VACATION RECAP IN NUMBERS


Every time we leave our home away from home on Lake Michigan, it gets tougher to leave! I think I know why! Life is tougher, life is changing and none of us are getting any younger. Holding on to precious relaxation and teenaged kids all under one roof for a week is glorious. Life slows down on vacation, we laugh more, we smile more, we engage more and it means the world! I swear my Mr. And I tear up every time we leave....but one day we won't leave and this town will be our part time home.....one day.....


The View on my daily walks

While it's no Fiji or The Caribbean, it is truly our favorite place to be. You just cannot beat the west coast on Lake Michigan for oodles of things to do and breath taking scenery.

So as promised, here is a lil vacay recap in numbers...

22 ~ Selfie stick attempts. I have a new bluetooth one but still kinda sucky at it..Tutorials please..
On our way!!!




2 ~ I only cooked twice!! Only lunch but even for a gal who loves to cook, the fact that I only had to twice in one week.....pure happiness. 
Great lunch at The Cove

9 ~ I'll hear your gasps on this one but this is the (low) number of alcoholic beverages I consumed. Ya know, trying to be a good role model and all. 
My Favorite drink of the trip...Strawberry Margarita from "The Roadhouse"


2 ~ The number of parades attended. I am not a huge parade lover, some of the entries scare me like clowns and gorillas......but the one in this beloved town; well, I've never felt more American in all my life!!


Scary.....

I was living the Stars and Strips to the hilt
They throw oodles, and oodles of candy at this parade...Look Mr. Nine got a tootsie roll..his fav!

18 ~ Wakeboard attempts on the lake. Only one of our sons have wake boarded but the other two gave it their all and one got up great. Then it was on to tubing and they had a ball. 



Just look at the smiles


4 ~ Long boards but 3 kids, Mmm

9 ~ Vacation Traditions observed. I've talked before about how our family is big in traditions and our Summer vacation week is no different. These include: fruit dip on the boat, no chain restaurants, our favorite town restaurant on night one, morning French toast, sushi night, date night, family pics on the beach, Friday Night Fresh Fish dinners, Creme Brûlée Frappes on the way outta town.

Date night...and on this night we got to talk to my BFF from High school on the streets of town with her family who also come up to the area this week.
These boys adore their sushi..we let them get 2 orders apiece. 



1 ~ Creme Brûlée Frappe consumed. There is not Starbucks in this area and I was absolutely fine with that and had a fabulous latte or two from the town's magnificent bakery. Mentioned that 5 B's of Summer Friday Favorites last year.

153 ~ Miles spent on our favorite road in the country~ M22. Beautiful, so much so there are even M22 stores along the way. 

Anthro top: Blogger Blame on sweet Shelly

168 ~ Hours spent on the beach. Well, we didn't actually spend 168 hours laying on the beach but our condo is right on it, our deck over looking it, so it counts, right!! We sure have some good times on it!!



IMMEASURABLE ~ The laughs, the smiles, the Shenanigans...Treasure it kids, just treasure!!
Last year's Vacation Shenanigans and THE traditional Baked French Toast Recipe HERE

Happy Monday sweet friends..time to tackle a whole week! Let's do it!

Linking up with Biana // Totally Terrific Tuesday // Show and Tell Tuesdays // Wordless Wednesday // Inspire Me Monday // Share The joy// Inspire Me Tuesday // Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party // Share It // Creative Monday's Blog Hop // Thoughts on Thursday // Waiting On Wednesday // Create It Thursday // Creative Muster Party // Wow Us Wednesdays // Wonderful Wednesday's Blog Hop //  The Alder Collective // Feathered Nest Friday // Dishing It & Digging It
xoxo

44 comments:

  1. Aww so fun! Yay for not having to cook much!! Xo

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  2. That family photo of you guys on the beach is perfection - I'm hoping you use that for your holiday card! So glad you had the best vacation - 9 drinks doesn't seem like all that many for how long you were there and I hope you get that vacation home you guys dream about there! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  3. Such a fun trip! So lucky you didn't have to cook all week! Love your family photo on the beach!

    Jill
    Doused In Pink

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  4. It's so great that you and your family have such awesome memories in such a special place! There's nothing I love more than a week on the lake--tubing is such a blast! Glad you enjoyed yourself love:)

    www.rosyoutlookblog.com

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  5. What a great week, and I love all your traditions. You are right that getting away on a vacation with teens can be trickier, but so worth it. I feel like our trip this summer "reset" our family dynamics and released so much tension. Have a happy Monday!

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  6. So fun! There is nothing better then being on Lake Michigan!!!!!!
    Jaymie

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  7. Looks like a wonderful time!! I love that family photo where you are wearing the striped skirt and red off-the-shoulder top. That is a GREAT photo!!! That cocktail looks fantastic too. I hope that you have a lovely day today!! :-)

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  8. Looks like such a great vacation! Love all the traditions you have, and so many memories tied to them! And your strawberry marg looks so delicious!

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  9. I hear what you're saying about leaving a special place, because I feel the same way about Lake Tahoe! I really do tear up every time we drive away, even though I know we'll be seeing it next year...it just hold a special place in my heart since childhood and I LOVE those memories! Looks like you had a perfect time with your family. Love the selfie stick attempts too! Happy Monday, pretty lady! XO

    Shauna

    www.lipglossandlace.net

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  10. Anonymous18.7.16

    Love all the pictures ! Your family is beautiful ! The family photo of you all on the beach is perfection ! Happy Monday.

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  11. Love this post!! Looks like such a happy time. Not cooking on vacation is always so nice. I love all your selfies and great family photos.

    Amy Ann
    Straight A Style

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  12. Looks like you guys had a blast :) Chelsea @ http://thewilliamsjourney1.blogspot.com

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  13. Such a beautiful family and fabulous vacay! Yay for only having to cook twice, and that strawberry margarita looks delish <3
    Green Fashionista

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  14. Beautiful pictures! I love that one of your vacation traditions is to not eat at a chain restaurant. That's a great idea to really get a taste of local life! I've never been to Michigan, but now I'm wanting to add it to my list. What town do you recommend staying in?

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  15. I love posts like this! such a great way to summarize all you did on your trip. Those tubing pictures turned out awesome!
    www.amemoryofus.com

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  16. I'm glad you had such a fantastic time on your trip! Your family looks so fun & happy. I really love your traditions.

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  17. Sounds like you guys had an amazing time! Everyone looks so happy and enjoying themselves. I love all your vacation traditions. We have a few ourselves that we do every time we are in gulf Shores or Gatlinburg!

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  18. I loved reading this post and seeing picture of you and your teenaged boys. A glimpse of what life will be like for me in 10 years! Minus one boy.

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  19. I really like your full of fun and smiles adventure! You, guys are so inspiring!

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  20. I just love this so much! Happy that your boys still go on vacation with you! I'm hoping that lasts forever! Can I come visit when you're there semi-permanently? Looks picturesque.

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  21. What a fun vacation and some great pictures! I can't do selfie sticks at all!

    Xoxo,
    Whitney & Blaire
    Peaches In A Pod

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  22. Such a beautiful family photo! Only having to cook twice on vacation sounds heavenly. Glad you all had a great time! :)

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  23. Awe! I love this post so much! Creating memories with the ones you love really is the best part about vacation, and keeping up with some of your favorite traditions! I'm so envious that Lake Michigan is so close to y'all!

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  24. It looks like you had such a blast! No wonder coming back to reality was hard. It looks like a great place to stay during the summers!

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  25. ONLY 9 drinks? Shame on you, Girlie! I thought I raised you better than that! LOL! Love that picture of you and Mr. Nine - the black and white one. I SO hope you frame that one!! I loved getting to see all your vacay pics! Looks like it was perfect!!

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  26. Looks like you had so much fun!!!! You have such a beautiful family!

    Brooke
    Pumps and Push-Ups

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  27. So many great pictures from your vacation, Andrea! And what a wonderful family picture on the beach. Looks like you all had a wonderful time -- and you only cooked twice!! That's amazing!!

    xo, Rachel
    A Blonde's Moment

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  28. Your vacation looks awesome! Love your Stars and Stripes look :)

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  29. WOW, Andrea! I couldn't think of a better way to spend your time vacationing! Your selfie-stick photos with the boys are so adorable. Vacationing with your loved ones is SO good for the soul and I love the traditions you stick by. You just gave me inspiration to create some traditions/memories on my family trips.

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  30. Such a great recap! The love you have for your family is so evident- I bet you would be a blast to be around

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  31. Looks like you guys had a BLAST! I absolutely adore that you guys have traditions, that is so cute and definitely something that every family should have. I smiled just seeing all of these pictures, you have a gorgeous family and the love you guys have for each other shows!
    xo, Lily
    Beauty With Lily

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  32. Beautiful photos here! I envy your vacation location. Looks like you all had a fabulous time. You don't look old enough to have boys at this age x
    www.vanityandmestyle.com

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  33. Sounds & looks like you had a wonderful vacation! It's so nice to take a break from cooking! I love all your family pics - one good-looking family! And I totally understand that you are treasuring the time together - it gets harder and harder the older they get...

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  34. WOW it looked like you had the most wonderful time and what a location!! It's absolutely gorgeous there. You're such a beautiful family - when I see photos like this, I do get a little sad that we couldn't have any kids. If we had, I like to think we might've been a little like you guys :)
    Big hug from sunny Portugal
    Suzy xxx
    www.suzyturner.com

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  35. The only thing I saw was sushi!!!!! You can Wake me up in the middle of the night for sushi! But no kidding, great pictures. You can see you had a great time with youre familiy!
    www.nancysfashionstyle.com

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  36. Looks so wonderful!

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  37. There really is no place like Michigan! So glad you guys had a fabulous vacation!

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  38. AH! All so wonderful! Love this! And I love all of your vacation traditions! How sweet! :) I like that your kids eat sushi! I don't know many teenagers who are willing to eat it.

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  39. Such treasured times! Glad you have so many great memories! Btw, your boys are very handsome!! I'm sure they get lots of head-turning!

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  40. What a cool way to sum up your holidays! Looks like a wonderful time.

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  41. I love this post! So cute how you broke it down in numbers!

    Sarah
    http://mybowsandclothes.blogspot.com

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  42. Hi Andrea! Love this... Sounds like you had a terrific vacation! Thanks for sharing at DI & DI :)

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  43. I'm so behind on my favorite blogs . . . I absolutely LOVED this post! Time spent together is a treasure . . . your family is beautiful! I love a lake vacation!

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  44. It is a great website.. The Design looks very good.. Keep working like that!. David Morgan

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