Jenny and I are and always have been big fans of road trips. We spent 3 weeks on the road for our honeymoon 6 years ago. Something about just getting in the car…errr, minivan now, putting the trusty ipod on shuffle, and just driving relaxes me.

For this trip, we are meeting my sister in Durango, CO, but we have no idea when we will arrive (hopefully by Thursday), and that’s the way we like it. We are also going to try and hit Buena Vista for the hot air balloon festival, but who knows. Day by day is the Solar way. Oh, wait, we have 3 young children with us now. I guess we’re on their schedule (which is why we didn’t hit the Colorado border today).

A couple of notes:
1. We’re going to try and blog every night, and when I say we, I mean me on our photo blog, and Jenny on our family blog. Images on here I took, images over there, Jenny took
2. I’m going to update our map as we go.

Anyway, here are a few favorites from Day 1 of our invasion of Colorado (except today, we’re still in the middle of nowhere Kansas)

the kiddos said goodbye to Grandma EE this morning

Here is what we saw all day, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just ain’t Colorado

The clouds made for some interesting pictures, though.

After a full day of car riding, the kids needed a break, so we found a nice little playground and got some ice cream…lots of fun and smiles ensued

I feel this image captures what it’s like to be 2.5 and on a swingset

Max likes to swing, too.

Some fun broke out in front of a nice brick wall

Ava REALLY enjoyed her mint chocolate chip ice cream.

so much so, she got it in her hair

Max didn’t want to participate…

or did he?

I lied, Jenny took this shot, but it didn’t really fit on her blog, so it ended up here.

After we got the kids settled in our hotel in Larned, Kansas, I headed out to watch a sweet sunset by myself. I got these 2 images as a result. Who knew Kansas could be so pretty?

Well, after dinner Drew and I got to explore Adrian and the surrounding areas a little bit. I focused on a lot of textures, because that is what was grabbing me on this particular day. Enjoy!

Here’s another dose of doggies from Wayside Waifs! If you’re looking for a dog, and let’s be honest, everyone needs a dog, Wayside is the perfect place to adopt one.

As you’re looking through these images, take a moment and look into each of the dog’s eyes. There are many stories held in those eyes. Plus, they are awfully cute

This 2 month old puggle puppy told me to tell Jenny hi and that he’s sorry we couldn’t bring him home

Do you ever wonder what’s going on in their little minds while they are sleeping? I do.

Megan & Matt were our 2nd awesome engagement session on Sunday evening. What kept jumping out at me while editing these pictures was Megan’s beautiful laugh. She warned us ahead of time that she laughs a LOT…and that’s ok with me! We met at the park where they got engaged as well as where they play tennis, so you know we had to shoot on the tennis courts

Note: CaraSue Hall did Megan’s styling (she always does an awesome job)

We had them snuggling right away

Someone’s just a wee bit taller than the other.

I love the way they look at each other.

So sweet.

I love my clients. They are naturally cute walkers

Different outfit. Same cuteness

No flare, but we still had a nice sunset.

On to the tennis courts.

Thank you both for your laughter. You two are amazing.

We’re so dedicated, Jenny was sitting on my shoulders for this one. I think it turned out wonderfully (if that’s a word).

Another wide angle snuggle shot. I love this one.

And of course I had to end with a shot of Megan’s wonderful laugh, right?