Allie in the South of Spain

Daphne's face says it all My family and I just recently got back from our annual weekend trip and this year we went to Indianapolis. We have dubbed our gathering GAGME and this was our third time escaping with as many members of our group as we can wrangle together whilst wearing themed clothing. You can read about past GAGMEs here  (Washington D.C. in 2014) and here  (Grand Rapids 2016).  We arrived on Saturday around lunchtime to Indy where we stayed at an Airbnb house in an up and coming neighborhood close to the city center. Our first day we hung around the house, letting all the girlies run around like crazy before heading to a local playground and then a brewery for dinner. It was a long day if only for the four plus hours we spent driving, each car laden with kiddos. Day one's themed clothes RACING On Sunday we went downtown and most of us headed to the zoo while a few others decided to hit up a bar and wait for us. As part of the group that went t...

My family likes a theme, I mean we take it seriously. Our family weekend getaway would be no different as you might imagine. This year we took GAGME (the Garber annual gathering: Michigan edition) on the road but not very far. We just drove up to Grand Rapids after having considered Mackinaw and the Upper Peninsula (not exactly baby friendly as we decided). You can read about our original GAGME vacation to Washington D.C. here . Our first day was a camouflage  themed. Everyone wore something with camo and the grand-girlies were matching with outfits that could only be found at Walmart. It was adorable and gross at the same time, pink and camo. We all drove up to Grand Rapids and met at Founder's brewery where we had lunch. We then headed over to our hotel and went to the pool before going out to eat together downtown for dinner. On day two, Saturday, we went to the Grand Rapids Public museum which was right by our hotel. I thought it was ...

This summer we are headed back to Michigan to see our family and friends! Yay! This means a trip which consists of three flights and almost an entire day of travel with our twinfants. No! The plus side of traveling with them at what will be four months old is that we don't have to pay for seats on the airplane. The down side being that they will be in our laps for lots of flight hours. I am seriously praying that they behave and don't cry the entire time. Hopefully they will sleep. Please let them sleep. For reals. Anyway, it will have been two years since we have been home by the time we get there this summer. That's a long time. To give you an idea, I have a niece who will be turning one who I haven't even met yet. There are a lot of positives about living abroad and the south of Spain is a beautiful place but often times it sucks because you miss big life events. Most recently has been a couple weddings for both family and friends. I hate it and adding little ones...

We have had an amazing summer here in the USA!!! I am sad to leave and say goodbye to all our friends and family but I can honestly say that we took advantage of almost every moment we've been home. You can read about some of our specific summer adventures in these posts: Our girls-only weekend trip to the Big Apple Hanging out around the great state of Michigan Family GAGME trip to Washington D.C . Climbing Mount Pleasant As if all that weren't enough, we also went up to visit our good friends in Mount Pleasant (though I blanked and didn't take any pictures) for a few days last week. We walked around the campus and saw how much everything has changed since I graduated from CMU. Talk about expansion and new buildings! We also got to see Erica and Ernie's new house and have dinner where they had their wedding reception. Jose and I are excited that they are planning a visit to Spain in December. It'll be a great way to start the new year! Wedding weekend ...

Garber's Annual Gathering: A Monumental Event My family and I have decided to create a new tradition in which we will take a vacation together at least once a year thus labeling it with the acronym GAGME (the ME part allowing for changes according to where we go). Since there are a lot of us and differing ideas of what constitutes a good trip, how long is too long for a roadtrip, what we should spend, where we should stay, what our themed days should be, etc., there was a bit of discussion and compromise before we finally decided on Washington D.C. for our inaugural year.  On the road to DC I had never been to our country's capital and loved seeing all the monuments, memorials, museums and such but won't bore you with photos of the things you probably already know are there (the White House, the Smithsonian, the National Zoo). Suffice it to say that there was a good blend of tourism mixed with a fair amount of time swimming in the hotel pool, hanging around and l...