a visit to colorado springs.

a few weeks back, luke and i spend two weeks in colorado. we spent the first half with my family, and then drove down to colorado springs to visit our good friends, who are also married, jake and ali. we love them so very much, and it was just great to spend some time with them! our original plan was go to camping up pikes peak, but as most of you probably know there have been several wildfires in colorado causing a state-wide fire ban, so we ruled out camping and had to find other things to do.

on one of jake's days off (he's in the army and stationed at fort carson in colorado springs), we went to the rennaisance festival, which has been a tradition of ours for a few years now. while, we all agreed we've outgrown the renn fest, we were still glad to find something to do. on our drive back to their house, we spotted a burst of smoke off in the distance and learned that there was yet another fire started in colorado springs. being there while the waldo canyon fire grew was both scary and intriguing, and watching the news finding that around 300 homes were burned to the ground was so sad to hear.

needlesstosay, we needed to find other things to do with our time, so we drove two and a half hours north to estes park to spend the afternoon. it was such a great time. when we arrived we learned that it was their annual "midsummer scandinavian festival," and since we're all from minnesota we really enjoyed walking around the festival.

aside from the wildfires that were devastating the state at the time, our trip was really fun, and we look forward to seeing jake & ali in just a few days for our annual cabin trip! we love you guys!

here is a picture of the waldo canyon fire on the day it was started...just a couple hours in.