We did not go to Croatia!

 

This is a picture of why we did not make it to Croatia.

We went to the Cleveland airport on Wednesday afternoon to catch our 4:00 flight, which looked like this:

Cleveland -- Chicago -- Frankfurt -- Split

While we were waiting at the gate to board in Cleveland, they made an announcement that there would be a slight delay because a light was out somewhere on the plane. After about an hour, they made another announcement saying the flight would be delayed for a long time because of a mechanical issue, and we might want to look into getting other flights. It turned out they had to change equipment, and that flight was delayed by 5 hours. We did go to the United counter to book another flight, but because we missed our connection to Frankfurt, it got complicated. They wanted us to take a later flight to Chicago, stay overnight, and board a flight to Zurich. Once in Zurich, we had to wait 9 hours for that flight, which would connect to Split. 

We decided to call VBT and get some dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

VBT said to call the travel company they work with to see what they could do. They really couldn't do anything for us. They recommended going to the airport Thursday morning and speaking directly with United.

On Thursday morning, we went to the airport and got booked on this flight:

Cleveland -- Chicago -- Zurich -- Split

We were happy with that and headed to the gate. We already missed the first day of our trip, but we were on our way.

We boarded our flight to Chicago on time (yay!), but not so fast. Before we left the gate, they announced that the flight would be delayed because of weather in Chicago. It would be a while, so we might want to gather our things and deboard the plane, but we were advised not to leave the area.

After an hour and a half, we were finally on our way to Chicago. We thought the connection to Zurich would be close, but we could run after we got off the plane.

As we approached Chicago, we noticed the plane circled the airport - not a good sign. Then, when we landed, the pilot announced that construction at the airport would cause a longer-than-usual approach to the gate. Once we got to the gate, there was another plane in the way. That plane was waiting for clearance to take off. Needless to say, we missed our connection to Zurich.

I don't know why we are smiling. 

This is where we met Derek (the guy in the first photo), who spent three entire hours trying to find a way for us to get to Split. At one point, he found four seats for me, Don, Greg, and Merry on this flight:

Chicago -- Brussels -- Munich -- Split

And he got John and Leslie on this flight:

Chicago -- Zurich -- Split

We were happy with that and were going to go our separate ways and meet up in Split. We missed the first two days of our trip, but we could catch up.

Just then, John got a call from the gate they were supposed to leave from. The gate agent told him, "You are not going to get on this flight - we are already overbooked by 20 people."

Don and I told John and Leslie they could have our seats on the Brussels flight, and we would just go home. They would not do it, so Derek searched some more. He looked for flights through Poland and Iceland and everywhere else. He even looked for flights into Dubrovnik. It turns out it is not easy to get to Split, Croatia. There was nothing available on Friday, and by then we would have been missing four days of our trip. To catch up with the group, we would have had to get to Hvar. 

I still don't know why we are smiling.

The only place to sit for four hours.

This is how we really felt.

We told Derek to get us flights to Cleveland. This took another hour because he had to figure out where our luggage was. Once he told us our luggage would be on the plane, we went to a restaurant in the airport and had dinner.

When we got to the gate, we were not surprised that our flight was delayed. But just for a half hour!

We landed in Cleveland at midnight our time. Our bags did not make it, so we had to file claims at the United baggage claim counter. You can't make this stuff up.

My bag got to our house Saturday morning. Don's arrived here Saturday night. As of now (Sunday afternoon), the other four still don't have their luggage. John has an AirTag in his suitcase, and it says it is in Terminal 5 at the Chicago airport, but no one can seem to find it.

We are pretty sure that even if we were able to get to Croatia, our luggage would not have made it. And I can't think of anything worse than being on a bike trip without my luggage.

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Tree Fort Opening Day 2026

Don finished rebuilding the tree fort in 2024, but according to my sister-in-law, Pam, we never had a proper Opening Day celebration. I'm giving her all the credit for spearheading this fun day with the grandkids. First, she ordered this amazing banner for the kids to run through on their way to the newly decorated tree fort.

Watch this video to the end to see little Noah try his best to smash through after watching the older kids do it.

Grandpa led the way to the place in the woods where his architectural creation awaited. 

Even the littlest ones wanted to climb up to the top.

Inside the house, we strung lights, put up a chalkboard, and hung a Guardian's flag. You can barely see the fly swatter on the right, and there is also a thermometer shaped like a gnome. I meant to get a photo of all the kids sitting inside, but I forgot!

Marina was the first to cross the rope bridge. She's gotten pretty good with heights from taking gymnastics class for several years.

Ezra and Gavin tried out the saucer swing we added this year.

The kids spent about an hour climbing and testing out their new skills.

Tim was our swag bag caddy.

Pam had fun picking out chalk, squirt guns, snacks, jump ropes, and other summer toys to go in the bags.

What a fun day for the grandkids! I'm sure they will want to spend some more time out in the woods this summer.

I was there but didn't make it into any of the photos for some reason.

We missed Peter, Kendall, and Reese, who couldn't make it.

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My Solo Getaway

 

Life with a puppy can wear you out, especially when you are home alone with him for many days. That was me the last two weeks of February. Don had to be out of town for 10 days with only one day at home in between the two trips. 

I think he was feeling bad about that, so he said I needed a vacation for myself. He sent me to Florida on my own for 5 days. This was a new experience. I had never gone on a solo vacation before. I'm an introvert, so the aloneness didn't bother me one bit. But relying on Don's navigation skills all these years frightened me. To go, I had to put my big girl pants on and lay my mental breadcrumbs wherever I went. 

Why are there two extra people in the photo above? My long-time friends, Peggy and Patty, were vacationing in the area at the same time, so we were able to get together. I loved spending time with them and also having some time to myself.

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Seashells and Alligators

 

My friend Becky and her husband, Tom, enjoyed a cold (for Florida) week in the south. She shared some amazing photos from her trip with me, and I'm sharing them here for your enjoyment.

Tom and Becky like to stay on Sanibel Island when they are in Florida. Unfortunately, Sanibel experienced devastating destruction in 2022 when Hurricane Ian hit land. The island is still recovering.

According to Travel & Leisure Magazine, Sanibel Island is considered the best shelling spot in North America. As you can see from Becky's photos, the shells were in abundance last week.

One day, they took a trip to Everglades National Park, which is a 2-hour and 15-minute drive from Sanibel. While they were there, they had up-close views of many alligators. 

These things creep me out, but they fascinate me. I don't think I would get close enough to snap this photo. Becky assured me he was fast asleep.

Next time we are in Naples, we need to take a trip to the Everglades. It's only an hour and a half from there.

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Beef Delivery

 

Peter and Kendall wanted to buy some meat from Duma Meats. To get the best price, you have to buy a whole cow. We've never bought this much meat at one time, but we decided to get in on 1/8 of a side of beef. Peter called yesterday and said he was ready to make the delivery. 

This is what that amount of meat looks like in my basement upright freezer. It's about 70 lbs. of meat, including roasts, steaks, and ground beef. 

This is Peter and Kendall's freezer. I think they got half the cow.

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Katherine & Josh at Mt. Fuji

 

Katherine, Josh, and the kids made it safely home without any problems! Ezra actually slept 8 hours of the 13-hour flight. They were all ready to get home. It took four days to adjust back to our time zone.

Before they came home, they rode a train to the Mt. Fuji area of Japan. They were so pleased that the sky was clear each of the three days. That hardly ever happens. 

They stayed in a traditional Japanese Inn called a ryokan. The floor is made of tatami mats, so they could not wear shoes in the room. The first photo shows the setup of the room during the day. While you are at dinner, they come and lay out a futon mattress for everyone to sleep on the floor.

Marina looks like she's enjoying her food.

Elaborate breakfasts and dinners were included with their stay.

Just the cutest!!

Their ryokan included an onsen (a hot springs bath). They rented one of the private ones for an hour. They are dressed in yakata (traditional robes you wear to & from the onsen).

On their first day, they hiked up to Chureito Pagoda, which is a very famous spot to view Fuji. 

Later, they went to Oishi Park to see Mt Fuji across the lake at sunset. (The first photo on this post is also from this spot).

On day 2, they rode a cable car up to a different viewpoint. The autumn leaves were beautiful!

The last few days of their trip were spent back in Tokyo. They went to Team Lab Borderless, which is an interactive digital art museum that is very popular in Japan.

They met up with a friend of a friend (Naneko and her daughter Sana) at a park so the kids could play. Marina made a new friend.

Finally, a photo of their situation on the plane ride home, trying to fit four people in three seats on a 13-hour overnight flight. What an amazing trip!!! 

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