Our trip was an unqualified success. It was hands-down the best vacation I've had since becoming a parent. It was just about as perfect as a vacation with two little ones can get. We had fabulous weather every single day. It was just glorious.
Here's a recap for any interested parties out there. I imagine there are at least one or two....
We arrived Saturday afternoon. Hit the grocery store and had a somewhat frantic dinner out. Sunday morning we headed to the beach bright and early, but Ella wasn't really digging the scene. It was too windy, and the sand was blowing and biting. Gramma and Grampa arrived at naptime and went off on their own for a bit while the four of us enjoyed a very nice nap. After which, it was beachtime again! This time, Ella got into the spirit of things. We all predicted that by the end of vacation, she'd be a maniac in the water, and that certainly ended up being the case. But that first day, she refused to go any farther than the shore. Of course, my little daredevil baby loved the water immediately.
Sunday evening, Dean's parents graciously volunteered to babysit for us, so we had a lovely dinner out (and alone!). Now *that* truly felt like a vacation!
Monday afternoon, our friend H arrived with her twin boys A and C to spend a few days with us. We enjoyed a nice big dinner with them and with Dean's parents before the latter headed back home. We wished they had been able to stay longer, as we certainly enjoyed having them around!
Tuesday was more of the same: beach and more beach, this time with A and C in tow. Good fun!
Let's see.... Really, the rest of the week was like the beginning of the week. On Wednesday, we headed to Holland, MI, to an indoor aquatic center with a zero-depth pool and slide. This was a big hit! Then we hit a farmer's market in downtown Holland for some peaches, bread, kettle corn, and cherries. Yum! Afterward, we had our second vacation dining experience with the kids. Chaos ensued once again. I don't know what happened--Ella used to be so good in restaurants....
So basically, plenty of swimming. Lots of trips for ice cream. Some shopping in downtown Saugatuk. Dean and I went jogging on several occassions. Beautiful scenery but LOTS of hills. We took turns getting up at the crack of dawn with the girls. When it was my turn, I headed to Respite, a small coffee shop in downtown Douglas (within walking distance of where we were staying). Once I'd had coffee and the girls had eaten some yummy muffins, we'd walk to the old-school park or down to the river. Good times. Of course, the one time we tried this with Dean, the girls were a disaster in the cafe. Oops.
We spent many lovely hours at the beach. There were fairly big waves nearly every day that we were there, which made for some fun swimming. The girls also enjoyed lots of time in the sand. Sadie would snack (the kid loves to have unlimited access to snacks!), color, read, and play with buckets of water. Ella spent a lot of time burying herself and Dean in the sand. I actually got to read quite a bit while we were at the beach, which was an unexpected treat.
As I mentioned earlier, our last day was a rainy one--the only rainy day of our entire trip. We capped off the week with our first successful vacation dining experience (save the one we had without the kids!). Then we went for a final ice-cream cone.
And that is the extraordinarly boring tale of our fantastic vacation. Like I said, it was the best vacation I've had since becoming a mother. And there have been a few. The first (when we took Ella to Florida at 15 months old) was a complete shock to my system. I didn't expect vacationing with a baby to be so much WORK (oh, how naive I was back then!). Later that same year, we took a trip to Michigan (stayed at the same house with A and C), but at that time, I was pregnant with Sadie and just not feeling great. Then there was our New Mexico trip when Sadie was four months old. Which.... Well, let's just say that was an interesting experience. I'm surprised Dean and I are still married after that one! (Just kidding, really!). Anyhow, this trip was absolutely perfect. I mean, there were moments that weren't perfect, but most of the time, I really, really enjoyed myself. And what's perhaps nearly as important (kidding again!), Dean and the kids enjoyed themselves too.
The end. I took many, many pictures. You can find them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/my2girlsrock/YesMichigan
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