July 4th Weekend

There were no fireworks this 4th of July in Boulder. Now, that is not entirely true, but it was raining quite heavily so we opted-out of leaving the house with 6 expectant children and 4 adults for a fifty-fifty chance of seeing fireworks under a foggy and rainy sky. Instead, we opted to stay indoors, with great friends who were visiting from DC and enjoy laughter and company and good food. I reason that I've enjoyed enough great fireworks over the years to give up one year of fireworks without a big complaint. One year, Boulder, one year.

With the Miller clan in town for four days, we packed up two cars for an adventure, heading west to Brainard Lake, one of several lakes in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. While it is less than an hour from Boulder, it feels very far away. We left under sunny warm skies and by the time we reached the parking lot at 10,000 feet, the weather was very cool and windy. Fishing was a flop, but we discovered a stunning lake next to Brainard called Long Lake. Long Lake was postcard pretty and had an adjacent pond with water so warm that the 5 boys and Ruby stripped down to their underwear and jumped right in. This is a place to return to.