Holland

At the end of July, the four of us and my parents drove 3 hours north for a three-day vacation in Holland, Michigan.  What a cool place!  We were so impressed by the multitude of activities to do and sights to see.  We wished we had had a whole week to spend there!  We loved getting to go with my parents.  They were huge helps with the kids, and it was just more enjoyable sharing our time with them.

We headed out Thursday morning, and stopped for lunch at a park.  Clara finally fell asleep for about the last 30 minutes of our trip.  That was the only nap she got for the whole day, but she made it through really well.

After we got checked in at our hotel (Residence Suites at Marriott), we drove around Holland a little to get a feel for the city.  We stopped to walk around a boardwalk overlooking the lake.  The weather was beautiful (perfect all weekend), and so was the scenery.  Clear, blue water, very beautiful.  Eli liked watching the boats and jet skis going across the water and kept asking to go on a boat ride.

We didn't have enough time to really do the beach that day, but we still wanted to stop by one to walk in the sand for a bit.  We found a perfect secluded spot where several ducks were hanging out.  We sat down on some rocks and then one duck just came right up to us!  I grabbed some bread out of our car, and it ate right out of our hands!  When the bread was gone it nibbled at our feet!  Eli got such a kick out of that duck, and we were all pretty amazed at it.  Eli couldn't resist getting his feet wet.  He had a ball wading in the water.

That evening we ate dinner at a place called Cranes in the City.  It had yummy sandwiches and delicious pie!  It was a casual atmosphere, and as Eli ate his grilled cheese, he stepped out the door to go talk to people on the sidewalk (with only one shoe on).  He's one friendly kid!  The streets really became packed that evening.  Apparently Thursday nights in Holland are for street performers.  We saw musicians, clowns, dancers, etc.  So cool!  Downtown Holland was full of so many fun-looking shops I would have loved to check out, but there just wasn't time on this trip.  Maybe we'll check them out another day!

We purposefully reserved a hotel that was a suite so we'd have more room for the four of us to sleep without bothering each other too much.  The main room had a full kitchen and a couch with a pull-out bed for Eli.  Then we had a door that led to a separate room and bathroom for us.  We managed to squeeze a pack 'n play into the bathroom (that had the shower and toilet) for Clara to sleep in there, so that we could put each kid to bed and still hang out in our room.  It worked really well, except for having to squeeze into that bathroom whenever we wanted to use it on the trip.  Pretty nuts!

Both kids slept perfectly the first night, although Eli woke up extra bright and early on Friday.  Of course he was excited to go to the beach!  Since Clara had missed so much sleep on Thursday, I knew she'd enjoy the beach a lot more if she could nap before we went.  So while Clara napped, Eli and Grammie went swimming in the hotel pool.  Eli hasn't been swimming since last summer, and he LOVED it!  He wore a life vest, and was nervous and scared at first, but through the time they spent there, he progressed really well and became much more confident.  It was so nice of my mom to swim with him, and teach him how to be brave in the water.

Finally, it was time to head to the beach!  We thought it'd be nice to go to a beach that was quieter and less crowded, and that you didn't have to pay for.  The men found one they thought sounded good--Laketown Beach.  Turned out it involved climbing at least 200 stairs over a huge sand dune.  We knew beforehand there'd be some stairs to climb, but we had no idea it would be anywhere close to that many.  We packed WAY too much stuff (including a heavy cooler and 4 camping chairs). All of us had a lot to carry (+ a baby), and it was NOT FUN to hike all those steps with your arms loaded.  Eli was such a trooper.  It was really hard for him, but he made it.  When we were going down stairs getting closer to the beach he slipped and fell, going down a few stairs on his tummy.  Scared us both so bad!

        Just a portion of the stairs we climbed!                                          Eli at the top of the dune!

Put my heavy load down cuz Dave wanted to take my picture.

The beach really was gorgeous!  Felt like we were at the ocean, but very small area, not many people, and clean.  Eli got right to work helping some other kids dig a big hole in the sand.  Then later he moved to a different area to dig his own hole with Grammie.

 David apparently didn't feel like the stair-hike was enough exercise, so he went jogging along the beach and also ran up a big dune.  That boy.  : )  Afterwards he went way out in the lake by himself (it was pretty chilly, about 65 degrees).  He also brought Eli out with him, too.

Clara loved playing in the sand.  She kept diving in the big hole and climbing back out again.  It was really hard to feed her without sand being all over her food.  But that was nothing compared to the end of our stay.  She put several fistfuls of sand in her mouth!  She must have thought it tasted good because it was hard to get her to stop!

That evening for dinner we ate at a yummy pizza shop.  We put the kids to bed, and then around 11:00 pm Clara woke up crying hard.  I squeezed into that nutty bathroom and rubbed her back to settle her back down.  But then she continued crying/stopping for a while/repeat.  Finally I picked her up to try nursing her.  In the middle of the feeding she spat up a lot.  But then I realized it was not spit up but throw up. BLECH.  We turned on the lights to clean it up (all over me and our bed).  We assumed all that sand-eating was rearing its ugly head of consequences.  Clara proceeded to throw up 5 or so times in the following two hours.  She'd have pretty big gaps between each time, so we'd think we'd try putting her back to bed, only to have another episode (one of which WAS while putting her back to bed, so it got all over her jammies (her only pair) and her bedding/toys.  Our whole room was covered in throw up, and we used every single towel to try to catch and clean it.  It was disgusting.  And exhausting.  Felt so bad for our poor baby, and it was a crummy way to spend our vacation.  Thankfully we all somehow managed to get back to sleep that night.

On Saturday, our last day of our trip, Clara was so overtired from missed naps and a rough night.  I decided I'd stay at the hotel with her so she could nap (and I could pack/clean) while everyone else did some sight-seeing.  Eli went swimming with both Grammie and Grandpa (Grandpa played "Shark" with him and he loved it).  Then the gang headed out to visit the Big Red Lighthouse.

There was a flock of seagulls during their visit, and Eli loved chasing them and making them fly away.  When asked what his favorite part of the day was, Eli replied, "Seagulls!"

We checked out of our hotel, and made our last stop at Windmill Island Gardens.  What a fun way to end our trip!  So picturesque, it felt like we were inside a storybook!  First we listened to an old-fashioned player-organ, then we headed up to the big windmill and watched some Dutch dancers.

Windmill Island Gardens had so much to do, including things for kids!  We ate a picnic lunch, rode a beautifully painted carousel (Clara HATED it), watched some brand new baby chicks and peacocks, watched a video about the history of the windmill, tried on wooden shoes, and ate yummy windmill cookies!

We are so grateful for the opportunity to take this wonderful family vacation!  Even though there was lost sleep for the kids they really did awesome, and I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  : )
Many great memories made!