Michigan Vacation

Vacation was wonderful. It was fun, relaxing, rejuvenating, full of memories. Like all good things though, it had to come to an end. We made it home early Saturday morning and spent the day trying to get caught up on chores-laundry, mail, balancing the checkbook, picking up the dog at the kennel....nothing too exciting but necessary.

We arrived in Michigan earlier than anticipated, so after a nice break at Holland State Park, we went directly to our campsite at Silver Lake. We had to pick Jim up at the airport in Grand Rapids the next day and by the time we returned, most of my family had arrived. It was wonderful to spend time with everyone. Everywhere I turned, there were people I knew! We played games, sat around the campfire, swam, went to an art fair, and of course went on Crazy Dom's Dune Ride! I have never gone so fast in my life-it was great fun! My friend Sarah and her boys came to visit one night, and I will never forget our ride together! At Holland, my boys saw people that had skim boards riding the small waves. They thought that looked like fun, so they purchased one at Silver Lake and worked on their own moves.

After we left Silver Lake, we drove up to Pentwater. Jim's sister was supposed to be docked in the marina there, but that information was old and he didn't know the name of her boat, so we were not able to find her. We did enjoy lunch and a stroll around town-Pentwater is a really nice! On our way to Saginaw, we stopped at Rock Lake. I explained to the present owner that my grandparents once lived there and I asked permission to show my boys the lake. I was hoping he would also invite me inside, which he didn't, but he did say we could go out back and look around. I remember the big picture window at the back of the house that looked out on the lake. Gram and Pa had a table and chairs in front of that window, and the new owner does too. The back yard and lake were pretty much as I remembered it, except for the wall that my sister,De, went over on her tricycle. I remember a small beach at the foot of that wall where she face planted and came up with sand in her nostrils and mouth. Now the lake comes right up to the retaining wall. I am really glad we stopped-I have such good memories of Rock Lake. Time in Saginaw was mostly spent doing chores and visiting family. Got caught up on laundry, paying bills, and had the oil changed in the car. Jim's mom had knee surgery the day we left, so she was hurting while we were there. Jim's sister Dorothy bought a new house which is very nice. We went to the Bay City fireworks with them. The last time I went to the Bay City fireworks I was pregnant with Noah! Johonna's girls are home for the summer with their dad, so we were able to see them. July 4th we were in St. Helen visiting Jim's dad. Thursday we drove back across the state and camped at Warren Dunes State Park. That is another beautiful place! We unhooked our camper and drove to Michigan City to meet up with Jim's sister Shelly. Her plans had changed and instead of a two week sail up to Pentwater, they were only able to go out for the weekend. She took us sailing on Lake Michigan. Sailing is rather slow and relaxing, so I was quite surprised that the boys really enjoyed it. Uncle Jon rigged up some stuff, so the boys were able to swing from the mast out over the lake and make a big splash as they let go. Nate is strong enough to hold on and he swung all the way around the boat! He tried to go a second time-but crashed into the back of the boat instead! We came back to our campsite and made dinner and sat around the campfire. The next day we went to the beach. It is a fantastic beach and the water was perfect! We had a picnic and then headed for home. We intended to stay at a campground one more night, but drove straight through and slept in our own beds instead.

I stopped in at work yesterday to get my new schedule-and I'm not looking forward to going back. At least vacation gave me the peace and strength I needed to go on! The weather was perfect the entire trip, so it was hard to come home and deal with the oppressive heat again. It was nearly 100 yesterday. It has obviously been hot and dry here-my yard is brown. I tried to do laundry yesterday, but it made the upstairs so hot. Of course it didn't help that my laundry exhaust pipe was all disconnected and it was venting directly into the bathroom! So I climbed back there and cleaned everything up, cleaned out the duct work, bought a better connector piece and some tape and put it all back together. I only got two loads done yesterday, so I'd better get going and finish up today.

Peace and Love