End of Vacation

The last few days of our vacation were jam packed, but relaxing and fun. We had a rainy day mid week which was okay. Just so happened 2 of Adrienne's girlfriends from home were in town for the day. We met up with them to shop(in some seriously pouring rain)and warmed up at the coffee shop for awhile. Great for Adrienne to connect with her school friends, and I enjoyed the grown up company!

All over town there were big fish that each store decorated to represent themselves. One was painted in chalkboard paint and you could draw on it. Of course it always busy with kids trying to leave their mark. On this day the rain scared away the people and washed the fish clean. What a treat to be the first to leave a mark!

Lexi got in on it later in the day!

Sof just had fun playing peek a boo!

We took advatage of Mark's dad's hotel pool for the rainy evening.

Grandma bought Sof a new toy.

We had some playtime with just the 5 of us.

We had a night out...just grown ups!

We had dinner out with the whole family.

We had a trolley ride.

We ate more ice cream.

Ran a 5K...

...and saw a parade.

Grand Haven 2011, that's a wrap!

Beachin' It in Grand Haven

I'm lovin' the beach this year. I mean the part where you're actually there and enjoying the sun and sand. Going to beach is an enormous amount of work. It is easier to get up, get ready, drop kids at prospective schools and daycares, and go to my job.

It takes every single hand to get down to the water. Beach bags, chairs, coolers, sand toys, and slippery sunscreened babies produce sweat before you even sit down. Each one of those items taking home enough sand to create your own beach in the bathtub. Everything must be washed, car must be vacuumed,and still you find tiny grains of sand hiding for days to come. But oh the reward is worth it. Quality time with friends spent watching kids make cookies out of sand and dig holes for no reason. Digging a hole in the sand can bring 12 and 2 and everything inbetween together. The idea of digging to China is like a magnet bringing them all together. We were lucky enough to have 3 such beach days this week, all with perfect sun, sand, and wind, with waves to jump.

Family Pictures

We had a photographer come out to the beach tonight to take some family pictures. We were ready early(can you believe it?) so we headed down and I took some of my own. I am terrible at taking pictures, and these turned out so great. I can't wait to see what the real photographer's pics look like!