where do memories go?

I have always been a person who loves the way that photographs mark both the present moment and also mark history.  I have been revisiting our years past in both a memoir I am writing, and in our old photo albums.  And I was looking back through digital photos taken just a couple of years ago, when I first started my blog, before I had more than a few readers.  We took the kids to Europe for the first time.  What a magical, special time we had.  We were in France -- Paris and Sarlat, and Italy -- Venice.

That summer I posted many times and shared many photos about our trip (look at June, July, August 2009 if you want to see), and am a little sad since I didn't know many of you that I didn't get a chance to share these photos with you.  My favorites.  I have this thing about posting photos on my blog.  I don't like to use the same shot twice.  So the above ones are from the unused archives. 

The first trip to Europe was at Gary's urging.  The kids were finally old enough to travel.  I felt ready to venture that far with our brood.  Gary is a huge fan of all things French, eclairs, croissants, art museums, the language, the architecture, you name it.  And Venice.  No cars.  Boats everywhere.  The colors of the buildings.  The water.  The spaghetti!  The magic in the air.  I never saw my husband more happy than when he was in Europe.

Guess what?  We are going back to Europe in a 2 1/2 months.

And guess who's excited???  Not just him!