...but where do I plug my glue gun in?

As an end-of-summer-last-hurrah we took the kids camping. I haven't been camping since before P was born - more than 5 years ago. And I've never really enjoyed camping that much. But people always says how family camping trips are some of the best memories from their childhoods - so I thought I suck it up for the sake of the kids. And we all wound up having a great time!

Found an awesome campsite - a secluded mountain meadow. We only saw two other people all weekend...it was so quiet!

Setting up the tent...




Sunset the first night...

This was the view out my tent window in the morning...

Chef Dad making an awesome breakfast our first morning there...



Paige rockin' the campsite...

Yeah, I think she enjoyed the trip...



Fishing with the fam on day two...





Tanner catching raindrops on his tongue out the truck window...



The trip home. Yep, we saw The Thing, and no, I can't tell you what it is. Go see it for yourself. Only a buck per person - 75 cents for the kids. But see if you can get out of the gift shop or DQ without spending some money!

The best thing about all that free time without a glue gun? I got about halfway through The Help. So awesome! If you haven't read it yet, RUN out and get your copy now.

virtual travel...

Since we don't have the time or money to be the world travelers we'd like to be...I like to explore the world virtually. Microsoft used to have a tagline, "Where do you want to go today?" I've always thought of the internet that way - as something that can take you anywhere in the world, on your computer.

And have you ever tried out Google Earth? It's so interesting. Just zoom in on any part of the world and explore. And, in most cases, you can see the street-level view as well. So cool.

So I thought I'd share some of my virtual travels, in just a picture or two at at time. Today...Marrakesh. I know that many Americans have zero desire to visit the Middle East or Africa, but I just find them so alluring. Here we go...

Many of these pics are from this incredible website called trekearth.com where some really skilled photographers post photos from around the world. Go check it out!