It's Feeling Like a Vacation

The kids haven't been on a real vacation in over a year and with no plans for the rest of 2020 due to COVID, we are making sure that our time in South Haven certainly feels like we are on a real vacation.

This past weekend we were only able to get up there mid-afternoon on Friday. Traffic was the worst we'd seen in a long time and what normally would have taken us two hours took us three. So instead of running to the grocery store right away, we unloaded and headed for lunch at a local dockside grill to watch the boats head in and out of the marina.

The weather was perfect; we all enjoyed checking out the boats and the food was pretty good too including their famous drink the Rum Runner. After that we headed home to change into our suits and hit the beach for a few hours before taking a drive to Holland for some frozen yogurt.

Saturday we still needed to head to the grocery store but before we made the kids tag along on our boring errand, we headed to pick blueberries at a local blueberry farm. It was hot but our kids were quick pickers and we ended up taking home more than a few pounds of blueberries. (Hailey found the biggest blueberry.)

Finally back at home, we had our neighbors from CH over for some outside cocktails since they have a house on a nearby lake before enjoying some shredded chicken on the smoker with our family for taco night.

Sunday was probably the best day though. We visited Lake Arvesta - this new hot spot in South Haven where they have stand up paddle boards, kayaks and all kinds of floaties on their man-made lake. They also have a huge inflatable water course that was definitely challenging and fun. My kids didn't want to get out of the water. We toured their hundred acre farm via tractor and then played a few games of pickleball too. This place is going to be a huge destination for vacationers and residents alike with mini golf and waterskiing slated to open in the next year or so. Such a fun time.

We ended Sunday evening with a dinner and a family movie at home (The Parent Trap) which none of us had ever seen. It was the right mix of funny and sweet for all ages.

It was a great weekend and one that felt like we truly were on a vacation. We only wish it lasted longer!

Halfway Through Summer

We are halfway through summer and a lot is still up in the air as of right now. We aren't sure the kids are going back to school full time or if they will be going in some sort of hybrid model. Our district is pointing to going

Austen pitching

back five days a week but a lot can change as we know over the course of the next month. They are due to start school on 8/24 with no after school activities. Our high school sports association has yet to make the call if there will be fall sports this year. I think several other travel and rec programs are waiting to see what they do before completely pulling the plug on their own fall seasons. Travel seems to be a bit more loose so they may have a chance of playing if everything else gets shut down. Our own rec soccer numbers are less than half of what they were last year so we'll see how that goes this year with combined age groups likely.

We've been heading to Michigan when we can and have enjoyed some great beach days up there. The weather has certainly been great except for these crazy pop up storms that seem to wreak havoc on our sports games/practices. Glad we have that place to escape to this summer when we want and when we can - even if it's only for 24 or 36 hours like last weekend. We're contemplating buying a boat or putting in a pool up there too. Lots of time this summer to think about it and do the research. It's really been an interesting sort of summer with not much for the kids to do during the week. The girls got their hair cut for the first time in almost a year for Peyton and in almost 6 months for Hailey. They needed it! They also completed a short volleyball camp last week for three days which was a nice break especially for Hailey. She didn't want to do it but she ended up loving it. Peyton also participated at a different time/age group and I think enjoyed just having something structured to do. She's going to be doing some private swim team swim lessons over the next few weeks to likely prepare her to try out for a competitive year-round swim team in a year too. A little fitness for her and help perfecting her strokes as well as her diving to make the most of her time.

Peyton's haircut

Hailey had 4.5 inches cut off her hair
and had some temporary glitter sprinkles added

Back in Season

Well, baseball and soccer season have officially kicked off with games and I don't think the girls missed one minute of watching Austen's sports over the last four months. Either that or they are out of practice because

a 4-hour baseball game (with a 20 minute rain delay) and then a soccer game after a 70 minute rain delay yesterday was enough for them.

Then this morning they had to wake up and go to another game but luckily that one was only two hours! We made it worth their while though finding a cute donut shop to grab donuts before the game (since it was an away game and Austen had to be there 1 hour before). They also got pretty lucky because Austen's soccer game was at the same time as his baseball game today so he could only make one of them. This meant a lot of outside time when the weather was cooperating. Lots of storms blowing through too and making these days/games even longer than needed. This week we head into another 5 games between the two sports.

When we are playing at home, Peyton brings her bike and rides around the 23 acre park on her bike with her friends. Hailey on the other hand chose to bring her chair and a book to read during the game. At least they both have their own way of killing time while their brother plays. 

Austen on the other hand has made his fair share of diving catches in the outfield as a center fielder and made some great plays at short stop. He's also done a little pitching so far this season when needed. He's always been a great fielder but like many baseball players in past seasons he's struggled coming into the season at the plate. He takes several games to warm up and hit his stride often finishing at the top of the team for ERA. But this year, he hasn't waited so long to hit his stride. Nothing fancy (yet) but solid performances with a lot of RBIs. Don't get me wrong he's had his share of strikeouts too (one a game) but he's swinging the bat and being aggressive wanting to hit the ball even if it's not a strike. As for soccer, he had two beautiful goals and an assist on Saturday in the first half alone. He looks strong and fit but he's the one who has been practicing and running during the pandemic. You can definitely tell the kids who have. He's one of them.

4th of July in a Pandemic

This summer certainly is a lot different than past summers. First off, we took our vacation earlier in the summer rather than later. We usually wait til late July or August to take a week in Michigan or somewhere else. But this year all sports have been moved to summer and as of tomorrow we are in game mode several times a week so

this may have been our last full week we'll be able to get to Michigan. We made the most of it too.

We were gone Monday to Monday and it still was not enough time to get everything in we wanted to do but we certainly did some fun things. The weather was perfect so we hit the beach a few times including all day on the 4th of July. We checked out a local brewery on July 3rd and sampled their flights of beer while chickens ran around at our feet. We took the kids on a dune ride in Saugatuck which was a lot of fun. Our guide was funny and sarcastic and certainly made the tour that much more enjoyable. Thanks Nate Holly (he's also a local musician so maybe we'll see him play at Captain Lou's in South Haven or Wally's in Saugatuck)! We found a field of poppies in red, white and blue that had been planted in honor of a fallen soldier. And despite the heat, we found a U-Pick strawberry farm and actually paid to pick 5 quarts of their delicious strawberries that we proceeded to use in various recipes including a strawberry cobbler, a cocktail, a frozen fruit smoothie and a salad. They were so sweet and delicious just like candy. I can't believe I didn't start liking strawberries until I was in my 30s! We ended our trip with a  kayak ride. Austen had a single kayak and Tom and I had a tandem with the two girls. Of course right when we pushed off from shore Peyton started screaming that there was a spider in the boat. She almost flipped us. I told her to step on it but she didn't want him on her shoe. Tom tried to sidle up next to us to remove the arachnid but he couldn't see it (it was tiny) so I had to slowly crawl my way to the front and grab him by the leg and throw him into the lake (and I really don't care for spiders either) but seriously she was causing such a raucous on the lake that I thought they were going to have to come rescue us. After that it was nice and relaxing. A lot of the boat traffic was gone and it was peaceful to paddle around the river and in the Saugatuck Harbor.  

This year was also different because the 4th of July was a little more low key with less people. There was a lot of beach time, eating and then some fireworks. Because a lot of the fireworks shows were canceled because of the pandemic many people did their own and it's legal in Michigan. Tom had gotten some big fireworks from our neighbors in Illinois that he didn't wind up reading the directions and almost took out a few houses because he placed it upside down. This is why we should leave the fireworks to the professionals!

I'm very happy that we did more this week than just hanging out at the beach. We all have great tans after only 3 beach days during the week and who needs more?! There are only so many days you can spend in the sun says this former sunworshipper!