COLDEN'S HOUSE: Colden does Colorado

As we made our way through Wyoming, our two-foot captain decided he'd like to take the wheel for a little while.

Before I booked our trip, we had plans to visit friends, see the sights, make a day of going to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, etc; while we were home in Colorado. I even lined up a family photo shoot with our wedding photographer. Who knew a fire burning just three miles from my parents home would change all of that. The very day we arrived in Colorado Springs, the mandatory and voluntary evacuations were issued. My parents house was just three miles from the voluntary border. (Look towards the bottom left of the map, they live in Briargate).

With only four days in the Springs, our plans changed quickly. Air quality shut down all hope of doing anything extended outside, especially with an infant. Not like we wanted to do anything but stay glued to the TV, Internet, and all other media sources, anyway. This Facebook page popped up immediately, providing the most up to date coverage of the fire. It's still a great source of information on how to donate and volunteer. In the end over 500 homes were lost, going down as the worst structural fire in Colorado history. A handful of those being the homes of friends' parents I knew personally.

With all of that going on, most afternoons were spent just like this.

Or if you're a ten-year-old and you have cabin fever, afternoons are spent like this. Have you ever dropped a pack of mentos into a liter of diet coke? I highly recommend it.

I think Andrew was trying to recreate Old Faithful...

The last day of our trip my dad came down with an awful stomach bug that also had Colden feeling rotten. We ended up in the ER that morning (a few pics here), and made the call after he was released to go for it: and make a mad dash to the airport. We just needed to get home. Unshowered, tired, and frazzled we made our flights. Colden happily Christened the Minneapolis airport once again; but this time all we could do was laugh. Seriously, we cracked up in the middle of a walkway with an airport (literally) full of strangers watching and gawking as we struggled to clean our child covered in vomit. It was in that moment I silently vowed to not take Colden on another plane for at least a year...if not five. Spontaneity, travel, and puke just don't mix.

Thankfully, after he emptied his stomach Colden was the happiest of creatures; talking and flirting with anyone who would look at him. Plus he scored his very own seat on our final leg home. Such a big boy.