forehead!

This was one of my favorite butterflies. I loved the contrast when the black and white butterflies landed on all of the colorful flowers - highly recommend this place!

#16 - Estes Park

I can't let Tobey getting out overshadow the fact that the trip to Denver was INCREDIBLE! More pics to follow...

#15 - Runaway dog!

While on vacation, Lui's sister was kind enough to watch my dog. I've had Tobey for five years; he is as small as he looks weighing in at just over 4 pounds. Tuesday, Tobey decided to escape Antonette's backyard only to end up a couple of houses down (thank goodness!). My mom got the call from a lady who found Tobey wandering in her front yard. It was a scary few hours for me (didn't have my phone on me so I didn't know my mom had already come to his rescue) though Tobey was only missing for a short time!

# 14 - 3 More Days...

...to desolate, serene wilderness! Heading to Denver on Saturday morning to spend some time with my Aunt Barb on her property in the mountains. I have already told everyone I work with that I won't be available by cell phone (even if I do have service, I'm turning it off - shhh!).

#13 - Tired

After college, when I had started my first full-time job (Lease Administrator at Pacifica Capital), I remember the alarm going off one morning, feeling mentally exhausted and thinking to myself, "I don't think I've missed class all semester, I'll just sleep in today." Then reality hit that I was not in college anymore! I could have called in sick but I sucked it up and went to work hitting the coffee bar as often as I could. Feeling tired like that again today - late HOA meeting last night involving an annonymous letter sent out by a homeowner to everyone in my community (no one stood up to claim writing the letter during our meeting). It's a work in progress but we're trying to keep Villa Vallerto property value up and a keep it a safe community to live in. I joined the board last year as secretary because I wanted to make sure I knew where my $245/mo. was going - now that I know, I don't always approve of everything but at least my vote counts.

#12 - D.R. Horton Home Giveaway: Part 2

Here we are standing on the field before the game (my boss, Tom, next to me and two guys from our ad agency). It was fun to be down there during a game. We got to stay to watch our VP Operations throw out the first pitch. Perfect weather that night, too! Couldn't have asked for a better end to this campaign.