Vacation Memories

I can't remember the last year we didn't take a family vacation. Since we've had kids, I think we've taken a two or three week vacation at least once a year. One year during my residency training at the University of Wisconsin we took a 6 week vacation to El Paso, southern California and Disney, then back through Colorado. We've been to Disney so many times I lose track of who was with us when we went during different years. My point is this; so many of my memories about our family growing up are referenced to particular vacations we took. The Disney years, the Southwest years, the Door County times, and, more recently, the Hawai'i trips all conjure up different stages of our family's growth. Between the vacations we've had our share of challenges, but the vacations have always been good. Sometimes not as relaxing as we'd like, with the struggles of keeping 4 kids happy at a time, but the memories I took away from each adventure are more cherished by me than anything I have. I think that's what got me so interested in photography; when I get too old to actually remember an event, I can look back at a snapshot moment when we were at a particular place at a particular time and the happy emotions of that time will fill the space once occupied by the lost memory. Anyway, that's what I'm hoping. Actually, I'm hoping I won't ever be that senile; but just in case, here is a sample of some of our more recent trips.