Final Update from AMG 3B!
July 27, 2026
Today we woke up in Corfu!!! Wooooo! We made a delicious breakfast that consisted of an assortment of eggs, bacon, fruit, and yogurt! Then, we were off to go rock climbing! The rock climbing guides came and picked us up and took us on a scenic drive up the coast. As we were driving up, we saw our beach from above! Soon enough, we pulled up to the rock we would be climbing today. Everyone got geared up in harnesses, helmets, and rock climbing shoes! Everyone tried out the smaller route and practiced rappelling down to get the hang of it. Henry was a natural at rock climbing, and actually started with the most difficult route set up, and mastered it with no problems! After we all mastered the smaller routes, the guides set up some more difficult routes for us to try! Hayes was excited to try out all of the harder routes, and didn’t give up even when his hands started to hurt from the pointy rocks. We had a quick snack break for a giant slice of watermelon, and we all held them up to our faces and pretended they were our smiles! The sun started to peek out from behind the rock, so some of the kids went and soaked up some sun while the rest of the group continued to climb. Savy made it all the way up the hardest route they offered, and she said at one point they wanted her to put both her hands and feet in the same crevice! This got some laughs from the group! Eventually, once we physically couldn’t climb anymore, we packed up the gear and headed back to our place. Obviously, we had to make a surprise pit stop for ice cream on the way back! We stopped at the most delicious ice cream stop that had an amazing view of the coast! We made it back to our place and started cooking up some lunch! Today on the menu, we had chicken quesadillas! Emily cooked up some delicious chicken, which was arguably the most important part of our quesadillas! After lunch, we headed down to the beach for some afternoon sun. We played jackpot, spikeball, and just listened to some music! After hanging out there for a little, we went back to our place for dinner. Ever since getting to Corfu, Bailey insisted on cooking because he said he knew an amazing recipe. So he took the lead on dinner tonight, and made us an amazing lemon garlic pasta! It was very filling, but we also couldn’t get enough. Afterwards, we got some ice cream from the local market! We had moonup then hit the hay, tired and sore after an amazing first full day in Greece!
It was a goooood morning because we were going snorkeling! Everyone on the trip had been highly anticipating our snorkeling trip, so everyone woke up eager to get on the boats. We drove down to the dock and got on the boats! We thought we were going to have to cancel our snorkeling day today due to weather, but last minute it cleared up, so we were extra appreciative. They took us to a beach that we could swim to that had a snorkel spot, a cliff we could climb up and jump off of, and a cave we could snorkel to! It was really the perfect place to dock. We started out with our snorkeling adventure! First we saw a giant starfish, and we all passed it around to get a picture! Next, we were amazed to see an octopus swimming around. Then, we got to see it ink!! When Mills got back on the boat, she was raving about this experience and said it was one of the coolest things she has ever seen! We spent the rest of our time hanging out on the boat! We were diving off the boat, swimming around, and listening to music. Kate found the best place on the boat to lay in the sun, and she was practically glowing! The clouds started to roll in at the perfect time, as our time was up and it was time to head back to shore. We listened to Rein me in on the way back, and we were all singing at the top of our lungs! Once we got back, we started walking to the van to take us back. But not before an ice cream stop! We got ice cream from this local shop that only makes the ice cream with natural ingredients. And boy, was it delicious! We went back to our place and started cooking up some dinner. The LODs had the idea to make Mexican tonight, so everyone was excited! While dinner was being cooked, we played two truths and a lie and hung out on the balcony. After dinner, Kayra surprised the group with mini ice cream sandwiches after dinner! We scarfed them down as fast as we could before they melted on our hands, then cleaned everything up! We walked down to the beach for moonup, and we arrived just in time for sunset! The sunset was insanely beautiful, and of course we had to have a photoshoot! We had an awesome moonup that ended with a game of family. In the game, everyone writes down a name and tries to guess who wrote down what. Once you successfully guess who wrote what, then you get to add them to your team! William ended up winning the game with three successful guesses in a row! We headed back to our place and quickly fell asleep after a long, but fulfilling day!
This trip is flying bye so fast, we are already on our last day in Corfu! We made our final breakfast, and the highlight was definitely the bacon made by Evan! He came down to our room before the rest of the group was awake and took charge on the bacon. It was perfectly crispy! After breakfast, we went to the new coffee shop to try it out! Even though it was good, they didn’t have the same fun and loving vibe of our usual coffee shop. We then headed down to the beach. We laid out our towels then got in the ocean. We set up the spikeball net and played some spikeball, and switched off who played. We had one last surprise for the group! Unfortunately, our kayaking activity got cancelled. So instead, we surprised them with tubing! When we announced it, everyone cheered with joy! We split up into groups then got onto the tubes. It was SO fun and funny. Everyone was laughing the entire time. When they asked if someone wanted to go again, Lauren’s hand immediately shot into the air! She loved it so much that there was no question that she was going again! We had the best time ever, then dried off on the beach for a little while longer before heading to lunch at the same place we went to on our first day in Corfu! What a full circle moment! Almost everyone got a chicken or pork gyro, then we got on the bus and left to go to Corfu town for our shopping day! On the bus, the girls made a fun queue of songs from musicals, and were obviously singing along the whole way. When Hopelessly Devoted from Grease came on, it was Grace’s time to shine! She belted the chorus for everyone on the bus! This was immediately followed by her contagious laugh, so it wasn’t long before everyone around her was laughing! We arrived to our hotel then quickly showered and changed to start walking around and shopping. The kids have been so eager to shop and find souvenirs for both themselves as well as family and friends, so this was so exciting! We went into a jewelry shop, a funny shirt shop, and other small boutiques. We shopped our way to dinner, where we had a delicious spread! We split a bunch of appetizers, and there wasn’t one that didn’t hit. After dinner, we went to a delicious ice cream shop that smelled like homemade waffle cones! Then, the kids found a place where the fish eat the dead skin off of your feet! Some of them couldn’t resist, so we all laughed as we watched them cringe at the fish. We went back to our place then had moonup at the park across the street. We talked about something that we thought changed the trajectory of our lives. We wrapped up moonup by hugging the people to the right and left of us. We were off to bed, ready to see Athens!!
We woke up and had an early morning flight, and before we knew it, we had made it to Athens! We dropped our bags off at our hostel then immediately headed over to the best local gyro shop. We ate our gyros under the shade, and we were already immersing ourselves in the history because there were ruins right behind us! After devouring our lunch, we headed up to the Acropolis to check it out and get some pictures with it in the background. After checking out the Acropolis, we started heading back to our hostel for some rest before banquet! On our way, we obviously couldn’t resist stopping in a few stores and getting some final souvenirs. We made it back to our place and took showers and naps, and before we knew it, the time had come to head back out on the town! We walked over to the most delicious spot. Everyone got an amazing final meal-chicken gyros, pastitsio, bolognese, and more! I don’t think anyone was dissappointed with their orders! After dinner, we walked over to a baklava/ice cream shop. While most of the kids got ice cream, Caleb got an assortment of mini baklavas to try! He said that the original one was the best. Sometimes you can’t mess with the classics! After dessert, we walked up to Lybettacus hill, where we got the most amazing panoramic views of the city. We obviously had to remake the infamous picture of Giannis overlooking the city, then we headed down to start our final moonup all together. We had such a meaningful moonup, where we got to reflect on our trip. The silly question was what was your favorite memory from this trip. This obviously brought up some hilarious memories and had the whole group laughing. The serious question was what is something you learned on this trip that you’re going to take home with you. We closed up our final moonup by writing notes to each other and giving everyone in the group hugs! Tears began to flow, and we knew that this was truly a special trip. We said goodnight, not believing that tomorrow was closing day.
We had an early ride to the airport, where we obviously played all of our favorite songs for one last time. We watched the sunrise out the window of our van, and just soaked up all of these final moments all together. We all got checked in, then the dreaded moment had arrived. It was time to say our final goodbyes to the group. We hugged them goodbye, then sent them through security. What an amazing past 17 days it has been, and it was all thanks to them! This trip wouldn’t have been the same without every single one of them! We miss them already!
For one last time, thanks for reading!
Amazing Times on AMG!
July 22, 2026
Good morning, we just woke up in Albania!! Opening up our windows almost felt unreal, as we looked out and saw the most beautiful mountain view! We had the most delicious breakfasts with coffee and tea! Then, we laced up our hiking books and got ready for our hike ahead! Or so thats what the kids thought… we started our hike then we got in a van to go to the “trailhead”. It was an amazing surprise when we pulled up to the zip line that we had all just been talking about! When we told them we were getting out to get on the zip line, no one even believed us! They all screamed with excitement and joy, then got out ready to go down the zip line. We got all harnessed up then got after it! That was the perfect way to start off our day and get our blood pumping for our hike! Afterwards, we started our hike right from the bottom of the zip line. The kids decided our song for the hike was going to be “I left my home for the army”. Of course, Evan came up with a Moondance rendition that goes along the lines of “I left my phone for Moondance”. You will have to ask your kid to sing it for you when they get home! We started walking on a paved road, then eventually made it to the more rocky trail. We stopped at a river along the way to splash our faces and cool off. We hiked downhill then eventually walked up to the most beautiful swimming spot! It was so pretty, and this wasn’t even our final destination! We just stopped here for lunch in the shade. The sun was beaming down on us as we hiked, so sitting in the shade felt amazing! We even found a place to fill our waters up with ice cold water! After eating our delicious sandwiches and having some sodas, we continued on up to make it to our final destination: the blue eye! The blue eye is an iconic Albanian destination, and it is incredible! It is a swimming hole with a gorgeous waterfall, surrounded by greenery! The final ascent was challenging, but we passed the time by playing contact and wavelength, per usual. Once we arrived, William wasted no time climbing up to the waterfall and jumping in! It wasn’t long before everyone else followed his lead! Everyone jumped in at least once to cool off after the hike, and boy, was the water cold! Some of the kids even braved the cold water for long enough to swim across to the “island”! On the way back, Lauren showed off her diving skills! Everyone was impressed! After getting in as many jumps as we possibly could, we headed down to sit on the rocks and catch some sun. Soon enough, it was time to start hiking home to be back in time for dinner! We weren’t ready to leave, but the day was slipping away! We got back into our hiking clothes, then headed on back. We played another game of contact, where two different times people impressively guessed the word on the first guess! We were just hitting a flow state on our hike when we had another surprise for the kids… a van! We ended our hike earlier than expected, but it was a perfect surprise after the long day in the sun! And even better: it was a party van! It had fun LED lights, and of course we had a speaker! The kids were calling it an Albanian Fetti!! We sang the whole way back to town. The van dropped us off in the center of town, and we headed on home. But not without another surprise! Everyone had such positive attitudes today, so we obviously had to get some ice cream!! Saying it was just what we needed would be an understatement. Everyone got a scoop, and the flavors ranged from Snickers to Yogurt to Pistachio to good ole Chocolate and Vanilla! Today was undoubtedly the best day we have had yet!! We got back and had the best dinner ever then huddled up near the garden at our campsite for moonup! At dinner, we were greeted by the owner of our campsite and his baby! Emily quickly made a new best friend with the baby! She is clearly a natural with kids, and the baby did not want to leave her! We reflected on how amazing the day was then went off to bed excited for a big day of hiking tomorrow!
We had an earlier morning so we could get on the trail as soon as possible! We had another delicious breakfast with apricot sauce! We said bye to the hostel, and the baby, then began our journey for the day! We were off to our next town via the shoelace express! Our first stop was to a little store to get some extra waters and snacks. On the way there, our guide Martina found a hose and sprayed us all with water to cool us down! We then left the store and continued on to conquer the hike! We crossed a river, and obviously couldn’t resist dipping our faces and hats in to cool us off once more. We hiked up and through the woods, then we arrived at a beautiful meadow of flowers! We stopped to take some pictures, take in the views, and have some snacks. We decided to push through to make it to lunch! Caleb found a perfect walking stick for the rest of our journey! He looked like a real mountain man. We crossed another river, so we filled up our water bottles with the most cold, refreshing water so we could purify it at lunch! We ate our sandwiches that we made at breakfast, and they hit the spot! During lunch, Savy found a great tree stump that also worked out to be a great chair! She climbed up there and we made to sure get a picture! We had some gummy candy to give us some energy for our final push to the top! We knew we made it when we saw the Albanian flag and we were surrounded by panoramic views of the mountains! We climbed up a little further to get to the tallest peak we could get to! After taking it all in, we continued on down the mountain, ready to see our new home! As we hiked down, we walked under a really cool cliff that provided some much needed shade! We had another quick water break and climbed on some big rocks to get some more cool pictures! We are going to have so many awesome pictures to show everyone, so we are excited about that! We passed by cows and more rivers, then eventually made it to our accommodations for the night! We were quickly impressed – it was a beautiful mountain hut with string fairy lights around the outdoor patio and amazing views of the mountains from the balcony! We immediately had dinner, which was just what we needed!! It seemed like they just kept bringing us more and more different dishes. And every time we did, everyone would get so excited for whatever they could be bringing us! It ended up being an assortment of bean soup, bread, lamb, potatoes, and eggplant. It was so so good! We had moonup in the garden outside of our hostel, which we closed by doing a giant human cinnamon roll! It ended up with everyone in a big dog pile! We hit the hay quick, super tired out after a long day of hiking.
We got to sleep in today, so we could get a good nights rest for another day of hiking! The kids said it was one of the best sleeps they have ever had, shoutout to the blackout curtains! We had a delicious breakfast, then made some sandwiches for our afternoon hike. We had the morning to chill and hangout before we had to hit the trails! We started out walking on the road, then turned and started heading up the mountain. We were surrounded by amazing views the entire time! I don’t think we would have made it up without Kate’s positive attitude and words of encouragement! There were flowers everywhere, and we had them in our hair and our backpacks – anywhere that we could think of! We took a lunch break at the most scenic stopping point, then started our descent back down to our hostel. We stopped to fill up our water bottles at a local farm, then eventually made it back to the road and walked back to our place! We had another amazing dinner full of fun different courses, then had a moonup under the stars! After moonup, we had a quick dance party because we had successfully finished our trekking portion of the trip! Then, we watched Spain take the win in the world cup finale! What an awesome end to a great day!
Today, we were beginning our journey south to eventually make it to Corfu! However, our first stop on the journey is the capital city of Albania – Tirane! We hopped into our bus for the day and said bye to the mountains! What a bittersweet goodbye! Even though we had such an amazing time in the mountains, we were excited to see what was to come in Greece! All of the kids wrote down a couple songs they wanted to hear, and we ended up making a great queue! It lasted the whole car ride, we had a good mix of singing along, hearing new songs, and getting hype! We stopped for lunch in a country that many of us didn’t even know about before today: Kosovo!! Kosovo is officially the 5th country we have been to on this trip! We got some more pizzas and bolognese, then continued on our way back into Albania! Woohoo! After listening to some more great tunes, we finally arrived at our hostel for the night! Once we arrived and put all of our things down, we told the kids they had 30 minutes before we had to leave to go to a cooking class! Another great surprise! We walked over to the cooking class, then threw our aprons on, washed our hands, and got to chopping! We cut up some spinach, tomatoes, and carrots to make stuffing for our dishes. We made some stuffed bell peppers, byrek, and cookies! These are all dishes that are local to Albania, so we really got to soak up the last of the Albanian culture before heading to Greece! Grace did an amazing job seasoning up the stuffing for the peppers, throwing in some spearmint, garlic, salt and pepper! They mixed it all up then we stuffed the peppers. Next, we made some dough for the byrek! After the dough had some time to rise, we rolled it out, trying to get it as thin as paper! We then layered the dough with a spinach and cheese mix to make byrek, a local pastry! Finally, we made some cookie dough! We had our doubts about the cookie, because the dough didn’t taste that sweet, but once they came out of the oven and the head chef put some simple syrup on them, our expectations were exceeded! We ate our delicious creation with a side of a sour cream sauce that tasted just like ranch! After an amazing dinner, we headed back to our hostel for moonup! We all gathered together on the top floor balcony. The questions of the night were: whats your favorite thing about yourself, and if you could only see three colors for the rest of your life what would you choose. We ended with a balancing on your non dominant leg contest, which Kayra impressively won, then headed off into our rooms! This hostel is so fun because all of the girls get to be in a room together, and so do all of the boys! After hanging out for a little while, we dozed off, excited to be heading down to the beach tomorrow!
Finally, we are off to the beach! We got in the van as fast as we could so we could get to the beach as soon as possible. We made another great queue, then stopped at a little cafe to get more byrek for lunch. We ate lunch in the car, and before we knew it, we made it to Sarande! As we were driving to our hotel, everyone was enthralled by all of the shops and restaurants! It had been so long since we had been in a bigger town, so this was super exciting! We got to our rooms and dropped off our things, then walked just outside of our hotel down to the beach! We laid in the sun and jumped off the dock, and just enjoyed the ocean that we had been missing for the past few days. After spending some time at the beach, we went back to get ready to go out to dinner! Everyone got all dressed up, and we had the most amazing dinner in town! Everyone’s meals looked delicious – from chicken pasta to crab to pork chops, I don’t think anyone was disappointed with their order! After dinner, we started walking back to our place. We had a quick photoshoot before heading back. Bailey got a great picture where he is basically crowdsurfing! We enjoyed the water, then continued on. Of course, we had another surprise! We stopped at the local fair to do the bumper cars! It was so funny watching everyone try to hit each other’s bumper cars! After getting a good laugh, we had another surprise! Ice cream!! Everyone either got a scoop of ice cream or some soft serve! We had moonup on the dock next to our hostel where we opened it by grabbing someone random’s hand then trying to untangle the knot. We were successful until we realized that we had made an infinity loop! We had a great moonup then headed off to bed.
The day has come! We are headed off to Greece! So many of us have been waiting the entire trip for the Greece portion, so this was super exciting! Fun fact, AMG is the only trip to enter a new country via the FERRY! We all boarded the ferry and cruised on over to Corfu! Our morning was full of travel, as after we got off of the ferry we got on a bus to head over to our accommodations for the next few days. We got there sooner than expected, then headed across the street for our first Greek lunch! Almost everyone got a pork or chicken gyro, immediately immersing themselves into the Greek culture. And they made the right decision! It was such a delicious lunch, and afterwards we were ready to relax and hangout on the beach. We threw the football around in the ocean and played a game of jackpot! Afterwards, we went back to the beach to play some spikeball. After the beach, the LODs Hayes and Mills went to the store to shop for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch. They had a great idea to make a spaghetti dinner with a side salad and some homemade garlic bread! While they were at the store, the rest of the group went to the local coffee shop and got some much anticipated iced coffees and matchas! We all met up again and headed back to our new home to start cooking some dinner! It turned out amazing, there is truly nothing better than a home-cooked meal. We cleaned up our dinner, which obviously resulted in a dance party. Henry had some great song recommendations that had everyone dancing and jumping around! After the kitchen was clean and we couldn’t dance anymore, we headed down the road to get some ice cream! As the sun set on an amazing first day in Greece, we had another fun moonup then headed off to bed. We cannot believe we have already made it to our last country! We are having so much fun with this group, we don’t want this trip to end! Thanks for reading, we cannot wait to make the most of these last few days together!
Here are some shoutouts from the kids!
Kayra: Hi!!! Albania was amazing!!! Now we are on our way to Greece YAYYY. The trekking in Albania was so gorgeous and so fun. All of the places we have stayed at are amazing. Thanks so much for sending me on this trip. I’m so grateful:) I miss everyone so much and can’t wait to see you all!!!!
Grace- Heyyyyy famm!! We have finished the trekking in Albania and it was absolutely gorgeous!. I miss y’all so much but I’m having so much fun!! We are on our way to Greece!! YAY! I will try my best to get everyone something!! Thank y’all so much for sending me on this trip. It has truly been amazing and I cant want to tell y’all all about it!! I love y’all see y’all soon!!!
Emily: Hi Rouse House!! I miss y’all and cant wait to see y’all! Hope y’all are having a fun time in Colorado and Houston!! I am having a blast on my trip I cant wait to tell y’all all about it! We finished hiking and I loved it the views were unbelievable!! We are now traveling to Greece! I am really looking forward to the beach! Thank y’all so much for sending me on this trip, I am so exited to tell y’all about my experiences and adventures! I love y’all!!
Savy: Hi!! I am having so much fun! I miss y’all so much and cant wait to see y’all in a week! We just finished hiking in Albania, and the views were beautiful!!! I cant wait to show y’all all the amazing pictures! Now we are on the way to Greece, and I am so excited to shop and spend time at the beach! YAYY!!!!! Thank you so much for sending me on the trip, I am having the best time! Love y’all and see you soon!
kate- Hi!! I LOVED Albania and all of the hikes! they were a lot prettier than Shelby Farms… We are headed to a small beach town in Albania right now, but after that we are headed to Greece! Thank you so much for letting go on this trip! I cant wait to show y’all pictures! Please give Mitty, Skip, and Murphy a hug for me! Love you so so so much!! side note: Emerson if y’all start assigning letters for the first football game or something will u make sure I get one pls, also I made them play Glorilla in the car in honor of you love and miss u tons
Henry: Hi, my trip has been really fun so far. We have done a bunch of cool activities and it has been a blast. Thanks again for sending me on this trip. Albania is a beautiful country and our hikes/trekking has been really fun. The views are amazing and I will definitely show you guys a lot of pictures. I love you and miss you guys.
Mills – Hi everyone, I miss ya’ll!!!! Albania and Bosnia were so awesome. We did some insane hikes and I can’t wait to tell you all about them, they were so funny. I am having so much fun and i am so thankful y’all allowed me to go on this amazing experience. I love my whole group and am already thinking how sad I’m going to be when i have to leave everyone. But so excited to come home and see everyone! Now we are otw to Greece and i couldn’t be more excited. See y’all so sooooon!!!!!!!! YAY
lauren- Heyyyy guys i miss y’all! Bosnia and Albania were really fun i am so excited for Greece. We are on the way to a random beach in Albania right now. I don’t know when we go to Greece but i am really excited to shop. I have gotten a lot of pictures on my camera so you can see. Thank you so much for letting me go on this trip!! Byeee love y’all.
William- Hi mom and dad and everyone reading i love y’all. Shout out to y’all, tell byrdie, banks, graham, byrd and kevin hi. tell everyone in the fam i said hi. we have had so much fun and are in corfu Greece right now. will get home soon and cant wait to see everyone. Love y’all and see y’all soon, miss y’all.
Bailey- Hey mom and dad, I love and miss you guys so much. We are in Corfu rn and it’s so cool. Can’t wait to see y’all when I get home.
Hayes- Hey Mom, Dad, Campbell, and the dogs. I miss you guys so much and I am having soo much fun. We just got to Corfu today and it is very nice. I can’t wait to see you guys so soon.
Evan: Yoooo!!! Hi Mom and Dad, and rest of fam, I’m having so much fun right now and i cant wait to tell y’all all about it. Tell lucky and Zeyde a huge thanks for giving me this opportunity and sending me here. Love you all a ton and am excited to see everyone when i get home! Lots of love, Evan.
Caleb – Hey Mom and Dad! I miss and love you guys so much and cant wait to see you guys! Ive had so much fun and we are currently in our 6th country Greece on Corfu!! Everyone is awesome and the trip has been so much fun! Thank you guys for giving me this opportunity its amazing! Love you guys so much!
Beautiful Bosnia!
July 16, 2026
Hello!! We are currently in Albania, and we just wrapped up our first few days in Bosnia! We cannot wait to update y’all with all of the amazing and fun things we have been doing! Somehow, this trip is already flying by.
We woke up and headed to the airport to pick up all of the kids!! Everyone was on the group flight, so we were excited to be meeting everyone at once! After a long flight, everyone made it to Croatia! However, we weren’t staying for long, as we immediately loaded up into the van to head on down to Bosnia! A few of the kids guessed that we would be headed here, but for most of the group, it was a surprise! We eventually had to pull out the map to show everyone exactly where in the world we were. The car was full of talk about the flight, mutual friends, and just learning everyone’s names and hometowns! Grace made everyone laugh by showing off her seagull impression that was scarily accurate! She is even able to make the noise louder and quieter so it sounds like they are flying by! We pulled up to our lunch spot, which happens to be a delicious Italian restaurant in the middle of nowhere! We all split pizzas and bolognese, and ate as much as we possibly could! It felt like the pizza was never-ending, which is just the problem to have when you’re hungry for lunch! After filling up, we got back in the car, and this is when the jet lag hit. Everyone in the van dozed off, trying to catch up on some lost sleep from the plane. In between naps, we saw the most picturesque views full of insane mountains, as well as lots of animals like goats and cows! Even though it was just day 1, this trip was already off to an amazing start! We played a game called catch, where someone thinks of a word, and everyone in the group has to try to guess it by having them spell it out. It is a lot more fun than it sounds!! After catching some z’s and playing some games, we finally pulled up to our campsite: the most amazing mountain hut that sits above the river! Of course, we couldn’t resist but to run down to the river and check it out! William wasted no time throwing on his swimsuit and then running into the river for a cold plunge after our long journey. It wasn’t long before the other students followed his lead! We sat by the river afterwards and talked for a little bit, then everyone went up to shower off the travel day. Right before dinner, Lauren was like, “A hot dog sounds so good right now.” Everyone was like there is no way they have hot dogs in Bosnia. Lo and behold, our dinner was a giant tray full of French fries, chicken, sausages, and hot dogs!!!! It almost felt like an American cookout when they brought us out some giant slices of watermelon for dessert! We then gathered up on the platform for our first-ever moonup all together! Every night, we have moonup where we talk about what we are grateful for from the day, and ask both silly and serious questions to continue to get to know each other! After asking the group the question “Why are you here?”, we wrapped up moonup and headed to bed for a much-needed horizontal sleep.
After a long night’s sleep, we woke up ready and eager to go rafting!! We got geared up in helmets, wetsuits, and booties, then loaded up into a van for a beautiful drive down to the put-in spot! We listened to music with the windows down and just admired all of our surroundings. We arrived and brought the rafts down into the river, where the guide assigned us to our rafting positions for the day. Today, Henry and Hayes were in the front of the raft, setting the pace for everyone to follow!! Just like that, we were off! We had a good mix of chill rapids and then some bigger ones! We rafted up to a cliff jumping point, and there was no question that everyone was jumping in!! It didn’t even matter how cold the water was! We all climbed up to the jumping spot and jumped while all the locals cheered us on! Emily was looking for more of a thrill and climbed up to the higher jump point to jump! After everyone got a chance to jump off both the smaller and bigger cliff jumps, we got back in the rafts to head down the river towards home! While we weren’t paddling, we played lots of wavelength, but a more advanced version where the person describing the number had to explain scenarios! This led to some hilarious answers. We got out of the rafts a few more times to swim before we rafted all the way back to our camp! We walked the rafts up, then had a delicious warm meal of bolognese pasta for lunch! It warmed us right up after swimming in the cold river! We all changed into warm clothes to hang out at our camp for the rest of the afternoon. We spent our time playing group games, like fishbowl! We wrote down a bunch of random words, then went through them all in rounds; the first round, you had to describe the word to your team and have them guess, the second round was acting, and the third round was one word. After, we played cards and everyone was teaching each other different card games they knew! It was so funny realizing that we all knew similar games with slightly different rules! We started playing ERS, another card game, and then it was eventually time for dinner! We had a great moonup on “the form”, a new name for the concrete platform at our campsite. We hung out for a little while after moonup before heading to bed, excited for another day of rafting!!
Yayyyyy rafting day 2! This time we were even more excited because we had so much fun yesterday, and now we knew what we were in for! We threw on the same wetsuits as yesterday, then got back into the vans for another scenic drive! The Tara River canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world, only second to the Grand Canyon, so it is incredibly beautiful! Not to mention, the water is Gatorade blue! We knew we were in for a treat today, especially because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! Since we were more comfortable on the rafts, we got to play some more games! We tried seeing who could stay on the raft for as long as possible. We had gotten a lot better at paddling since yesterday, and we even had a new technique to yell HOO like we were rafting into battle! We rafter right back up to the same jump spot as yesterday, which has the shorter and higher jump. Today, everyone was eager to try the higher jump! We played a new game called the psychiatrist, where one person tries to guess the rule that the group makes up. A tricky one was that everyone’s answers had to begin with the last letter of the person before them’s answer. If you can’t tell by now, this group loves playing games!! We played the psychiatrist until we rafted up to a waterfall! We all climbed out of the rafts and climbed up to the tallest part of the waterfall! Kayra went under the falls for a refreshing shower that was a little more powerful than she expected! She said it was her highlight of the day!! After taking in the waterfall views and taking turns going under it, we headed back down to the rafts. We rafted back to our camp, and on one of the last rapids, the guides told us we could float down the rapids! Bailey jumped right in, sunglasses still on, ready to experience the river in full force! We all floated down to a beach where the rafts picked us up. We made it back to our camp and had a minute to chill out before lunch. Lunch was so amazing, we had veal and potatoes! The meat was slow-cooked, so it was literally falling apart as we were trying to put it on our plates! We had a super chill rest of the evening – hanging out in Enos, reading books, playing card games, and just chatting! The weather was so beautiful, and we were tired out from the long days rafting, so it was the perfect rest of our day! We had dinner, then moonup, then hung out for a little while before hitting the hay!
Today was especially exciting because we had a hike planned! We woke up earlier than usual to get on the road! We got into the vans, turned the speakers on, and rolled the windows down! Our first stop of the day was a gas station, where everyone got to pick out a snack! Even though it was fun getting snacks, it was almost even more fun checking out all of the different flavors of snacks we know from home! There are a lot of different Pringles, Doritos, and Fanta flavors! A few kids got some snacks to try! We got back on the road, then drove up to the most beautiful view ever! We couldn’t believe that this was just the beginning of our hike! We all packed up our bags and then started walking! The hike began on a rocky path that brought us to the Bosnia/Montenegro border! After crossing the border on foot, we continued on our hike that brought us down through the woods, then into a giant meadow of beautiful flowers!! We were surrounded by mountains! We walked through the meadow, not without having a photoshoot, of course, then continued on our way to the lake! We hiked up through the woods, and the lake seemed to have come out of nowhere! We all cheered with joy when we saw the lake!! At this point, we were all ready for lunch, so we sat at the picnic table and had some delicious sandwiches! After having a great lunch, we threw on our swimsuits and ran into the lake! First, we swam out to a log, then Caleb led us all out to a rock island in the middle of the lake!! We lay in the sun for a little bit on the island, but the clouds rolled in, and we jumped back in for warmth! We swam back to our backpacks, then changed back into our hiking clothes to head back to the van! It is an out-and-back hike, so we continued on the same path we arrived on! It started to sprinkle, and instead of letting the rain get her down, Savy told everyone to look out for rainbows! We didn’t end up seeing one, but her positivity helped keep the group’s vibes high during the hike!! We kept walking, stopping only to take pictures and to take in the views! Towards the end of the hike, we all spread out and walked alone until we reached the van. We love doing this at the end of the hike so everyone can truly take in the views and think back on what they just accomplished!! We all made it back to the vans, stretched out, then headed home. Obviously, the windows were down, and Mills had a main character moment on the car ride home, with her hands out the window singing along to every song!! We all agreed that the car ride home was such a vibe after our long hike. We got back and had another amazing meal, then headed over to Moonup. We had waited so long after dinner that we assumed there would be no desserts, but the owner of the hostel surprised us right before moonup, saying that he was making us crepes!! We headed over to Moonup, then eagerly went over to the restaurant for the dessert that awaited us! We put Nutella and jam on the inside, and they were so good!! The perfect end to such a fun day!!
It felt like we just got to Bosnia, but now we are off to ALBANIAAAA!! Wooohoooo! We all gathered into one van and then hit the road to get to our destination as soon as possible. The car ride was a mix of singing along, sleeping, and playing games. We all were taking in our last view of Bosnia as we drove on the most scenic route through tunnels in the mountain around the river! This is where we really got to see the beauty of the Tara River Canyon. Just as everyone was starting to get comfortable, we had a surprise! We were going to the mall! We made a quick stop for some snacks and other shopping in the middle of Montenegro, the country we were driving through to get to Albania. When we got back in the van, everyone gave hauls of what they got from the mall! There was a variety of clothes, fun chip flavors, chocolate, and shoes!! Just yesterday, Kate was talking about how excited she was about when we would get to have fruit on the trip. She not only found a mango at the grocery store, but also said it was one of the best ones she has ever had!! We continued driving through different terrains, then finally crossed the border into Albania, and it wasn’t long after we crossed the border that we were surrounded by mountains!! The views were truly magical. We listened to both country and rap music, and no matter what, we can always count on Evan to bring the best dance moves. We stopped at an amazing viewpoint to take some pictures and stretch our legs, then we headed on our way to our final destination. We finally arrived at the cutest hostel that sits right up in the mountains! Every window we looked out of was filled with mountains! We had the most delicious dinner! Our plates were full of color, and we were just talking about how good a fresh meal would be. Our wishes were answered! We had tons of veggies, and they were sooo good!!! We had an amazing Moonup as the sun set at the church in town. While we were there, we saw a couple taking wedding photos!! We watched the sunset, and it lit up the mountains in the background in a fiery pink and orange. The clouds were low in the sky from the rain earlier, and it was all around astonishing! We are excited to be heading into the trekking portion of our trip, and we cannot wait to update you again afterwards! Ciao for now!!
Here are some shoutouts from the kids!
Caitlyn & Davis
Grace: Hiiiii Mi Familia! I miss yall so so so much but im having so much fun here!! It is so gorgeous! Also happy early birthday mommy love you!!
Kayra: Hi Anne!!! I miss you so much. Bosnia and Montenegro was amazing!! The views when we were rafting the first two days were so pretty. Our hike yesterday was insane and halfway we stopped at the prettiest lake ever and had lunch. My hiking boots aren’t hurting me at all too:) We are on our way to Albania now for trekking, I am super excited Woohoooooooo! Tell Baba and Kaya I miss them so much as well. Can’t wait to show you all of my pix and see you soon xoxo. E and D I miss y’all so much!!
Kate: Hi Mom, Dad, and Campbell! I miss yall tons but Im having so much fun! The first few days we went rafting on the Tara river and went cliff jumping which was awesome! Yesterday we went on an INCREDIBLE hike and I cant wait to show you photos. Right now we are driving from Bosnia to Albania to start the trekking part of the trip! Love and miss yall and please tell Aunt JeJe, Uncle Matthew, Mimi, and Papa I say Hi!! Emerson- I love and miss you tons read the top message to see what weve been doing but I cant wait to fill you in and hang out when I get home! Love you!!!! <3
Emily: Hi Rouse House!! Love and miss yall! I am having a blast and I cant wait to tell yall about all of my adventures! For the first few days we did white water rafting that was awesome and the water here is the most beautiful water I have ever seen! I have done lots of cold plunges, and my favorite thing was the hike it was a incredible view with a lake that we swam in! Thanks again for letting me do this I really appreciate it I cant wait to see yall!! Also Hi Do Better and Leslie miss yall and I cant wait to see yall!!!
Savy: Hi Mom and Dad! I hope yall are having a great time in nyc and I miss yalll. So far we have white water rafted and hiked, and now we are in Albania. I am having the best time and love my group! See yall soon! Hi Lily!!
Mills: Hi everyone!! i miss yall so much its been awesome. we went on this crazy 8 mile hike yesterday and me and grace were dying but davis helped us through. Thank you so much for sending me on this. The views are crazy and i love everyone. Tell everyone i say hi and miss them. See yall soon!!!!
Lauren: hi guys! miss yall a lot having fun! we are otw to albania right now we were just in boznia and we just went to the mall and i bought a dress at zara its really cute so yay. We went on this hike yesterday it was 8 miles it was fun tho! Tell my friends i say hi and margaret and geroge. love yall! see yall soon
William: Hi mom and dad, I am having so much fun thanks for sending me on this trip. Love y’all tell everyone hi.
Evan: Hey mom and dad, i miss yall a ton and im having so so much fun. Weve allready been to three different countries and i cant wait to tell yall all about them. tell everyone i say hi and i miss them, love you all, Evan. Also tell lucky and zeyde a huge thank you for sending me on this trip.
Caleb: Hey Mom and Dad I miss you guys so much! I hope your having the best time in DR and I hope Selah is loving her trip. Ive had so much fun thank you for sending me! I cant wait to see you guys! Love yall!
Hayes: Hey mom and dad, I miss and loves you guys. Tell Campbell happy birthday. We’ve been white water rafting and hiking so far. Thank you for sending me on this trip and can’t wait to see you guys.
Henry: Hi mom and dad, thanks so much for sending me on this trip. It has been really fun so far and Bosnia and Montenegro are beautiful. I miss you guys so much, I love you and see you guys after the trip!
Bailey: Hey Mom and Dad, I miss yall and love yall so much. I’m having a great time Bosnia and Montenegro have been awesome. Thank yall for sending me on this trip!
Safe Arrival!
July 12, 2026
Hello AMG Families!
We heard from our leaders this morning that the group has landed safely! Davis and one student who experienced travel delays are headed to meet the group.
The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure! Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
