Mid summer fun

Mike and I celebrated 20, TWENTY, years of being married.  To enjoy this milestone, we headed to San Antonio, Texas.  It was a place neither of us had been.

It was awesome, we stayed in the heart of the riverwalk area and we were able to walk to the sights and the restaurants.  We went early one morning to see the Alamo before the crowds and the heat.

It was a lovely 4 day trip filled with food and relaxation!

We had the best brisket of our lives at Pinkerton's BBQ.  It was so good we went back a second time!

Back at the homefront the kids all enjoyed their own adventures.  Noah was home recovering from Germany and taking care of the cats.  Sam went and got golf clubs and went golfing with Bampa.  And Isaac went to Michigan with Bamma and did some projects with pops.  The night before our return, Sam and Noah were on the own.  We told them we would give them money for dinner.  Naturally they went to Jimmy John's and got the MOST amount of food they could stomach.

We got back home and settled in for a bit before the 4th of July festivities.  The cats enjoy people being home, and enjoy the new placement of the bird feeder right in front of the big window.

We found a new haircut place for the younger two.  Isaac got his first fade and was very happy with it!

Then Sam headed up early in the holiday week to spend his own time at the lake.  He got many important lessons like how to do electrical work and golf cart driving.

He enjoyed some boat rides with cousins too!

And when you are with your grandmother, there is nightly ice cream eating.  I think he enjoyed himself!

The rest of us endured a crazy traffic ridden trip of 4.5 hours to get up there, but we finally made.  The pic are all out of order but you get the idea.  Lake fun!

Isaac looking like an old man on his phone with a cocktail.

Parade posse - theme was wild west!

Josh and his crew came up for a quick 24 hours, so fun!

Breakfast of pizza in princess pjs? Yes please!

Future birding partner!

"I FOUND THE SQUANS!" (she means swans)

Bamma and her crew!

The ENTIRE group of Benharts/Hewes/Rodriguez/Carlsons/etc

Sam and Isaac went tubing!

And we ended the weekend with more dessert!  July Birthday party!

Always a blast and always over WAY too quick!

Enjoying summer 2025!

So we are in full summer mode here, and it's great!  Noah finished out his Germany trip with some quality time in Munich!

He did a pretzel making class and brought home the recipe.

He saw more of the sights near Munich too.

There was a trip to the gorge where he got left behind from the group and had to think on his feet, but he managed and eventually all was well!

His time in Munich came to an end with a farewell dinner complete with Bavarian music and dancing!

He said farewell to the host cat, Sami.

And farewell to Ralf, Yvonne, Anselm, and Val!

The group moved on to Austria!

He was able to visit Salzburg and see Mozart's home!

Meanwhile back at the homestead, Sam got a bari sax to try out for the summer!

The cats enjoyed the squirrel family that lives nearby!

Then 4 of us (Mike, Sam, Isaac, and I) headed to Coloma, Michigan to spend time with the Rodriguez family.  Noah stayed home to recover from jet lag, do laundry, and keep the cats company.  The stairs down to the beach at the rental house were quite something!

Overall we had great time with all the cousins!

Sam is always in charge of vacation selfies!

There were some cool sunsets!

And perfect rock throwing conditions!

The house itself was a 1920's, Capone/gangster style house, with lots of wood details.

One of the cooler things were the bald eagles that came to visit.  We even saw them dispatch a smaller bird and eat it!  Wild stuff!

We did a little nature walk at a nearby trail.

S'mores always are a hit!

It was cool to see all 4 Rodriguez sibs together!

We had a couple great days of beach weather!

Isaac found a nice hat for Uncle Danny!

We celebrated Josie's 50th!

One of the rainy days, we headed into Benton Harbor to find some soft pretzels.

Found this cool painted alley too!

When we got back home, we geared up for a Lauren day!  Any day at Aunt Abby's house involves treats, for sure!

We went to the park for a nice swing!

And she took a solid nap!

We finished out our fun at the local splash pad, it was a perfect day!