Last year I my cousins and I went on a family trip to Northern Michigan that changed my perspective on life. Upon arrival, my cousins and I got ice cream together at a local ice cream shop to start the week off right. We talk about the activities we want to do, the things we are looking forward to most, and tell funny stories/memories about previous trips up north or just funny memories with the cousins.

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Early on, this trip felt kind of strange since our family was missing a few people. As we grow up, more cousins move to college and start doing grown up stuff like job internships. This years absentees included my cousin Sarah, who was doing an internship at a school in california, my cousin Danny, who was working at a Summer Ministry Youth Camp, and my cousin Abby, who was recently employed at Bronson Hospital and is too new to ask for vacation hours. My cousin Kelsey had to leave the trip half way through to go back to college and I had miss one day during the week for baseball. The baseball event was in Illinois so the drive took about 16 hours round trip.
Despite the absence of three cousins the trip was still quite an experience. With lots of nature and beautiful weather, my cousins and I fell in love with the mystical Northwoods. Throughout the week we climbed high up in the trees and hung hammocks, climbed the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and had fun swimming in the beautiful lake.
Overall, it is the memories like this that I will remember forever. The tranquility of the natural world was relaxing and it offered a time to live simply. Enjoying care free times like this helped me focus on what in life that really matter and enjoy life. We are going back to the same house and I am so excited to spend more quality time just enjoying life with my cousins.