it's a trip, not a vacation

my husband and i were told that once you have kids you no longer take vacations... you take trips.  ohhh, this statement couldn't be any truer.  and the family got to take a trip this weekend up to lake city, minnesota for a family reunion.  almost 50 members of my mom's side of the family reunited for the weekend in the town where 2 out of the 5 siblings grew up.  right on the mississippi river, we got together for a fun time of reminiscing and catching up.  relaxing... one hotel room, two adults + two babies, two 11-hour road trips, 2 a.m. crying, 5:30 a.m. wake up, feeding a 2 year old with no high chair, following a crawling 6 month old around a hotel lobby... nope, not relaxing.  enjoyable... seeing mom + dad + brother + sister-in-law + 50 aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin spouses, cousin kids, a petting zoo, a small town carnival, running along the mississippi, catching up with the masses, seeing the house where mom grew up... yup, very enjoyable.  i enjoy my family, immediate and extended, very much, and it was so interesting to hear stories of my grandma and grandpa (who i hardly knew) and discover so many of their personality traits oozing out of me.  i'm discovering daily how important family is to me, as my own has grown from just my husband and me, to my husband, me, two kiddos and two dogs.  so it was neat to experience "family" on a much bigger scale for the weekend.

below are a couple pics from the weekend.... i haven't yet decided if i'm going to use my husband and kid's names in my posts so for now i'll just use their initials.  p.s.  there are not many pics of G (my son) cause he seemed to be sleeping during all the photo shoots.  enjoy.

yes we are driving, yes she is out of her seat.  it's a loooong road trip.

currently ok with being in the car seat... the drive must have just begun.

i'm telling you, he slept during all the fun stuff

went to a petting zoo... first were the miniature donkeys

then came the llamas... or were they alpacas?  or are they the same animal?

then the calves, and the tasty green metal fence

finally a pony ride, or um, a pony sit.

putting our toes in the mississippi

B and me