7 Day Cruise with Mi Familia

My parents treated all of us to a cruise with the family on Royal Caribbean to the Caribbean for 7 days. We have been so excited about this for months and months and now the day has finally arrived. We spend about 4 days at the Bertram's house and enjoyed camp life (post to follow). Jackson and Grace love going to camp and doing all the fun things that camp life allows.

We packed our bags, parked the cars in the parking garage for the next 7 days and started off on our adventure!

The kids with only about a fourth of the bags all 13 of us traveled with.

Venturing to the port for bag check in.

The line was very long, but thankfully it moved fast. Wow, was it hot! I had forgotten what heat and humidity feels like...especially in Houston. 

We got on the boat and it was time for Jackson's "happy dance." 

About 30 minutes after we boarded our rooms were ready. It was so nice to be able to unload our carry on bags. Our room was very spacious considering we were on a boat with thousands of other people. But truth be told these are about the same size rooms as we usually stay in and around Europe. It has a lot of storage space to store our plethora of clothing and other stuff. 

All 4 of the family rooms had connecting balconies. The kids had fun going from room to room and we enjoyed being able to sit outside with an ocean view.

Port horn blew and we were up on the top deck for a view of us pulling out of the dock. We even saw a few dolphins jumping in the water.

When we found out that the final game was going to be on the day we left we were a little concerned that we would be able to watch it. Being that Germany was in the final match, it was a MUST that we watch the game.

Thankfully there was a huge screen TV pool side so we were able to watch the game with drinks in hand while the kids swam. 

Since we live in Europe, soccer (or as we call it at home fußball) it is a huge deal. It was so neat to see everyone pool side quiet and cheering on their favorite team.

Game over...DEUTSCHLAND wins!!

I have to admit one of the favorite things about the ship was being able to eat a good, fancy dinner in the dining hall every night. We had a table for all 13 of us with the same waiter every night. 

We ate a 3 course meal every night for 7 nights. It was so nice sit together, eat a wonderful meal, and not have to clean up anything.

With a beautiful sunset across the Gulf of Mexico we ended our first night on the cruise. We had two more days at sea before our first port and we enjoyed most of what the ship had to offer.

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

After we cleaned the house and the Hammers left for their flight back to Seattle, we made a stop in Harbor Springs for lunch. I just love these kids together.

                            

                  

                            

I could of had about 4 of these bloody Mary's. They were so yummy!

                             

It was nice to have one last lunch together before we headed in separate directions for the rest of the summer vacation. We love our friendship and can't wait till our next one in Spain at the Hammers house. Many more memories to be made!

4th of July, Harbor Springs

Not far from the house we stayed at was the town of Harbor Springs. We headed out to enjoy a good 'ol American 4th of July parade.

We found a great spot along the street to watch the parade go by. 

     Having been out of the U.S. for two years it brought tears to our eyes to see all of the American pride throughout the parade and town. We loved every minute of the parade and all the participants involved.

                            

The kids got a ton of candy and the parade. It was like Halloween in July.

Julie and Ruby making brownies that were devoured within hours of coming out of the oven.

                                            

Hanging out of the back deck was a perfect way to unwind after the parade.

                                           

 The house backed up to a nice golf course. The guys collected balls off the driving range and threw them off the balcony to see who could get closest to a target flag on the green. The kids got involved and loved it almost as much as the dads.

                      After grilling brats and burgers for lunch we made a fire in the pit after dinner.

We decided not to fight the traffic in town for the fireworks and enjoy our last night together. The kids had fun playing with the glow sticks while the adults laughed about old times.

                           

                           

                           

                                            

                               

Just being able to hang out and watch the kids have fun together was the icing on the cake for our time together. We made some great memories!

Mackinac Island with Best Friends

Mackinac Island is a must when in the area. Most of the group had never been there before so it was fun to show them one of our favorite places.

We got up and all 14 of us were ready and out of the house at 9 am. We were all so proud of ourselves!

The ferry ride took us under the Mackinac Bridge and a round about way to the island. It was neat to see the bridge from underneath and the island from another perspective.

After about a 30 minute ferry we arrived on the special island.

The Andrew Fam

The Hammer Fam

Who knows where are kids were. ;-) But Jayce did sneak in the background!

Lily and her whale spout hair-do.

Ruby...what a sweetie.

These two loved spending time together on the trip. Little buds!

Mila after getting a full belly at the park.

When we arrived on the island we enjoyed time at the park for the kids to play and eat some lunch.

Kid group shot

The whole clan. What a special group of friends we all are!

Noa was the hit of the kids. He got climbed on, jumped on, and poked by kids everywhere. It was fun seeing the kids "love" on Noa.

Since no cars are allowed on the island bikes are everywhere! Kenny and Amanda spend every summer there and have a bike that stays on the dock put there by friends. We took advantage of it and cruised around. The kids loved riding like this.

We spend a lot of time just hanging out at the waters edge while the kids threw rocks into the water.

This picture just cracks me up! Amanda ran over her jacket with her bike and there was a tire mark on the back. She layed on the path making it look like she was run over by a bike. Love that girl...

This girl is something else! While the kids were playing her and Jayce were busy putting dirt on their face. 

This picture is priceless!

We stopped by for a beer and appetizers before heading back on the ferry. One of the appetizers we had was chips and this amazing bleu cheese dip. Lily loved it so much that she was licking the bowl. 

Me and Amanda on the dock waiting for the ferry.

I am so glad we were able to take them to the island and show them just a portion of it. My hope is they come back and explore more of what the island has to offer.

Up North with Best Friends

Last summer when we made our trip to the States we had a Oki friend reunion in Seattle where the Hammer's lived. This time we decided to do it again, but this time in Michigan. The Andrews drove from West Virginia, the Yergler's flew in from Arizona and the Hammer's took a red-eye from Seattle (after Noa was working rounds at the hospital) to arrive the next morning. 

It was a great reunion to have everyone (well...except for the Grubbs) together again after two year. What a great feeling to have such good friends that after two years it was like it was only last week we were together.

We enjoyed some pizza and hangout time at Pat and Carol's house before heading up north for the next 5 days.

The house we rented was perfect! It had plenty of space, all the amenities and secluded enough for the crazy kids to run around and make all kinds of noise.

Upon arrival at the house, it was a must to watch the USA World Cup match. Unfortunately they didn't win, but it was fun to cheer them on.

The kids got along amazing! Loved seeing all the sweet faces together again.

Allen holding the newest addition to the Hammer fam, Mila. 

The kids had the basement room downstairs to play in and watch movies.

One afternoon before the boys went golfing the girls took a drive into Petosky for some shopping and down time. 

The kids helped to make cookies and brownies a couple of days.

The kids loved the big bathtub. They all enjoyed hopping in together to suds up. (Well, expect Jackson...he is getting a little to big for that.)

After most of the kids were in bed the adults were ready for some games each night. We had fun playing games and laughing till our bellies hurt. Noa was the bartender making Old Fashioned for the guys.

These next pictures is Allen's reaction to tasting his first Old Fashioned. My thoughts are he wasn't too much of a fan.

The girls drinking out of their wine sippy cups Mary Ann got for all of us.

The table pretty much sums up our nights...wine, snacks, games and of course Mila's binky.

Each night we went to bed late with a full heart enjoying each others company. Special times!