Be All There: Midwest Summer Trip

Every summer my family gets together for a week. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year, hands down. It is wonderful to simply be together, and the location is almost irrelevant to me, although we have enjoyed each other's company in some fun places…Illinois, Georgia, San Diego, Disneyland.

This year we returned to Door County, Wisconsin. My parents owned a cabin there for 10 years, but the cabin has been sold and we haven't been back since 2008, so this was a return to a very special place. We have a lot of memories in the darling little towns that make up the peninsula of Door County: Jenny and John got engaged in Peninsula State Park, Katie and I were waitresses in Fish Creek one college summer, I came up to the cabin in Egg Harbor with my high school prom group, and there were countless family visits and reunions of all kinds. Door county is wooded, rural, surrounded by water, and sprinkled with small towns that have a Cape Cod-meets-Scandinavia-in-the-Midwest feel. It is pretty magical.

It was a full and fun 11 day ~~vacation~~ adventure back in my homeland, not restful, but joyful.

Here is my Top Ten from our time in the lovely Midwest…

#1 The first two days at my parents house were a big highlight for my family of five. Those days included: the mini car, zipline, tree house, visits to neighbors horses, breakfast over the campfire, big trees, lots of grass, time on the back porch, and San Diego temperatures. It is a kids' paradise there.

#2 An afternoon with my Grandma. We got to spend an afternoon and evening with my sweet Grandma, and my Illinois aunt, uncle, and cousin. It is such a treat to have time with the extended family I grew up with. It is still so very strange to see my Grandma without my Grandpa, but she is doing well. We all feel my Grandpa's absence, which makes it even more special to have four generations of family together when we get the opportunity. I love that my kids will have memories and pictures with my grandparents.

#3 One of the biggest events of this trip was Lydia's baptism. What a joy to be able to all be there for this significant occasion in her life. In general, spending a week with Lydia was a highlight. Now that she has survived her first family vacation it feels like she is officially family! Little Lydia is happy, loud, rough, tough, warm, loving, REALLY smart, a super clear communicator (even without many words), a phenomenal hugger, and in general, a joy to be around. Sweet Lydee - we love you!

#4 Once in Door County we enjoyed a lot of biking. We brought a few bikes, and rented the rest. Our rental house backed right up to a huge state park full of bike trails. We could bike to the beach, bike into town, or bike for an early morning coffee. It was so fun to not need cars for local outings.

#5 Two days at the beach. Thanks to the brutal Midwest winter this past year, there was still ice in Green Bay in May (very unusual), so the July water temperatures were much colder than normal, but still doable. We rented paddle boards, my parents brought their canoe, and we enjoyed our time on the water.

#6 Grandparent time. I love just watching my parents with their grandkids!

#7 Cousin time. These 8 kiddos love love love each other. This year we had ages: 8, 7, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2, 22 months. Whoa nelly!

#8 Cherry-picking. Door County is known for cherries, but I don't think we have ever hit the time right to be able to pick cherries as a family until this year. The kids loved it, and when we were back at my parent's house my mom and sis turned those cherries into a lovely cherry pie (a cherry pie full of cherry pits…because that is what happens when you have 2 year olds pit the cherries - yikes!).

#9 Watching the 3 "babies" together. My sisters and I always secretly hoped that all three of us would have kiddos the same age. Well, here they are, our 2012 babies (April, August, and October). These three were a riot together and kept us on our toes. We will never forget the year we had three 2 year olds, that's for sure.