Summertime in Southwest Michigan

It was a hot May and June which turned into a rainy and cool July. But lately summer has seemed to roll in again and we are enjoying many activities up in Michigan.

We’ve played mini golf. (Hailey brought her stuffed animal and decided to watch instead of play.) Visited a new brewery in Saugatuck. We also rented a boat and motored from Saugatuck up to Holland where we anchored and swam before heading back for the day. We had a gorgeous Tritoon boat so we were able to venture out onto Lake Michigan for a pretty smooth ride and marvel at the beautiful homes on the shoreline. Such a different view than driving around and seeing them from the other end. We hope to rent one more day this summer maybe for a 12 hour time slot in order to maximize our day on the water and maybe fit some tubing in this year too. 

Unfortunately, our bluff has been damaged extensively due to the high water levels in Lake Michigan so we had to find alternate beaches for the summer while they shore up and protect our bluff. Last weekend, we discovered the north beach at South Haven and were pretty impressed. I think it's one we'll definitely go back to. We've also been using our friend's beach as well but lots of stairs on that one and you can't bring a big group if you have friends up. Next year, we look forward to the community pool being built at the end of our street to give us another option of things to do too. 

We've had some friends and family up a bit this summer too which has its own stories and memories that will be told for years. They won't live on my blog but we'll all remember them and tease for years to come. It's always work when we have guests but we make some great memories too which are what a summer home is all about. 

We look forward to spending a week up there in August and discovering more of Grand Rapids and maybe even Detroit before having to return home for high school soccer tryouts. Always something to do up there and even just a short two hours (depending on traffic) feels like you're a million miles away. It's nice to relax and recharge before the start of another busy week. 

Sadie Update

It's been about 7 months since Sadie's stem cell therapy to repair her torn knee ligaments. I would say that it worked great with minimal restriction. Not that she did a lot anyway before but her stance to go to the bathroom now is more stable than ever before. We're currently working on building up her muscle mass in her back legs which after 2-3 years of not being able to really walk anywhere had deteriorated a lot. She goes for walks in the morning and then does therapy in our backyard at lunchtime and then on a longer walk when it's cooler in the evening. Then she goes out one last time before bed. 

She's definitely gotten stronger. Her walks are longer. She's on no prescribed medications just a supplement to help increase her muscle mass in her back legs so she can get up regularly on her own or go up the stairs on her own - which she still needs some help doing. But overall she is definitely has a better quality of life than she did previously. 

Sadie enjoys her long walks to the Farmer's Market in the mornings with Hailey as well as her massage and acupuncture sessions too. I just wish she was a bit smaller so we could get her in the car more easily. Would love to take her for rides more as she really enjoys them but hoisting her up into our SUV is a challenge since she's about 105 pounds. 

Still, you know this dog is going to live forever just because it's always something with her! Fingers crossed she does. 

Swim Championship

The 82nd Annual swim championship was this past weekend. Peyton was excited to swim and garner some medals. Hailey wished that she didn’t swim so well so she didn’t qualify. Her words not mine. Ha!

Peyton swam in the maximum 4 events - 50 free and 50 breast stroke in her 11/12 age group plus two relays in the 13/14 age group. She placed 4th overall in her individual events and her team placed 2nd in both relays with Peyton and her travel swim friend who is also 11 competing with 2 other 13 year olds against all 13 and 14 year olds. They all did great and held their own. Peyton’s breast stroke has really improved. She‘s getting stronger and faster, and dropped some valuable seconds in all her strokes recently. To think that less than a year ago she couldn’t even dive and now she is a competitive swimmer is remarkable.

Hailey was such a trooper joining the swim team part way through their season this year. She had to swim a lot of 50 free and 25 backstroke in the 7/8 age group. She really improved her freestyle breathing by the end and even her backstroke. Her technique just got better and better throughout the short season. She really is a coachable kid who takes the feedback you give her and makes improvements. I’m so proud of her dropping almost 15 seconds on both her times in the championships. While she didn’t earn any medals she definitely could be a contender next year in many strokes when she’s on the older end. What I’m really thrilled about though is the fact that at the beginning of her season just 3 short weeks ago, she was afraid to jump in 12 feet deep water. Now she’s comfortable swimming in it and most recently she was “diving” off the blocks into it. Huge strides for just 3 weeks.

The whole swim team thing did exactly what I wanted it to accomplish this season. 1) Give Peyton more confidence in her swimming and 2) Give me and Hailey confidence that she can swim in deep water.

                                                    (Peyton in black suit, 3rd lane)

Hailey swimming 25 back by herself cause the other swimmers scratched

Happy 4th of July 2021

The rain finally subsided a day or two before the holiday weekend and went on to ruin the 4th of July for those residing on the East Coast. But for those of us in the Midwest, it did leave in its aftermath cooler weather especially in Michigan. Friday was a bit too cool for the beach so it was yard games, a visit to Virtue Cider and then a smoked dinner followed by a bonfire and s'mores with friends. Pretty low key but still enjoyable to be semi normal again after last 4th of July. 

Saturday morning was a leisurely breakfast followed by more yard games (lots of cornhole/bags) and then finally off to the beach for a few hours. It was there that only a brave few ventured into the frigid water. Peyton was one of them. The rest of us soaked up the sun in between some clouds and cooler winds while catching up. The kids (and Tom) built a city in the sand and some (Austen) played beach games with the adults. We needed to watch our time though as our big dinner was planned for the 3rd of July with more smoked meat (ribs and pulled pork) compliments of our friend and his wife who came over to eat with our other friends. It was a good little group of 14 including the kids. We took our time eating appetizers and drinking some summery cocktails before hurrying off to a fireworks display on the beach. Tom lit a huge bonfire that finally needed to be put out with lake water and sand. Poker was played that evening once we returned home (Austen participating) and more drinks and desserts were had.

Sunday was the actual 4th of July but we had planned most of our festivities for Saturday because we needed to be home on Monday for endless kids' activities. So Sunday we had another leisurely breakfast, walked around downtown South Haven and ate some ice cream at Sherman's. We played more bags/cornhole as well as bocce ball before our other friends left and we prepared to return home. It was odd not going to a big fireworks display. For the second year in a row, South Haven canceled theirs - last year because of the water levels and COVID and this year they said because of COVID but maybe they just wanted to save money. We saw a lot anyway on the way home from Michigan and the best part about driving home later that night on the 4th of July was there was barely any traffic so we got home quickly! Hurray for America! 

Virtue Cider

The South Haven Pier on the 4th

 

Beach Fireworks