Holland, Mi - Day 3

We woke up on Thursday morning, our last day in Holland, to beautiful blue skies and the warmest temperatures all week. We quickly packed and cleaned and then were off to spend a couple hours at the State park beach before heading home. 

Here is the lighthouse that Kyle and Stefan kayaked to the day before. I love the red color!

 As you can tell by Brett's smiles, he sure had fun running through the sand!

 Check out the beautiful blue of the sky. Nature at it's finest :-)

Me, Kyle, and Baby Bingham #2 (24 weeks along)!

Brett decided to forgo his still damp swimsuit from the day before, and when his shorts got wet from the waves, he did what any 5 year old boy would....stripped them off! 

Brett and Sophie were mesmerized by the huge cruise ship passing by! Way cool :-)

Love my smiley boy!

We stayed at the beach for a couple hours, stopped for lunch and ice cream, and then headed home. By the picture below, I think Brett had a good time :-) I don't even know the last time he fell asleep in his car seat!

Thank you for the wonderful time, Allie and Stefan! We had a blast and definitely hope to go back next year!

Holland, Mi - Day 2

Wednesday was another great day in Holland! In the morning, Kyle and Stefan went Kayaking down the lake to the Light House while the rest of us stayed in our PJ's and played inside. When they got back we went to this amazing restaurant called "De Boers" that serves breakfast all day....and let me just say, the waffle I had was to die for! It was quite a popular place so we waited for almost 45 minutes for a table, but it was oh so worth it for all the good food we ate! After that we went back to the house and down to the beach for the afternoon. That evening, before dinner, the 3 boys (Kyle, Stefan, and Brett) went to check out this cool lookout area. They had to climb 240 steps to reach the top that overlooked Lake Michigan. Kyle was a little worried that Brett would get tired...but nope, he ran right up with no problem! That night we ate a yummy dinner, enjoyed the beautiful sunset outside, and went to bed early :-)

Brett loved playing the piano! He was so proud after his first "song" :-)

Lydia...such a cutie!

Despite a few sibling type disagreements, Brett and Sophie had lots of fun together! One of their favorite things to do together was play chase games :-)

Rough housing with Kyle was also lots of fun!

 Like his daddy, Brett is a map guy! Here he is checking out the map before they conquer the big climb to the Lookout area.

And they reached the top!

Allie got out her old painting set from when she was a kid for Brett and Sophie to try out. Brett immediately started mixing different colors together to see what new color they would make. Sophie wanted to do everything Brett did, so it didn't take long for her to start mixing too :-)

This picture doesn't do justice to the gorgeous sunset we witnessed!

Hanging out on the patio after dinner....another perfect end to a wonderful day!

Holland, Mi - Day 1

We awoke around 9:30 on Tuesday morning to a beautiful sunny day. After eating breakfast and playing inside for a little bit, we ventured down to the beach to play. It was still too cool out for swimming in the frigid Lake Michigan water, but that sure didn't stop Brett and Sophie from living it up in the sand, collecting water for sand castles, and running from the waves. They had so much fun! We stayed down by the water for a couple hours, then headed to downtown Holland for lunch and some shopping....and then spent the afternoon back at the beach. Such a perfect day!

Goofy Stefan enjoying some R & R while the kids play :-)

Kyle built this huge hole/tunnel for Brett to play in. Although it wasn't big enough to crawl through (probably safer that way!), Brett loved helping dig it out!

Such beauty.

 Allie and little Lydia just chillin', enjoying the day :-)

Later that afternoon, Kyle and Stefan took Brett and Sophie down the beach to Tunnel Park to explore. 

 There were seagulls everywhere so the kids had lots of fun chasing them! :-) 

Seagulls!!!

That evening, after the little girls went to bed, we pulled out some new Legos to entertain Brett for the night, while us adults chatted away. It was another great day and night!

Holland, Mi - Our First Night

This summer, for a little vacation, our friends Alison and Stefan invited us to go to Allie's parents lake house in Holland, Michigan. We were looking forward to this getaway very much and were so excited when the time finally came to go! We left Monday evening after Kyle got home from work, and 2 and a half hours later, we were there! That is one of the great things about going west instead of up north....you get the same beautiful lakes and quaint towns without having to drive as far. Definitely a bonus in our book, especially since we're used to driving over 8 hours to Wisconsin!

We arrived around 8:30, more than ready to stretch our legs and check out the beach! Allie and Stefan's kids, Lydia (1) and Sophie (3) were already in bed so Brett had the place to himself to explore. Even though it was in the chilly 50's that night, Brett loved running down to the water and then racing back up when a wave hit. And of course, climbing through the big sand mounds was tons of fun too!

Happy Boy!

Running up the sand hill as the waves chase him away :-)

After playing down by the water for a good hour or so, we headed back up to the house for snacks and chill time. Brett was so full of excitement and energy, he didn't fall asleep until after 11pm! Good thing he likes to sleep in, otherwise he would've been a disaster the next day! Stay tuned for our first full day!