By mommie2zs in Buds — Jul 5, 2015

Another Family-Fest Complete

Each year we spend a week with Buddie’s family. This year we all met up in Michigan City, Indiana. We had a beautiful house in the Beachwalk Resort Community called:Jim and Mary’s. I pulled photos from their website for this post. Any photos of the house without people in them are courtesy of Beachwalk Rentals.

The space worked well for all 20 of us. Monkey took the loft over the main living area and slept through all of us rustling around in the mornings like a champ.

Note the ladder to Monkey's loft. She really was right above the action. — Note the ladder to Monkey’s loft. She really was right above the action.

(On the night we returned home, Buds and I were both surprised at how much we had enjoyed having Monkey so close physically in the loft area, even when she was asleep. After we tucked her in in the basement here at home, it felt like she was so far away.)

Our family was the last to arrive, and the others graciously gave Buds and me the best bedroom of all of them. We had a large walk-in closet and were tucked away on the end of the house so no feet pattering over our heads.

So cozy...with enough room for an air mattress for night time visitors. — So cozy…with enough room for an air mattress for night time visitors.

Buster and Yessa ended up having a room to themselves when two other cousins decided to bunk in with or closer to their parents. (So funny that the former co-sleepers ended up farthest from their parents.)

Trundles under both beds to easily sleep four. The trundles were covered with sand by the end of the week. Love the beach.

I loved the sunshiney openness of the house. We got a ton of use out of the screened-in porch. It was perfect for adult time after all the kids were tucked in in the evenings, and perfect for early morning time when Buster and Yessa and cousins were up and about early.

Watching the Father's Day video. — Watching the Father’s Day video.

The kitchen got a little tight so meals sometimes went in stages. We had some fantastic meals.

A discussion on best egg making practices.

Plenty of room to make birthday/anniversary cakes.

And eat birthday cakes!

The "working" couch — The “working” couch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q3kXyQo0KQ

We had a wonderful week with time on Lake Michigan, time in the resort pool, kayaking, paddle boarding, playing games, hiking around Indiana Dunes National Park, crying with laughter at Cards Against Humanity.

There were several great moments during the week, including a surprise visit from Buddie’s Mom’s youngest sister and her husband: Aunt Kathy and Uncle Greg. We all love them, so having them spend parts of several days with us was a real treat.

Walking to see K + G's "retirement camper." The kids loved it. — Walking to see K + G’s “retirement camper.” The kids loved it.

Because we have so many birthdays in/around the summer, and several anniversaries, too, we had an all-family celebration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VUyCRXKcgM

Aunt R made two fantastic cakes that were a huge hit.

Time at the beach, at the pool, and kayaking at the little pond on the property were other huge hits. Paddle boarding was new for our family, and Buds and I had a fun half-hour date one afternoon in the rain out paddling around.