four

Being the van bitch is hard work. That is my official title. I navigate, pass out cheeseburgers, change DVD's, rescue lost stuffed animals, google a dozen destinations an hour to make sure we're not missing anything (we are), remind kids to put retainers back in their mouths, fish stickers out of the box 'o fun, and keep Rico supplied with as much Chex mix and peppermint gum as he can handle. It's a never ending gig.

This makes it hard to blog, which of course, makes me cranky, because I want everything to sound perfect and eloquent, and summarize everything for posterity.

But it won't be. Perfect ain't gonna happen. Good enough will have to do.

This is sort of how I felt about today - Yoda's fourth birthday.  

She'd already told me how sad she would be without Punk and Kooka, so I was determined to make today "good enough" for her too. Birthdays are a big deal in our house, so when we woke up at Ruby's Inn in Missoula, we tried to start the day off right.  It went something like this:

* a call from Kooka (actually 2, which we slept through. Thankfully she is diligent, and she and Punk called back).

* presents wrapped in pink paper.

* two rides on A Carousel for Missoula - the fastest carousel in the world, built entirely by volunteers. As a carousel afficianado, Yoda was impressed. First of all, it's fast- the fastest in the world.  The horses have real tails - not wood. You can try to grab brass rings from the dragon's mouth as you ride - winner gets a free ride! Plus, for just 75 cents, you get a five minute ride. I could swig a Starbucks mocha in the same amount of time and be out an additional $3.50. The carousel was an absolute steal.

* a trip to Dragon's Hollow playground. Adjacent to the carousel, Dragon's Hollow was also built by volunteers, in just nine days! Visiting this place made Rico decide that the spirit of Missoula makes it one of the places he'd like to live. (For me, it was the six varieties of Twinkies, but the spirit was lovely as well).

* the KOA campground in Livingston, Montana, where Yoda finally got to live her lifelong dream of camping. We gathered wood, built a fire, roasted hot dogs, created candles from some twigs and old crayons, made a wish on a birthday Twinkie, went swimming, swung on the porch swing, played at the park, watched bunnies hop through the campsites, made s'mores and climbed into our sleeping bags in our kozy kabin. She said it was one of the best days of her life, which I guess makes it "good enough."