Family Vacation 2013----Part 3

Our family wasn't the only group gathering in Michigan that week---the Diekemas also had most of their kids with them that week. So on Tuesday,  they hosted a gathering of as many Waanders family members as they could---and I think the total attendance was nearly 75!! It was a wonderful evening---some of us hadn't seen each other for about 10 years!

It was definitely a houseful!!  People were spread out throughout the house, on the various decks, UNDER the house, and on the patio and deck of the Diekemas' "old" cottage next door.  That brought back lots of memories!

These second cousins live on opposite coasts---Bethany in Maine, and Evan in California. Bethany just LOVES little kids, and they seem to love her as well. This is the 3rd summer that our grandkids have been able to spend time playing with her.

On Wednesday we had reservations for another train ride---this time on the Coopersville-Marne Railroad. (thanks to a groupon that Cheryl found!) 

Jeremiah was VERY excited about this train ride, even though this picture doesn't show that.

Before getting on the train, Abby and Neil found a store across the street that sold all kinds of old-fashioned candy--like slo-poke suckers (my favorite!) and candy cigarettes, which she generously shared with all of us. :)

The conductor came around and talked with everyone, and here he is answering Jeremaih's questions. 

When we got off the train, Ben was there to meet us.  We had hoped that he would make it in time to go on the train ride with us, but he ran into traffic and got delayed. And the train doesn't wait!! 

Some of us had a coupon for a free donut on the back of the train ticket, so we all made a stop at the donut place for a snack.  We also hit the candy store again before heading back to the cottage.

From my blog posts so far, you really can't tell that we actually spent any time  AT the cottage.  Those pictures will be coming in the next post....hopefully soon!

Family Vacation---Part 2

 Sunday started out kind of rainy and dreary. so we just had a relaxing morning around the cottage.  In the afternoon the weather cleared up and we took a ride to check out some dams on the Muskegon River.  We stopped for ice cream at a nice little place in Newaygo.  Great ice cream---both Hudsonville Ice Cream and ice cream from the Country Dairy, the place we toured last year.

 Monday of our cottage week did not look to be a great day for playing in the water or on the beach.  And Matt had to meet with someone at Calvin that afternoon, so we all decided to head to Grand Rapids for the day.  We spent most of the day at Frederik Meijer Gardens, which is a wonderful place! 

After a short guided tour through some of  the indoor exhibits, we spent some time in the indoor play area.

The kids had lots of fun pushing the vehicles around on the roads and re-arranging all the sculptures and trees.

Then we headed outside and made our way to the fantastic children's play area.

 But on our way we stopped for a "Mad Mom" pose in front of the sculpture by that name.

A cute little girl in front of a cute little sculpture.

I think Jeremiah would have happily spent the whole day in the children's area playing in the sand. 

We took a tram ride around the whole park and learned a lot about all the different sculptures. 

After a lunch break at Panera (where we met Paul and Melissa) we took a nice walk along a pond and saw lots of frogs and turtles.  Our last stop was at the farm.

Abby gave Josie and Jeremiah a little lesson on the workings of an old-fashioned water pump.

Calvin College was our next stop, where we browsed in the Campus Store for a while.  We also relaxed on the Commons lawn and the kids played with frisbees and balls.  Just getting ready for college life----15 years down the road, or so.

On our way back to the cottage we stopped in Grant, and had dinner at the Grant Depot, a very cute little railroad-themed restaurant.

They have a box full of toy trains for the kids to play with while they wait for their food.

And there is a real train car out in front of the restaurant!

Notice he has one foot off the train, just like a real "train guy."

I couldn't get Jeremiah to just pose---he had to man the controls. :)

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Family Vacation 2013---part 1

For us, our family vacation started with a brief "teaser" visit with Matt and Cheryl's family when they flew in to Midway in Chicago.  We met them at the airport on the evening of July 18 and then spent the night at a hotel with them before they headed off to Michigan in our Honda the next morning. Best moment of the evening: when Josie caught sight of us, hopped out of the stroller and came running into my arms.  Priceless! After a 4 hour plane trip, the kids had plenty of energy, and of course they were still on CA time.  So it got to be kind of a late bedtime for them. There was much giggling, squealing and jumping on beds before they were ready to settle down.

This was probably the only time they were both sitting still enough for a picture.

Since it had been a late bedtime, no one was up real early the next morning. I think Evan was the first to wake up, so Matt brought him over to our room for a visit so that Cheryl and Josie could sleep a little longer. 

The breakfast at the hotel ended before we were ready to eat, but we found a great breakfast place not too far from the hotel. 

Evan did some texting while waiting for his food.

Josie was pretty excited about her Mickey Mouse pancake!

After breakfast Matt, Cheryl and the kids got in the Honda and headed to Michigan for their week with the Vanderkamp family. And Dad and I headed back to Brookfield in the (brand new!) Ford Escape. We were so happy that we got to spend that time with them!

The REAL family vacation started on July 26, with our drive to Michigan. We made a stop at Diekemas on our way to Fremont, and Adam, Rachel and Jeremiah were already there. Jeremiah had already found their cool toys and was having lots of fun.  We had coffee and cookies and a little time to visit, and then we drove on up to Fremont.  We stopped at Spanky's for pizza and delicious breadsticks on our way through Fremont.  Then we picked up some groceries and made our way to the cottage.

Saturday morning we drove down to Grand Rapids and went to the Sinkes, where we met up with Matt, Cheryl and the kids. The main item on the agenda:  Train rides!!  Our kids have such fond memories of riding Uncle Carl's train every time we came to Michigan when they were growing up, so it was really fun for Matt and Rachel to see their kids enjoying the same thing. Chuck was on hand to run the train and he was very generous with his time---he said that they could have as many rides as they wanted. Well, I guess if we had really taken him up on that we would have been there all day---we did have several rides, and then a delicious picnic lunch that Cora Mae had made for us, and then a few more rides.

The boys walking down to the train.

It's always fun to sit in the caboose--if you're small enough!

Yes, even Grandma got a ride. Evan actually fell asleep on this ride. 

In addition to the train itself, we also got to see the water tower that Carl and Chuck have built, as well as other projects in their workshop. And we also got to see their beautifully restored Model T. 

  And he even let the kids sit in it!

Well, I think that's it for the first installment. More to come!