The Loud Americans: Vacations all I've ever wanted, vacation .. have to get away

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Vacations all I've ever wanted, vacation .. have to get away

We had our 1st official full week vacation of the summer and it was AWESOME!! We headed up to upper lower Michigan (right at the base of Sleeping Bear Dunes outside of Traverse City) to see Tracy's family.

They have been going to the same cabins since she was 2 with her cousins and it really hasnt changed in 45 years, which is wonderful! Its surreal to take your kids to a place where you have such long/deep memories. In fact, I think, given how much Tracy's family moved, this is probably the one consistent place of memories from her childhood.

Tammy (sister) and her kids were there, along with Jami (cousin) and her kids and of course Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Lynn and Gary (Dadoo) since they both bought cabins a while back (they bought the same cabins we stayed in growing up). There were 8 kids, 11 adults and lets just say - exponential competitive streaks.

The kids were busy all day, every day with swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, tubing, soccer, basketball, dice games, soccer golf (golfing with a soccer ball), driving range, etc. The grown ups even got into basketball - the kids created a variation of the game lightening (call thunder) and we had Grandma and Grandpa, Tracy, Tammy and Jami in on the action. Its a super fun, fast paced and competitive game that NEVER ends:)

We also swam in Lake Michigan, went on a hike in Alligator Hill, ate ice cream at the Dairy Bar (otherwise known growing up as the Retch and Puke and/or Dead Body), went to the worlds BEST 4th of July day parade and watched about 5 different fireworks shows over the lake. And..we watched the olympic trials and old home videos of Tracy's family, some were even up at this lake!

The 4th of July parade is killer. its an hour long and has ..
~ every big 10 school represented
~ a kazoo band
~ floats (ie: pontoon boats) that hand out candy and cherries and hot dogs
~ the statue of liberty
~ clowns
~ water guns
~ park rangers
the list goes on and on

The sad news ... unfortunately a man drown in the neighboring/connected lake on the 4th and they had to spend a few days looking for him. while it was cool to see the deep water boats and rescue/recovery equipment, it was sad. They did find him which I hope brings the family closure. Prayers for the family.

Here are some photos to give you a feel for it all - We truly hope EVERYONE has a vacation this summer that is as fun and relaxing as our (1st) vacation of the summer:)

sunset