Joan adopted a dog from an akita shelter although it's an unknown mixed breed. He's named Tigger - which fits well with his tiger stripes. He's 7 months old and heading off tomorrow to dog academy training for 2-4 weeks. His long torso and curved large ears remind me of a corgi. He was originally rescued with other puppies from a dumpster. His new digs are quite an upgrade. He plays an excellent game of fetch, loves squeaky toys and is very affectionate.
The finale was the world premiere of Chris Thile's mandolin concerto which he wrote himself. Even more impressive is that this guy is 28. After the concerto he played solo Bach. Then a state champion fiddler (in the CSO) played a duet with Chris. He then moved to the side stage and was accompanied by Jeffrey Kahane on another duet. Chris also regularly works with Edgar Meyer, who I'm a fan of and have written about him in the past.
Prior to the concert, we tried a new restaruant in Larimer Square, TAG. We tried the appetizers French Onion 'soup' dumplings and braised rabbit empanadas. We split the halibut entree against the strong recommendation of our waiter to try their Szechuan Colorado Lamb. It came with couscous which I'm not a big fan of. The menu also a selection of sushi and the appetizer of the day included a quail egg on top of a ravioli. I think it is a good restaurant if you are looking for more atypical choices.
I helped Eileen assemble several of her baby shower gifts. Eileen gave Dean a preview of the rainforest sounds of this activity mat.
Eileen's resident friends, Mandi and Maria, hosted a baby shower. The food was great and decorations went with Eileen's baby room theme of jungle animals. Here is Eileen pre-party (Maria's dog Pistol Pete made it into the photo too). 
I had dinner at Aunt Ellen's new house. Ellen had redone the floors, bathroom, fixtures - it looked great. I liked the floorplan.
I went hot air ballooning in Boulder with the Fair Winds company. We took off at 7am and were in flight for 1 hour. It was great weather for the trip. Our balloon had 6 people in the basket. Around 6-7 balloons took off from our launch site. One guy jumped out right away and parachuted back to the launch site. Our landing was interesting. We ended up in a open plot in a neighborhood. The ground wasn't level so we bumped along the ground a couple of times before coming to a stop. It was so quiet in flight with the exception of when the burners were going (which were also very hot on top of my head).
A new store opened in Cherry Creek North called Canvas & Cocktails. You bring your own cocktails and an instructor leads you through creating an acrylic painting. I took the class with some co-workers. The painting of the evening was "Poppies".
I went hiking at Golden Gate Canyon State Park with some co-workers. We were taking a break, and I whipped out my camera and told Amy and Tearah to 'look like you're hiking'. This is what I got.
We had lunch at The Bridgewater Grill at The Golden Hotel. We sat out on the patio overlooking the tubers on Clear Creek. Here's a pic from the hotel website.
I tried the restaurant Solera on Colfax with a co-worker. Every Wednesday they have wine tastings for $15. I also tried the happy hour appetizer special of "White truffle "Mac & Cheese", asparagus, green peas, toasted almonds & Wisconsin white cheddar". Normally you can only get it as part of the scallops entree. It was excellent as well as the wine.
I haven't written a "Where are they now?" since February of 2008. In January 2007, I wrote about my best friend from highschool. This one is for her little sister, Merrill (www.merrillgrant.com).
We went out on the lake again on Sunday. Here is a video of Shawn's dad solum skiing and everyone else on the boat. Aggie got a little braver her second day and actually rode up front for awhile.
Suzanne and I drove to Charlotte to visit Eileen and Shawn. We went out on the boat in Lake Wylie. We brought Eileen's dog, Aggie, with us. She's never been swimming before. Her face was priceless when she was lowered in the water from the boat - somewhere between pure terror and shock. The life preserver was in case Aggie didn't move her legs and sunk like a rock. After we brought her back on the boat, she was looking at the water with new interest. Shawn had to hold her from jumping back in. Suzanne tried knee-boarding for the first time. And I took a few runs on the wakeboard. Eileen's co-worker Mandi and her husband Michael joined us. 
I met up with Megan, Stephen and Megan's little sister Katie for dinner at Tamayo in LoDo.
It has rained more this early summer season then the previous summers I've been here. The result is it's greener then ever before. I've been walking/running/biking on the High Line Canal trail a lot the past couple of weeks. Usually I'm joined by birds, rabbits, squirrels, ducks and the occasional coyote or horse. I drive 5 minutes to the trail head and in a few minutes on the trail this is my view. It's nice to start my day with this view rather then cubicle walls...
