We just got back on Sunday from our annual summer family reunion with the whole Hines family. If you’ve been around here for any time at all, you have probably seen my recaps of our reunions…and honestly we do pretty much the same stuff every single time! But if you are new here, here is a little recap: My in-laws, Jim and Martha, had seven sons. Five of those sons are married and altogether there are 23 grandkids/cousins, with one due any day now and one on the way via adoption. It’s a BIG group and we all gather at my in-laws small cabin in Norther MI and go nonstop for 3-4 days. It’s a BLAST. It’s exhausting. It can sometimes come with a side of drama/difficulty within some relationships (all of which are always resolved, but still)…but for the most part, it is fun and family and conversations and A LOT of children 🙂
This year was one of the most fun years I can remember. To be honest, I usually have some level of stress and trepidation and am usually so ready to leave when it’s over. But this year I just enjoyed every single day of the reunion!
We left early on Wednesday morning and made the 6 hour drive without too much trouble! I finished my book on the way, which was just delightful!
Wednesday and Thursday were both pretty chilly, so some kids braved the boat, but there was mostly a lot of playing on the swing, having a bonfire, going out to the woods and doing a treasure hunt, conversations, and games.
On Thursday morning, the ladies also went out for our thrifting and lunch trip. This has become an annual tradition that we do not miss! This year there were two girl cousins old enough to join the ladies, and it’s been a such a sweet time to see all the nieces (and nephews!) growing up. We stop at a coffee shop, then on to a thrift store, and then out to eat lunch! And I always forget to take any pictures!
Lots of time was spent each evening down by the fire, playing in the sand and playing some silly games. Believe me when I tell you that there is no lack of FUN in the Hines family!!
Friday was a much warmer day – in fact, it was absolutely STUNNING. I woke up at 6am and tackled one of my long runs. I decided to run from our Airbnb to my in-laws cabin, a distance I THOUGHT was 11 miles but really ended up being 16! Haha, thankfully Theo came along and picked me up at the 11 mile mark.
After breakfast, getting hair done, and getting everyone organized enough to get out the door, we headed over to the nearby park and shot off rockets, played a little bit of soccer and took some family pictures. Seth and Aaron are two of Theo’s brothers who live about an hour away and find family reunions very, very overwhelming. So Aaron drove Seth up for rockets and lunch and that way we could all be together for some time!
And then we gathered for our family photos! This is the first year in a long time that every single member of the Hines family has been present, and I’m so glad that we were able to grab some great family pictures!
Jim and Martha with their 7 sons, a picture of the 7 brothers and then a picture of EVERYONE- all 37 of us!
We also grabbed some great individual family photos:
All that smiling for photos made us awfully hungry, so we took the whole crew out to the Chinese buffet for lunch
Friday afternoon was spent relaxing and out on the boat!
On Friday evening after dinner, all of the grown adults left all the children (except the two babies ;)) with Grandpa and Grandma and went out for ice cream. We typically do an adults only boat ride, but with Sarah being 39 weeks pregnant she wasn’t cleared for a bumpy boat ride so we pivoted and went out for ice cream instead!
Saturday was a big day because we had planned a surprise 50th wedding anniversary party for my in-laws. We had so far been able to keep it under wraps, but as the preparations for the day got underway it was increasingly hard to not make them suspicious! In the end, we pulled it off, and it was a beautiful celebration of 50 YEARS of marriage!
(I will have a full blog post on this special part of the reunion coming later!)
After the party, we all headed back to the cabin to wrap up our reunion with some boat rides, some pizza for dinner and a wonderful conversation about marriage. We truly left filling so thankful, blessed and fulfilled.
And that’s a wrap on the Hines Summer Reunion 2024!
If you want to read up on previous years, here are some other recaps I have done:
Oh wow; what fun traditions!… boy that is a big family. I mean we have a huge family reunion at the lake each year for my husband’s family and we have probably the same # of people but that includes all his aunts/uncles/ and cousins and spouses, etc. too.