back from vacation picture overload

Bob and Susan watching the sunset on the beach
Aunt Nancy and Susan at the lighthouse
Emily sports her new SmallTown Heroes t-shirt and the cutest Keen sandals ever
Aunt Meg and Jonathan at the lighthouse
Late night fun on the dock
"CHEEEEEESE" on the lighthouse
My mom and me

My kids with cousin Sam at the top of a sand dune on the dune ride in Saugatuck
Catching fish in Lake Macatawa
Emily and Jonathan played trains out on the porch most days.

We had a fabulous time at Lake Michigan, as always. The weather was just right--upper 70's, low 80's during the day and 60's by night with the great lake breeze blowing most days. We had a little snag at the beginning of our trip. We were supposed to leave last Friday morning, but Mary woke up vomiting and had a fever. She had gone to the doctor on Wednesday for her 6 year check up and got vaccinations, so I thought her fever was from that. I took her back to the doctor first thing on Friday and found out she had strep throat! Brian graciously offered to stay with her for a day at home while I took the other kids and headed up to the vacation house.
He and Mary came up Saturday afternoon and she was back to her old self within a few days. The first few days she would get exhausted pretty easily and sleep for hours at a time, but I don't think she minded. We had lots of people in and out of the house this year, but in general we had around 15 people staying there. Some of our favorite things from this year's trip were:

THE BEACH!! Right outside our doorstep, walks to the lighthouse and the big sand dune, Lake Michigan beach. Lots of big waves this year for body surfing.

The Farmer's Market in Holland. Always fun for produce nerds like me. I got my 15 lbs. of blueberries in the freezer when I got home and made peach jam already too!

The Dune Ride. Brian and I have been three times now this summer and it is fun every time. We were talking about how fun it would be next summer to rent a cottage for the summer and he could drive the dune rides

Free Coffee Drinks in Holland. We were at the shoe store, talking about how we needed a coffee pick-me-up and some lady told us that the barista school down the block was giving away free drinks (not just brewed coffee--any coffee drink you wanted) for FREE. They made the most delicious coffee smoothies with coffee and ice cream.

The week wouldn't have been complete without a major storm over Lake Michigan and we got ours on the last night. My dad found out there were 100 mph winds. The thunder and lightning were right on top of us and the rain was pelting in sideways. I think the power went out around midnight and came back in the early morning hours. It's scary when you are right on the water with nothing to block the storm.

Hanging out with our family for a week. Man, it was so fun!! Nobody has a family like we do.