How was your weekend? While I tried to force myself to slow down knowing this is our last “free” weekend for a while, I still felt like I was living for my “to do” list. We did go to the pool Friday evening and hung out with friends. I didn’t have to set an alarm either morning, so that was nice too! I had a few errands like returns and Target, and we had our hallway and Hayden’s room painted recently, so we spent time hanging things back up.
Anyway, this is my last full week of summer, and every single day I have something around mid-morning whether it’s an appointment or a workout class! That’s ok…it means I can still have some time in the morning, but then I can get started with my day.
Since this is the last Monday of the month, I’m sharing some memes that made me laugh recently.
Y’all, we’re in the thick of the heat around here. I loved this meme and chuckled when I saw it:
If I’m not in the pool, I want to be in the a/c for sure!
Venmo is a form of entertainment sometimes:
While I don’t have trouble sleeping through the night, I do wish that I could fall back to sleep once I wake up…and often times, that’s not the case.
We typically do laundry on the weekends, but in the summer, I feel like the days run together and all of the sudden the kids tell me they need their clothes washed. That being said, the other day, Hayden sent me a text asking what setting he needed to wash his clothes, and he did that all on his own!
Why did I laugh so hard at this one…and also why am I now actually wondering this? LOL
Back to school emails have started and professional development and work days are just around the corner. *sigh*
We have a counter that’s a drop zone, and we tend to tidy it up every couple of days. That being said, the tray on my island has now become cluttered with odds and ends…including two Christmas ornaments…haha…and I’ve just about had it.
Time for these kids to get back to school!
I hope these memes started your day off with a chuckle!
How was your week? Our week was pretty productive, but every day was different. We only have about two full weeks left of summer before heading back to school. How is that possible?
As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.
This week was a mix of sports, school (classroom set up and PD for me), errands and just trying to get on track after a busy weekend last weekend.
So my favorites for this week are all about our nephew’s wedding last weekend.
One of Trav’s sisters has four kids, and Grace got married in June while Jacob got married in July. I don’t know how they pulled off two beautiful and unique weddings in as many months, but they did!
On Friday, we headed to Louisville, and checked into the Omni hotel. It is stunning! We got to our room and got ready as the shuttle was leaving about an hour after we arrived.
The wedding was held outside at an Air BNB. Yes –an outside wedding at 4:30 PM in July….but the space was gorgeous.
The photographer got this amazing shot:
The pond was also so pretty in the background.
It was hot, but it was a beautiful ceremony filled with only immediate family and a few close friends. The bride’s brother officiated the ceremony and Jacob’s sister also did a reading which made the ceremony even more special.
After the wedding, we headed down town an event space where they hosted a dinner.
The bride hand-stitched napkins for every guest as their place setting. The groom’s mom and grandma (Trav’s mom) made bourbon balls that were also at each place setting. So sentimental and sweet.
We got a few photos…
…after rallying from the heat! My hair looked better at 4:30 than it did at 7:00! haha
The cake was simple and beautiful…
This phone where you can leave messages for the bride and groom must be a popular guest book idea, and it’s so fun. I did joke that who knows what kinds of messages were left by the end of the evening (or the reception on Saturday!)
(Also, on Saturday, we showed the kids how to dial the rotary phone…their minds were blown!)
Hayden is so lucky to have Jacob (a professional runner) as a mentor for him when he’s training.
Trav’s brother is a photographer, so he got some awesome pics of Trav’s mom with her grand kids. Unfortunately, we were missing two cousins who were out of town.
Trav and his mom and siblings. This photo was taken by one of the grandsons who is becoming an excellent photographer and videographer himself.
It was a great evening. The Omni has a bowling alley and while some made it down to bowl once we got back to the hotel, Aunt Jen did not! I showered and put on that hotel robe and was ready for bed. haha
The next morning, we explored the hotel a bit more, and the kids liked going to the market to buy snacks when needed.
The bar area is so pretty…
We walked to Another Broken Egg for brunch, and it hit the spot.
We had family time most of the day and enjoyed the hotel’s amenities, and then it was time for the reception.
So, yes…this was a two day event for some. The reception was Saturday evening and more friends and extended family were there. The bride and groom really wanted a more intimate day for the wedding and then a bigger reception.
When we arrived at the reception, we picked up our seat assignment. Every guess (150-ish!) received post cards that correlated with the assigned table. Each post card had a hand written note from the bride or the groom.
The tables were named after places that were meaningful to them.
This bar was hand made by the groom’s dad and was at both our niece and then nephew’s weddings in June and July. How special!
We took a family photo…
…which led to Trav’s brother being kind enough to take a few photos. You know my kids were thrilled. haha!
We did go outside because the gardens at the Presbyterian Seminary were stunning.
I already have this one in a frame…
I loved this one too!
The kids let me take their pic…
…and then it was time to hit the dance floor. The kids had fun…Hadley told me she had to get used to dancing to a live band…kids these days!
Trav’s brother got this pic to finish up the evening! A time was had…
…before the bride and groom headed off to start married life…
We helped with clean up before getting back to the hotel late. What a weekend!
Favorite Mom Meme:
This isn’t necessarily a “Mom” meme…but these kids could never!
I hope you have a great weekend! We actually don’t have much on tap, so I hope to take it easy. I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about school, and then next weekend Hadley has her first volleyball tournament of the season. So, I better rest while I can.
Well, this post is coming to you a bit late, but it’s one that I wanted to share as a follow up to my posts last week.
Last week, the Share Our Livespost was about travel memories…which got me thinking about the first time we took the kids to Disney World in 2015.
Today’s Throwback Thursday post is a follow up to that one, and I’m sharing about the other time we took the kids to Disney in 2019.
Here we are in 2015…
I had just started my blog when we returned home from this 2019 trip, so I’m assuming I shared at least something, but I couldn’t quickly find it in the blog archives…so here we go with a recap:
On another trip to Siesta Key in 2019, we planned a second trip to Disney World. This time, we decided to stay at the Polynesian the day/night before our day at Disney World. Our friends are frequents as Disney, and they graciously shared their Disney points with us, so we stayed the one night using their points/rewards!
We drove from Siesta Key, and arrived at the Polynesian in time for check in.
These kids got the hang of Polynesian life real quick!
We checked in, got the lay of the land, and hit up the pool. The kids also hit up the hot tub.
After a day of pool activities, we cleaned up, snapped a family pic…
…and went out to eat in Disney Springs. I don’t remember where we ate, but I think it was an Italian restaurant….with balloon fun…a Minnie “hat” for Hadley and a dinosaur for Hayden.
That night, we watched the fireworks from our hotel balcony. If you read my post last week, I shared that when we went to Disney in 2015, the fireworks were rained out. We kept that in mind this time, and our hope was to see them from our balcony the night before and then leave Disney the next day before the fireworks to head back to Siesta Key.
Thankfully, our plan worked!
Who doesn’t love Mickey waffles for breakfast?
We took the monorail (I think?!) from the Polynesian to Disney. So pretty!
Another round of Etsy shirts for these two.
Did you even go to Disney if you didn’t take a pic in front of the castle?
I don’t have a ton of pics, but I know we rode all the rides…including the classics like Dumbo…
…with a few laps around the track.
I didn’t buy the Disney photos, but I have this screenshot from the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. So funny.
Like in 2015, we had a reservation for lunch, but it wasn’t with the characters. We kept it a bit more simple, but were excited for the a/c, a place to sit down, and some food to eat.
Then, we did get a little bit of rain…just as we were at the Swiss Family Robinson house.
Fun fact…Swiss Family Robinson is one of my favorite movies! …and a sweet memory I have from after the trip is that as soon as we got home, we watched the movie as a family…and both kids loved it…especially Hayden.
Since it was raining, I remember we scrambled to find something to do inside which apparently was the Haunted Mansion.
Hadley’s face…priceless!
I do think we ended our day riding Splash Mountain because if we got too wet, we were headed back to the car.
We left around dinner time, changed our clothes in the car, with the kids putting their pj’s on, and stopped for food on the road.
Another trip with sweet memories, but the kids never really asked to go back! Like I said, I’d like to check out the other parks some day, but that’s not on our immediate list.
Hopefully, the kids have sweet memories from those two trips!
Well, it’s really getting real around here. Yesterday, I spent a few hours in my classroom just getting it set up and organized. Today, we have a professional development day. After today, I don’t have to think about school for a bit and can savor the remaining days of summer.
So far, I’ve shared parts one and two of our trip to the Lake Michigan area. We started in South Haven, visited St. Joseph, and then moved on to Saugatuck. I’m picking up where I left off to finish sharing about this trip.
Also, I’m sorry about the number of times I used the word “cute” in my part 2 post…I will try to do better. haha
Friday morning, we had our breakfast delivered around 8:30. Hazelnut waffles and sausage hit the spot.
Then, we got ready and headed into town …
…for our couples massage. Why does the time go so quickly when you get to relax?!
The massage was great, and then we went to Boardwalk to get…
…a smoothie for Trav and juice for me. It hit the spot.
After that, we walked around a bit. I had seen the Christmas store the day before, and I’m trying to get better about picking up ornaments on our travels, so we headed that way.
There are ornament options for everyone!
I loved seeing the Nutcrackers…those always remind me of my Gma.
Some of the cute ornaments I spotted:
I kept it simple with the Saugatuck chair with wreath. I can’t wait to hang it on the tree in December.
After that, we drove back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the day. After a bit, we walked back to town to grab a bite to eat. First, we stopped by the farmer’s market…
…and then we walked down by the water for a bit. It was overcast for most of the day. Of course, I would have loved sunshine and another beach day, but days like this give us time to walk around, shop, and just see where the day takes us…
…apparently, the day took us to The Mitten Brewing Co. haha
Trav had a beer, and we split a pizza. Another lunch, another pizza! I guess we didn’t plan out our lunches very well, but the pizza hit the spot.
We walked around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel. Since it was kind of rainy, we just relaxed and then Trav went for a run.
Another fun aspect of this hotel is that they deliver a little dessert around 5:30! These cheesecake squares hit the spot!
We got ready for our evening. We did have a reservation for a nice steak dinner in Holland, but we canceled it once we realized we were pretty full from lunch. We still drove about twenty minutes to Holland…another town we wanted to check out.
Downtown Holland seemed to be the biggest downtown we saw. We walked around for a bit and then drove around too…
Too bad the tulips weren’t in bloom with the pretty windmill.
We drove past a couple of beaches
So pretty!
…then, it was around 8:00, so we headed back to Saugatuck. We drove back a different way and Trav spotted The Southerner which was one restaurant he’d had on this list. There was a little bit of a wait, but it was worth it. We got to sit on the water, have a drink, and we both had a light dinner.
Then, we headed back to the hotel. I started packing up a bit before bed.
For Saturday’s breakfast, I had eggs, toast, fresh fruit and apple juice.
We had a little bit of time, so I walked for about twenty minutes to get some steps in. I loved seeing these Adirondack chairs that looked like the shape of Michigan.
The water looked pretty too!
Then, it was time to pack up and leave. We drove around the small town of Douglas, and I spotted the library.
We usually just get up and leave when we’re on vacay, but this time, we took our time. We stopped back in St Joseph once more to have lunch. We walked around…
…and walked through another farmer’s market.
Trav went and got us some sandwiches and drinks while I stopped for a crepe.
The campfire crepe was the perfect way to end our vacay.
So, that’s a look at our little trip. Now that we’ve been there, we definitely want to go back; I see why people “summer” a little farther north!
Let me know if you have any questions about our trip.
I hope your week is off to a great start. I’m still recovering from our busy weekend in Louisville. Our nephew got married on Friday and then the reception was on Saturday. So, we had two busy and full days. I will share more about all that later!
Anyway, I shared part 1 of our trip to Michigan last week, and today I’m sharing part 2.
I’d left off on mid-day Thursday when we left South Haven and drove about a half an hour to Saugatuck. We’d heard the Saugatuck was a bit more “artsy,” and I’d say the by the paint palette as we entered the cute town was saying the same thing!
We stayed at the Hotel Saugatuck, and it was so cute. We arrived a couple of hours before we could check in, but we stopped in to let them know if the room was ready a little earlier, that would be great.
After that, we drove about half a mile into town, parked the car and started walking around.
How cute?!
I spotted so many pretty flowers, especially hydrangeas that had me oohhing and ahhing…
We settled on Scooters Pizza, and each got a slice of pizza.
Then, we walked around more. Cuteness at every corner…
You know I found the book store!
I thought this chalkboard was so cute…
We walked around a bit more, and then we were able to check into hotel about an hour early. Our room was “Oval Beach,” and it was so cute.
The hotel has a view of the Kalamazoo River, and we spent lots of time in this cute sun room.
One thing I loved about this place was that they let you choose your breakfast the night before, and then a delivery time between 8-10. For our first morning, I chose the hazelnut waffles and have zero regrets!
We unpacked and then took a quick nap. Trav needed to do some work and wasn’t super motivated to go to the beach, but I was. We’d driven past Douglas Beach, so I headed that way for a couple of hours. Look at this view…
All the steps were fine on the way down, but they were a beast on the way up! At least they were shaded.
There were probably twenty people on the beach, and the weather was perfect. I actually got pretty hot! I almost got in the water, but just got in to my knees to cool off a bit.
I spent two hours reading which was perfect.
As I drove back to the hotel, I spotted these deer…
I had just enough time to shower and get ready for our 7:00 reservation at Coast. Travis was very excited about eating here.
I meant to take a picture of the six course tasting menu…this is the nine course, but it was all so good.
We sat outside, and it was lovely.
This was my first course…it was actually my favorite, and I don’t typically love tuna. This was the tuna crudo, and it was so refreshing.
The other courses:
Australian beef tartare
Risotto
Salmon
Beef tenderloin
Creme Brulee (if creme brulee is on the menu, I will order it!)
They gave us bread in the beginning and suggested Trav’s course come out with my fourth course. He ordered the lamb from the menu. I had a couple of bites, and it was delish.
We left there pretty full, and it was a great dining experience.
After that, we walked over to the Butler for a drink.
Then, it was back to the hotel!
The next morning, we woke up to some rain which was actually so nice and soothing. Our breakfast arrived…
The little juice jars were too cute.
We had about an hour to eat before starting our day.
I hope to wrap up our trip in a blog post tomorrow, but this was our first day in Saugatuck, and it didn’t disappoint.
How was your week? I feel like we’re finally hitting the summer groove with only a couple of more weeks until we go back to school!
As always, I’m linking up with Erika and Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites.
This is a rather short week of favorites as we didn’t have a ton going on, but that, within itself, is a favorite. I’m savoring these slower summer days.
Here are some other favorites:
I typically don’t shop much when we go on vacations…besides picking up the occasional sweatshirt, but on our last day in South Haven, we had some time to walk around and shop.
The first shop I popped into had so many cute things…and I bought a candle and two essential oil rollers. I loved the scent of all of them, and they are a fun way to think about the trip when I use them. I’ve now been using the vanilla scented one on my wrists in the morning and the lavender one at night.
I’ve been enjoying these souvenirs so far!
This week turned into a little bit of self-care this week. On Monday, I got a long overdue manicure, had my monthly facial on Tuesday, and yesterday, I went and got a pedicure. It was nice to have these pockets of time to get some things done for myself.
Homer is always a fave but especially recently. I really think he missed us as the first two weeks of July were different. Hadley was at camp, and then Hayden went to camp, and Trav and I were gone. He likes to sit a beg for a bite of my breakfast!
You guys…my cute little rechargeable dimmable scalloped lamp from Walmart is back in stock. I picked up one for the kitchen, and it’s oh so cute.
Our limelight hydrangea bush is popping off! That thing really grew this year, and right now, the blooms are everywhere. So, I snipped a few to enjoy on the coffee table.
Favorite Meal:
I tried a new recipe this week. I wasn’t sure what to have for dinner, and I already had some pasta and ground beef. So, I went to the Skinny Taste website that I hadn’t been on in years, and found this recipe for Skinny Taste Hamburger Helper. I placed a quick Kroger delivery for the ingredients I needed as well as some frozen breadsticks. Dinner was delish.
Favorite Mom Meme:
“Later” and “I’m about to” are my teens favorite phrases.
Why is this week flying by?! Also, why is it raining nearly every single day here? It’s hard for me to plan my pool time, but I did get a couple hours at the pool yesterday.
Anyway, in Monday’s Share Our Livespost, I shared about a few favorite vacation memories which included when we took the kids to Disney World in 2015 for the first time when they were five.
Last summer, I loved sharing some throwback memories, so today I’m taking a stroll down Disney World memory lane.
In 2015, we’d gone to Siesta Key with the kids and another family. We stayed at Trav’s aunt’s house like we always do, but we decided to take one day to drive to Orlando and go to Disney World.
Our friends have boy/girl twins too that are two years older than my two. My friend’s sister is a Disney planner, so that was so helpful in planning our trip. My friend and I purchased cute shirts for the kids from Etsy (maybe my first Etsy purchase?!), and the night before we were going to Disney, we gave the kids the t-shirts and let them piece together all the fun. All four of them were excited, jumping up and down which is such a sweet memory.
Anyway, we left the house around 7 AM and drove to Orlando for the day.
This was us on the ferry (I think?) on the way into Disney World.
We made it!
Making memories with friends!
We spotted the king and queen of Disney…Micky and Minnie.
I don’t remember all the details, but we did have the fast past, and that was so helpful. We rode everything we’d hoped to including some I didn’t think we’d be able to ride (due to the kids being little) like Space Mountain!
I remember prepping Hayden as we approached the ride that he might be too short. I swear it was because he was wearing his hat that they said he was tall enough. Well, when we got to the ride, I realized he’d be sitting in front of me and I had my hand on his shoulder for the whole ride. Since it’s so dark in there, I wasn’t sure if the squeals I was hearing were good or bad, but as soon as the ride was over, he looked back at me and said, “That was the best ride ever!” So sweet to see him experience those things!
I’m more of a Dumbo ride girlie!
I think we just had one sit down meal which was lunch, and the kids got to meet so many of the characters.
Oh, Eyore!
3D time!
…followed by the tea cups! I think we hopped on the tea cups while Trav and the other dad figured out our next stop.
They were trying to make me dizzy.
Of course, they had to drive on the race track!
Who doesn’t love the carousel?!
So many sweet memories!
The kids each got to choose one item from the gift shop!
The castle looked so beautiful at night.
Unfortunately, it rained and they didn’t have the fireworks that night. That was definitely a bummer, but we had a great day overall. I think we got back to the house around midnight.
We also took the kids to Disney in 2019 (I think?!), and that time, we stayed one day/night at the Polynesian and did one day at Disney.
I’m glad we’ve made the time to take the kids to Disney, and maybe we’ll get back there one day. Trav and I are both in agreement that one day seems to be enough, and we aren’t Disney fanatics. I’m interested in Universal Studios and Epcot, but we’ll see. We used to joke that the kids didn’t realize you can go to Disney for more than one day since that’s all we’ve done. haha!
Apparently, I didn’t take a ton of pics on that trip, but I liked looking back at that time!
Hello! I’m late hitting “publish” on this post, but…
How is your week going? So far, so good for us. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve joined Joyce for her Wednesday Hodgepodge, so I’m doing that today!
Here are my answers for her prompts for the week:
1. What’s a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate.
Loyalty and humility. I am a very loyal person, and I look for that in friendships. People who are boastful or just want to hear themselves talk…ugh.
2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let’s see it. Why is this one your favorite?
I have lots of mugs I love, but this is my new fave. I’ve shared it on here previously…I went into a store looking for a dress and walked out with this cute hydrangea mug.
You know I love hydrangeas.
This mug is also a fave during the holidays…although it could be used every day. haha
3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day…will you (or did you) give something away? If so, what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to ‘accumulate?’
Good timing because yesterday, I donated three bags of clothes to Goodwill…and Hadley drove me there!
I guess my clothes can accumulate, so I tend to do a closet purge in January and July.
Sometimes, things accumulate on our kitchen counter like books, bills, school work, etc…and that kind of drives me crazy. At least I keep it on one part of the counter, but I can only stand clutter for so long.
4. You’re planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 ‘off the grid’ towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed, which one would you like to visit? Tell us why.
I think I enjoy exploring both big cities and smaller towns because both have unique things to offer.
The World Atlas list:
Boothbay, Harbor Maine; Middlebury, Vermont; New Hope, Pennsylvania; Rehoboth Beath Delaware; Brevard, North Carolina; Saugatuck, Michigan; Medora, North Dakota; Ouray, Colorado; Lamoille, Nevada; Neah Bay, Washington; Hood River, Oregon; or Cabmbria, California.
I’ve been to Maine, North Carolina, Colorado, California, Washington and Oregon, and while I haven’t been to those specific towns, I know what charming towns are in those states.
Last summer, when we were in Oregon, I believe we did go through the Hood River area.
Also, this post is timely because we just got back from Saugatuck! It’s such a cute town. I shared part one of our trip yesterday, and will share part two when we were in Saugatuck soon.
5. Have you ever…ridden a motorcycle? been to a Disney park? met a celebrity? won a contest? Tell us something about what you answered yes to on the list.
I’m not a risk taker, so I’ve never been on a motorcycle. haha
When I was 12, we visited family in California, and we went to Disneyland. We’ve taken our kids to Disney World twice. Once when they were five and the other time they were nine. I don’t fully get the Disney hype, so both times, we just went for one day. I joke that my kids don’t know you can go to Disney for more than one day. haha
I know I’ve met a few “famous” people through the years, but nobody major is jumping to mind.
I don’t think I’ve won a contest…maybe a small raffle at school! This prompt made me think about when I was a kid, and we were at TCBY yogurt, and there was a contest to be prince/princess for the day at KC’s Renaissance Festival. Being the nice sister that I am, I also entered my brother’s name…and guess who won?! He did! So there he was walking around in a parade, wearing a crown, and eating a turkey leg…all thanks to me!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
The coffee mug question prompted me to think of this, but I’m on week two of drinking decaf coffee. I’m just giving it a try after considering caffeine intake. I really don’t think I drink too much coffee…typically two cups, and then water the rest of the day, but this is a bit of a test for me.
Trav did find me some K-cups that are “half caff,” and those might be a good compromise?!
One thing I’ve been doing for a few months is drinking water before my coffee in the morning, and I like that new habit.
I’ve thought about drinking some kind of “greens” — you know, the packets that you mix with water —I’d love some recommendations if you have any!
Today, I’m sharing part one of our trip to the Lake Michigan area.
This trip came about because Trav and I both haven’t been to the Lake Michigan area although we’ve heard wonderful things about it. There are so many small lake towns, each unique in their own way, that when we’ve thought about going in the past, we weren’t really sure where to start. Also, I’d heard that it’s better to go in July as the water is warmer, and typically we do June vacations.
Anyway, with our 20th wedding anniversary, Trav suggested that we plan a trip in Michigan for a few days. We knew it would be an easy drive, and we chose a time frame when one of the kids (Hayden) would be at camp, so it was just Hadley who we needed to find coverage for a few days. Trav’s mom stayed with her two days, and then she stayed with a friend the other two nights. She was busy with work and volleyball, but she had some down time too.
Anyway, like with most of our vacations, Trav did all the planning. The running joke on our trip was how his “friend” Chat GPT really did most of the planning. I guess he asked Chat GPT for town and hotel suggestions and went from there.
Also, typically when just the two of us have gone away, we’re only gone three nights, and we wish we have one more day. This time, being gone four nights was perfect, and the six hours drive gave us time to feel like we had five pretty full days.
South Haven
Last Tuesday, we left around 10:00, and drove to Indy. We stopped for lunch and then finished the rest of the drive, arriving at our Bed and Breakfast in South Haven just before 4:00.
For the first two nights, we stayed at The Carriage House Bed and Breakfast, and it was so cute.
This was the view from the balcony, and it was just perfect.
One thing I loved about our room was that it did have it’s own entrance. Later, we learned, that our room used to be the cook’s quarters, so that’s why it had its own entrance, and the large bathroom used to include a kitchen!
Anyway, we unpacked our car, and then went for a walk. One of the small beaches was right across the street. It was a foggy afternoon, but the view was still oh so pretty.
After that, we walked back to the B&B and drove across the bridge to the other side of South Haven. Of course, Trav spotted a brewery, Harbor Light Brewery, on the main street, so we made a pit stop there. Then, we walked around a bit more and went to Black River Tavern for dinner.
After our meal, we walked to lighthouse and then back up Main Street. It was nice to get some steps in after dinner.
After that, we got in the car and drove back to our B&B. Then, we walked back to the beach to catch the last few minutes of the sun setting.
By that time, it was 9:30, and I was ready for a shower and my PJs.
It was a lovely first day getting the lay of the South Haven land.
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, I woke up to this pretty water view. It was so nice to wake up and have some time before breakfast.
On vacation, Travis tends to get up early and go for a run while I sleep in. When he came back, he told me we needed to hurry up because everyone else was already at breakfast. haha
At this B&B, breakfast was served at 9:00. We found a spot with a view of the water. We had Julia Child’s blueberry clafoutis, and Trav had to ask me who Julia Child was. The nerve! They also served us bacon, roasted potatoes, watermelon with mint, and a cherry scone. It was a great meal.
Then, we walked a trail that Travis had found near the B&B. I think it’s a trail that spans over 30 miles, but we just walked two miles!
It was a great way to get our steps in that morning.
There was a market near the B&B, so Trav went and picked up sandwiches, and we headed to the main beach (south beach, I believe) near the B&B.
It was a lovely afternoon, and we were there for almost four hours.
Reading, sand and sunshine…name a better trio!
After the beach, we took a nap and then showered. Since we wanted to see a few beach towns, we drove to St Joseph for dinner at Clementine’s. There’s also a Clementine’s in South Haven, but it had a long wait the night before.
The onion rings are apparently a must a Clementine’s, and we would agree!
After that, Trav said we “had to find” the carousel that he’d read about. We drove down to Silver Beach near the downtown area, parked and walked around. Trav thought the carousel would be outside, so he was bummed…but he also told me I had to take a picture of it. haha
We walked up the stairs, and that’s how we found the downtown area. Looking back, this scene reminded me of when we’ve gone to Del Mar, California…I guess just seeing the water in the distance and the sailboats.
We walked around downtown…
…and of course we got some ice cream!
Then, we headed back to South Haven just in time for sunset. We walked over the drawbridge, and it was just such a nice evening.
I loved the quaint feeling of this town with the flowers on the bridge.
Then, we headed to the beach for sunset…which was stunning!
After that, it was time for bed!
Thursday:
Again, Trav went for a run, and I slept hard! I got out of bed just in time to head to breakfast. Thursday’s menu was quiche, grapefruit salad, another scone, and a delicious Panna Cotta for dessert!
Once we were back in our room, I enjoyed one more cup of coffee while watching the boats pass by.
Then, it was about 10:30 which meant time to pack up and say goodbye to the cute bed and breakfast.
We found a spot to park downtown, and decided to walk around a bit, looking in quite a few shops.
South Haven is just so cute.
Trav suggested we grab a drink, so we sat outside for about an hour watching the boats pass by.
Including…this one that I joked looked like the pirate ship from Goonies.
Cuteness at every corner…
Around 2:00, it was time to leave South Haven and head to Saugatuck.
I hope you enjoyed this little recap! Have you ever been to Michigan? Considering it’s only about six hours from us, I can’t believe we haven’t been sooner.
How was your weekend? We got home from our trip on Saturday night, yesterday we picked Hayden up from running camp, and then spent the rest of the day trying to get our lives in order. I was somewhat successful in that endeavor, but I also have quite the “to do” list today and tomorrow.
Anyway, it’s the second Monday of the month, so I’m co-hosting the Share Our Lives link up with some of my favorite bloggers.
I was excited to write this post today as some of my favorite posts to write are the ones where I look back on certain times in life.
When I thought about this topic, the first thing that popped in my mind was the first time we took the kids to the beach in 2011. I blogged about it last summer in a Throwback Thursday post.
Travis and I had gone to Folly Beach near Charleston the summer before to celebrate our five year wedding anniversary. It was a great getaway, but one of the first times we “planned ahead” and thought about bringing the kids the next year.
When we went back to Folly in 2016, the kids would have been twenty months old or so…as soon as we got out of the car, we headed to the beach. Hadley pointed at the ocean and didn’t want anything to do with it. Hayden ran around, getting sandy and even got his shorts wet.
To know them, you would have expected the opposite based on their personalities. We had a great week, but we did leave a day early because it was a rainy day, and we needed to get the kids home and back into a routine. That was the first of many beach trips.
In 2013, we again went to the Charleston area, but stayed in Isle of Palms, SC for the first time. This pic is just the sweetest memory…
…so sweet that I keep it framed in their bathroom.
We’ve also spent many wonderful summers in Siesta Key, and it’s another great place that the kids are familiar with and love visiting. We love going to the beach after dinner…especially when the kids were little. I love this pic of them frolicking in the water.
When the kids were five, we planned a day at Disney World during our stay in Siesta Key. We drove up to Orlando for the day, and the kids were so excited when we surprised them. I will save the video forever…of them squealing and hopping up and down.
Another favorite memory is our trip to the Grand Canyon. This trip all came about because Hayden had read about the Grand Canyon and wanted to go. Neither Trav nor I had been, so we planned a trip to Arizona…followed by California and Nevada.
We’ve made tons of beach memories with friends the past few years. We’ve enjoyed going to the 30A area of Florida for fall break. The weather is so nice, and the kids have plenty to do. It’s rare to find friends you can travel with, and now, with three years under our belt, I feel like it’s such a blessing to have these memories with such great friends.
Going to Mexico a couple of years ago was such a highlight because the kids had never been out of the country, and Trav and I hadn’t been to Mexico since our honeymoon. The resort was so nice, we relaxed, we went to Isla Mujeres, and just had a really great time.
Last summer, our trip to Oregon and Washington really takes the cake. It took a lot of planning by Trav, and what made it so memorable was that the kids were so excited to go. It’s not often you can go to the Olympic Track Trials, and that was only part of our trip, but we had such a great time in Portland,Eugene, the Oregon coast,Olympic National Park, Seattle and more.
Since Trav and I just got back from Michigan, it had me thinking about some of our trips. I always love when I tag along with him when he goes to Del Mar, California for work. Del Mar is truly one of my favorite places.
Of course, we’ve traveled other places, but since we just got back from Michigan to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, I got to thinking about some of the other anniversary trips we’ve gone on.
For our 1st wedding anniversary, we went to Siesta Key, and it was my first time going there.
Like I mentioned above, we went to Charleston/Folly Beach for our 5th wedding anniversary.
For our 10th anniversary, we went to Lake Tahoe. That was another fabulous trip; we loved that area.
For our 15th, it was 2020 and Covid, so we didn’t plan a trip away. We did go to Siesta Key that summer with the kids once we felt it was safe to do so.
This week, I hope to recap our trip to Michigan. The towns were so cute, and the weather was great!
I know this post topic was about a favorite “memory” and not “memories,” but this was a fun look back.
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