Driving, driving, driving.....

It's funny how you go on a trip---Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Kalispell, or just Red Lodge---and all the pictures are the same. Just my kids with varying backgrounds. I guess that sums up where joy is found....with my family. It never matters where we are, just that we're together. So, this group of photos--like my Helena pictures, like my Great Falls pictures, like my....well, that's the idea---are of Blake, 4 and Maren, 2.

We enjoy this little trip because it's just us. The four of us get to choose what we want to go without other influences. It's reminiscent of my own family vacations when we just packed the car as tight as possible, loaded a cooler, and travelled Montana. That's the way I think it should be. Just a good old fashioned family trip.

That's not to stay all was picturesque. We saw a sleeping moose....after honking the horn and getting a whiff of rotting meat through the windows, we knew it wasn't just sleeping. Russell is burnt like a lobster and Maren's accidents underscore of the blog entry (she's "in-training"). We didn't see a bear in the wild, so we paid a LOT of money to see a hokey bear world exhibit (ie. four bears being fed treats to keep them close to the car). Plus, an expensive trip to a water park where my kids would not get in the water. They wanted to just swim at the hotel pool or play at the park.

Despite all the angst that goes with family vacations......Love them, loved it!