Family Vacation, Part 4---Cottage time

Well, if I wait much longer to finish these vacation posts I won't even remember what was going when I took the pictures!  I really haven't posted any pictures yet of what we did when we were hanging out at the cottage, so here are a bunch of random pictures of our time at the cottage.

We really only had a couple of days when the weather was good for being on the beach and in the water.  The kids had a great time on those days!

Ready to jump....

...and in they go!!

It was also lots of fun to watch the fish swimming near the dock and to feed them stale bread.

Abby entertained us with some fireworks that produced smoke in different colors. We watched from the safety of the deck.

And of course we had a campfire and s'mores one night. 

Not all our fun was outdoors---here's a game of Crazy 8's.

And here's Evan catching up on his texting on Auntie Abby's phone.

Did you ever see a cuter pair of cousins?

This shot, or one like it, will probably show up on our Christmas card. :)

And that wraps up our week at Crystal Lake. I love looking at all these pictures--- they bring back so many good memories!

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!