"Purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain..."

We had nothing special planned this 4th of July weekend other than several possible ideas and a potential invite to watch fireworks from a co-worker of Brent's.  It was nice to not have plans but a little bit of a bummer to not have our usual slate of July 4th activities.

A weekend with nothing to do sounds like a great opportunity to get a pedicure and enjoy a coffee to me!  And that's just what I did on Saturday morning.  Brent came with me and shopped for some new running gear while I got the pedicure, then we took a spin through Best Buy to look at DSLR cameras.  Blog friends who have a DSLR - what brand/model do you own and do you have any advice for me before we buy one?  I know that it takes some work to take really good pictures and it isn't just about the camera, so I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to commit enough time and effort into learning how to use my camera to make it worth the purchase.

On Saturday afternoon we took Bonnie up to the top of Lookout Mountain for a little bit of hiking and just to have something to do.  We had planned to go to Buffalo Bill's grave but decided it was a better idea to try that another day when she wasn't with us.

We weren't totally sure where we would go on Sunday, but thought it would be a good chance to see another part of the state and do something Colorado-y.  We booked Bonnie for daycare at Hobnob so we could be gone the whole day and not worry about letting her out and then left for Colorado Springs right after early church.

Did you know that Katharine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful" while she was visiting Colorado Springs in 1893?  For real, look it up.  Brent made me aware of this fact during the sermon at church and how fitting our trip was.  I'm a lucky woman, folks.  Not only can he tell you what happened in any sporting event from 1983 through now, he also apparently has a good grasp of American folklore.

Everyone else apparently had the idea of visiting the natural beauty that inspired the song, because it was so hoppin that we couldn't get a parking spot close to the pedestrian walkway that winds through Garden of the Gods.  We didn't even attempt Pike's Peak - all the cogs were full and the road traffic would have made it a very long drive up the mountain.  We ate lunch at The Mason Jar (where they actually had sweet tea!) and then drove by the Olympic training facilities on our way to the next attraction - The Broadmoor resort.

Besides being a very nice resort, spa, and golf course with lots of shops and a really pretty lake in the middle of the campus, the Broadmoor also happens to be the host of this year's US Women's Open.  We saw a few golfers checking in (none we recognized) and parked in the garage among the massive fleet of Lexus vehicles there to shuttle the golfers.  Practice rounds started today and we're considering driving back down next weekend to catch one day of the tournament.  We'll see! 

We visited the Air Force Academy on the way out of town...

I made my Star Spangled Apple Pie when we got home but ran out of time to bake the pie before fireworks started.  We didn't really feel like driving to any of the firework sites and fighting through crowds of people after a long day in Colorado Springs so instead we walked right out of our apartment door and up Table Mountain with chairs and our little dog, back from a very busy day at Hobnob.  We thought we'd have a pretty good view of several local firework shows which turned out to be the case.  At one time, there were five sets of fireworks happening simultaneously, and it was almost a little distracting.  It worked out perfectly though, because only about ten other people had the same idea we did and we got to try the Fireworks Sampler Platter for next year.  The verdict was that Commerce City had the best show, followed by Lakewood, and we shouldn't waste our time going to see them at Invesco. 

I found something to add to my list of "Things You Should Not Try When You're 7 Months Pregnant"  - #35: Walk down the side of a mountain at night without something stronger than a cell phone light.  It was tricky...and that was with Brent carrying both the chairs and all I had to manuever was the dog.

Today we enjoyed not one, but several pieces, of my inaugural attempt at pie-baking:

My affection for this pie is borderline unhealthy.  I also just realized that I'm taking my glucose test tomorrow...greeeaaaat.

I wasn't as productive as I should have been (maybe because I just wanted to lie around and eat pie all day), but we did hang out at the pool a bit and managed to get enough done to muddle through another work week.  Well, providing I get the load of whites in the washing machine tomorrow since Brent only has enough shirts to last through Wednesday.  We like to cut it close and live on the edge, what can I say?   
  
Happy 4th of July!  Hope you all had a great weekend - we missed you!