Family time in Michigan

As we all grow older, reality has become such that our summers are no longer automatically filled with long amounts of time together as an entire family. With different obligations pulling people in different directions, the time that we actually have all of us present is sadly few and far between.

Thankfully, this summer we all aligned our schedules to allow for about four days together in Michigan exploring the area around Crystal Lake. Sarah's husband Peter grew up spending his summers there, and we had heard endless good things about Michigan in the summer time. So with the combined efforts of cars, planes, and ferries, we all gathered together in a small cabin for some quality time together.

Michigan had so much to offer at this time of year, it was hard to spend how we spent our time. We filled our hours with lounging around the lake, riding bikes, kayaking, walking on Lake Michigan's beaches, racing around the Sand Dunes, and exploring the small towns around the area. We had fierce competition of the yard game "koob" every evening, and ended our time together with a long bonfire on the beach.

Our home base for the trip

What fun is sand if you can't race in it?

Canoe racing may have become slightly violent...

Our traditional family vacation mini golf competition

Most importantly, we had hours of conversation, laughter, and made new memories. It was a perfect way to end our time in the US for the summer, and was another reminder that we are so fortunate to have family that we can not get enough of! 

After a long drive home and one day to pack up our belongings in Iowa City, we left American soil once again.

Summer at home

When we finished our time traveling in Europe with our family, we headed back to our respective states. Although being apart is never ideal, it made the most sense to start the summer this way. Rachel had a two week course to take in Des Moines, and Devin had work waiting for him in Oregon, so we headed our separate ways.

 I (Rachel) lived in Des Moines for two weeks with Aaron and Sarah, and although I had class from 8-5 every day and homework every evening, still managed to have a blast! The siblings declared the first week "Groga" week, in which we got a free one week pass to a power yoga studio. We managed to fit in 9 classes in 7 days, and ended the week with a full-family outdoor yoga class in a brewery parking lot. Although it was over 90 degrees with full humidity, we still managed to enjoy ourselves! My parents came to Des Moines for the weekend to celebrate Sarah's and my birthdays,  and we packed the weekend full of frisbee, yoga, walks, thrift store shopping, grilling, and bonfires. Additionally, my friend Rachel drove all the way from Milwaukee to join us for the weekend. It was incredible to spend time with her! Although we frequently skype, we realized we hadn't actually seen each other since my wedding!

Our Kodaly level 1 group - we worked so hard and loved getting to know these other teachers!

When we weren't studying, we loved spending our evenings together!

Loved browsing the Des Moines farmers market

After our 90 degree yoga class.

Dad was such a good sport even though he couldn't participate!

Never get enough time with this sweet girl!

Friendly competition

I could sit around a bonfire all night with these guys!

After completing the course in Des Moines, I was able to go back to Iowa City and finally experience what summer is supposed to be! As always, it did not disappoint. Thankfully I was able to spend some quality time with the people I miss so much when I am in Spain. They never cease to amaze me, and our time together is always too short.

I LOVED getting to know our new kitty!

Mom and I spontaneously decided to ride one day of RAGBRAI
since it passed through Coralville. I love how adventurous she is
and am so glad we can do things like this together!

My mom, the rockstar!

I spent as much time as I could with my soulmate friend, Liz.

Eventually, I wrapped up my time in IC and headed to join Devin and his family in Oregon. We were able to take our first Sheets family weekend vacation, which was lots of fun. We packed into a minivan, and spent the weekend in Sisters, Bend, and Crater Lake. We made precious memories in beautiful places!

On our couples date night, we splurged on desserts in Portland.

Wonderful family looking over the city of Bend

Our delicious meal on the banks of the river in Bend.

Our sunset view during dinner. 

Of course, we got in PLENTY of shopping at the Nike outlets- an Oregon requirement.

 After our family get away, we spent the rest of the time closer to home in Oregon and took a quick trip to Washington to see Devin's grandparents. We were fortunate to be in Oregon at the same time as two different friends from Spain, so we got to see them briefly! We fit in a trip to the coast, a hike on Mount Hood, and of course, some thrift store shopping when we could. :)

Our hike to McNiel Point on Mount Hood

Coffee and food trucks with our good friends from Barcelona, Chris and Kelly.

At Devin's grandparent's neighborhood beach.

The best we could get for a family picture with no one around to take it! I value time with these people so much!

Sunset from Devin's grandparents' window. Always stunning!

It's amazing that no matter how much time goes between our visits, when we reconnect with our favorite people and places, it's like no time has passed. We are ever grateful for homes in which we have beautiful places to explore and incredible people to build memories and reconnect with. We are grateful for every minute with you all, and only wish it could have been more!

Grove European Vacation

School was finally over; let the summer begin!  Before getting back to the States for our normal festivities, we met up with several of Rachel’s family members for an Eastern European adventure.  Our first stop was Prague in the Czech Republic, a somewhat familiar city, having visited it during Christmas two years ago.  The hilltop Castle is such an icon, as are the many bridges to chose from in order to get to it from across the river.  The downtown has a main square, and the entire old city is walkable, so we spent our days there taking one sidestreet after another and exploring the many unique cafes, shops and historical sights.  The city is a real hotspot for music, art, and culture, within a wonderfully preserved sense of the past.  We heard some incredible chamber music, some lively outdoor music, and were very impressed by the public sculpture and architecture – some of which is quite… interesting.

Loved celebrating this guy on Father's Day!

We attended a string quartet concert in King Charles' birth house.

Renting a car, we drove north to Krakow, Poland.  The city has a similar feel to Prague, but much poorer and plain.  It actually pleasantly surprised us.  The people are some of the nicest, most animated bunch.  The city is full of amazing little quirks, such as a huge medieval market in the middle of the town square, a fire-breathing dragon sculpture on the riverwalk around the city, a modern office building built over the top of some older historical building like a bridge, and a trumpeter who plays the same tune on the hour from the top of the church clocktower – but the tune ends abruptly and unfinished in honor of the original player who was struck with an arrow mid-song long ago.  We took a day and went to Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi extermination camp.  There is no amount of textbook reading about the torture methods and large death tolls that can prepare you for actually standing in a real gas chamber, or next to an oven.

After a long drive back through Austria, we landed in Semmering, a small mountain village in the Austrian pre-Alps for a few days of secluded nature relaxation therapy. It was wonderful to go on long walks through the forests, with the trains going past every now and then. After some good rest, we headed into Vienna. There, we went into music history overload as we visited the Mozart house, went to the incredible Musikhaus museum, attended both a Vienna Philharmonic concert in the very famous Musikvieren and a local boys choir concert, and had coffee in numerous cafes frequented by some of the most famous composers and performers in history. We finished our time by taking a bike ride along a lush green island just outside the downtown area, and it was great fun walking the streets at night seeing the beautiful public works.

Our mountain home.

This mountain was known for the famous, picturesque railways.

They're definitely still used!

This should be a postcard.

At the end of the trip,  our minds were full with new thoughts and understandings after experiencing such significant World War 2 sites (like Dresden, Berlin, and Auschwitz) as well as music history cities (Leipzig, Vienna, Prague). We loved having our family join us on the travels, and were looking forward to continuing time with them in the U.S.