September 24-26, 2010
Back to Channel Park

Now that the kids are in school, it is nice to camp closer to home so we can actually get to the campground with some time to enjoy the evening. This weekend, we chose to go back to Channel Park. We were able to get a campsite in the "better" of the two loops so it felt like a different place than we had been a few weeks ago. Paul and Sam finished packing the trailer in the morning and headed to the campground just the 2 of them. They had everything set up and ready to go by the time I got there with the kids after work and school. I must admit it was really nice to be able to sit and relax upon arrival.

I find it very interesting, that as much as we camp, the kids always seems to find something different to do. The most popular activity of this particular weekend was riding and pulling each other in Sam's dump truck. A few times they even put their bike helmets on "for safety" (this was of their own doing).

It was another very windy weekend. As a matter of fact, it was even windier than it was when we were here over Labor Day. I believe the wind gusts were near or above 45 mph and the trailer was definitely shaking a lot during the night. We didn't put the awning out the first night, but we did put it out the following day. Sam helped Paul stake the awning down with tie downs.

The kids always love to run around THE BLOCK HOUSE, so we drove up there during the afternoon.

Sam made a burning building out of pop-cans and raced his fire truck to the rescue.

More dump truck fun, this time it was Dad who was doing the pulling.

It was an absolutely beautiful fall morning on Sunday. As I've said before, it always seems to get nice when we have to go home. We spent some time sitting (and playing) in the sand along the Muskegon Lake Beach. There were sailboats to watch, birds to see, and sunshine to enjoy.

The kids were pretending to go fishing with their jump ropes.

I don't think a camping trip would be complete without some time on the swings.

Gabrielle and Allison built their own campfire.

September 23, 2010
Schwallier's Country Basket

Gabrielle had her first field trip of the year today. Paul and I had switched days this week, so I was supposed to work today - but scheduled to take the morning off to go on the field trip with Gabrielle, while Paul would stay home with Sam. Unfortunately, I ended up being sick all night long and was unable to go with her. She got a special treat, however, because she got a very unique experience of getting to take Dad along instead. He graciously took my camera and took some pictures.

Gabrielle and Luke checking out the bunnies.

The slide

Picking out her pumpkin

Queen of the haystack!

Love these pictures of Gabrielle and her friend Sidney jumping off the haystack together.

Silly class picture.

They don't have a sandbox here - they have a corn box.

September 17-19, 2010
Spring Lake RV Resort

Now that all of our summer camping plans are complete, we start to go for fall weekends and had been trying to find a weekend to go camping with Kevin and Lyn. Unfortunately, things weren't working out too well. They have a membership to a campground near Kalamazoo, where they can stay for 2 weeks at a time free of charge. After several attempts to schedule a weekend of camping together, we came to the conclusion that maybe we should just join them down in Kalamazoo. Come to find out, it is a really great rate when you come as their guest. We weren't able to be right next to them because the sites were taken - so we chose a site a little further away but with a great view of the lake.

Saturday morning was wet and cool, so we took a quick trip into Allegan to make a stop at Perrigo. While we were there we stopped at a park where the kids had lots of fun. The hit of the day was going across the bars with these special handles.

After many attempts, of trying to go across on her own Jillian managed to convince her dad to give her a ride.

Sam needed some help.

Little did Kevin know what he started with Jillian, because the next thing we knew the challenge had been made for him to take Lyn across. Needless to say, there were many laughs.

Gabrielle has great talent when it comes to this type of activity. She loves the catwalk at school, and after using the sliding handles a few times she decided to go across using just her hands.

The kids got the bright idea that Uncle Kevin was the strongest man on the face of the earth and decided that he could carry all 3 of them across on his back.

They were very wrong, and only Tyler ended up hitching a ride.

One of the nice things about camping by the water's edge is the ability to do a lot of fishing. Of course, there are only practice fish on the ends of these poles - no hooks, but they had a lot of fun anyway. Casting is half the fun anyway isn't it?

No trip with the Peters is complete without a good old fashioned light saber duel.

It wasn't a very good weekend for my camera, as I kept leaving it behind. Our weekend also included a trip to the ice cream store where the kids decided it was boys against girls. It came down to Micah and I racing to the finish as the last ones with any ice cream left. He won, but he also cheated as Uncle Kevin grabbed a great big bite just as I was chewing up my last bite.

The other missed camera opportunity was a trip to the park at the campground after the rain. The kids discovered the puddles and had a wonderful time jumping, splashing and getting absolutely soaking wet. (Lyn did have her camera, so I may be able to add pictures of this later.)

September 11, 2010
Big Girls with holes in their ears

Last year, I asked Gabrielle if she wanted her ears pierced for her birthday - to which she replied 'no'. However, this summer she started asking about it. So, seeing as how it was a raining, non-camping weekend, I decided to take both of the girls over to the mall to get their ears pierced.

September 10, 2010
An Evening in Grand Haven

After our busy week of everybody's first days of school, and with Saturday and Sunday's weather not looking all that great, we opted to let the trailer take a weekend off. However, Friday night was gorgeous and we couldn't just sit home.
So, we decided it would be a beautiful night to visit Grand Haven. We haven't been there since Allison was a baby.

We headed down to Spring Lake and as we crossed the drawbridge we realized that it was our lucky day. After spending 10 days in Muskegon with no freighters in sight, here one sat just waiting for us.

Upon returning home - we did some research and found out some very interesting information on the St. Mary's Challenger. This veteran of the lakes was launched February 7, 1906 and is one of only two remaining U.S. flagged vessels still active on the Great Lakes to be powered by the classic Skinner Marine Unaflow steam engine. The other vessel is the car ferry Badger. It has undergone many name changes over the years and has quite a history. On July 16, 1916; it's starboard bow struck a concrete dock at Superior, WI. On November 22, 1917; the vessel received “stress of weather” damage in heavy seas while down bound on Lake Huron with iron ore from Duluth, MN for Ashtabula, OH. The vessel struck an underwater obstruction while departing Sandusky, OH with coal on September 5th, 1925. In the fall of 1950, she was involved in a head-on collision with the Enders M. Voorhees during a snowstorm in the Straits of Mackinac. On December 20, 1976; the she was forced aground in Lake St. Clair by winds and shifting ice while at anchor due to heavy fog. She was bound for Detroit at the time of the incident. In 1977, the vessel rescued two people from their capsized boat in Lake Michigan. They had been in the water for over 15 hours; a third person being lost. On October 5, 1997; she was hit by a water spout while passing White Shoal Light on the way to Charlevoix, MI. When the St. Marys Challenger departed her winter lay-up berth in S. Chicago, IL on April 4, 2006, she achieved a major milestone in Great Lakes history by marking her centennial year of continuous operation as a powered carrier.

Eventually, we headed into Grand Haven.
The kids enjoyed checking out the old locomotive near one of the parks.

They then had a great time playing on the playground.

We drove a little further toward the lakeshore and then walked the rest of the way on the boardwalk.
The kids checked out this buoy.

It was a beautiful early fall night and we even caught the glimpse of a sun devil in the sky as the sun started to go down.