September 18-20, 2009
Hoffmaster State Park

The past 2 years we have begun our camping season at Hoffmaster State Park in April when the park is mostly empty. However, this year we re-visited in the fall. It was a warm weekend and the kids were actually able to go into the water - which was one of the reasons we decided to go back there, as they don't go swimming in April.

We made our traditional visit to the Visitor's Center to see the animals and other displays they have about the Great Lakes. Then we went on a hike, taking a trail we have never taken before. At the end of the trail, we found this huge set of stairs to climb.

The climb was worth the view.

We spent some time running and goofing around in the play field and discovered that Allison is quite the little soccer player. Our little girl who is always "too tired" to walk on our hikes and doesn't seem very motivated about anything - ran and ran and kicked the ball for 5-10 minutes straight. She did really well and surprised us.

The kids loved playing in the creek area that feeds into the big lake. The shallow water allowed for much running and jumping. Nicholas found these big stumps that he was rolling to different places in the water and Sam soon joined him.
Here they are taking a rest on their newly placed log stools.

Sam loves the water.

Nicholas takes in the scenery right before sunset. We are hoping he is learning to enjoy the little things and notice the beauty of creation as we do. One of the reasons we love to camp. There are so many things in this world that we as a society don't take the time to stop and look at. We love to get away from the schedules, routines, TVs, computers and everything else that distracts us from the beauty God gave us and be able to enjoy it together as a family.

The kids take in the sunset.

The girls got a little creative while drying the dishes.

A hike on Black Creek Trail (first time we did this one too)

Allison was loving all the yellow flowers - as her favorite color is yellow.

Our beautiful bouquet.

September 14 and 16, 2009
Allison Starts School

Allison has been looking forward to starting school for so long, she has been talking about it all summer long. She was so disappointed to find out that she didn't get to start school last week with the other kids. So, this week her long awaited first day of school finally arrived.

Monday she had Orientation. The parents had some general things to go over and paperwork to fill out while the kids got to play and get to know a few of their new classmates. She had to take her backpack, just as if it were a regular day of classes.

Because they wanted orientation to involve smaller groups of children and there are 3 different preschool classes to orient - she had Tuesday off, before she finally got to go to her first day of school on Wednesday afternoon. She will attend classes Monday thru Thursday from 12:15-2:45pm.

As excited as she was for school to begin, I was very surprised to see tears from her before I left. She entered the classroom and the kids were playing with table toys and she just sort of wandered around without finding a seat. The teachers invited her to have a seat, but she ran back to me in tears instead. It took me a few minutes to get her over her nerves and before I left she seemed fine. We never had another tear or any sign of reservations about school after that though.

September 13-15, 2009
Holland State Park

School may have started but our adventures in camping are far from over. However, our planning changes slightly. Because we only have short weekends once school starts - we play every weekend by ear. We basically wait until Wednesday to watch the weather forecast and if it looks dry and decent we head out. Sometimes it's Friday before we actually decide where we are going - but it doesn't matter to us, we just want to be outdoors having fun as a family.

This weekend found us at Holland State Park's Macatawa Campground. This was our first time camping in Holland and therefore, we had lots to explore.

Friday evening we road our bikes over to the beach area to take in the sunset.

The kids loved - just laying around in the sand as the sun fell below the horizon.

They had 2 decent playgrounds there for the kids to enjoy.

We spent the morning on a wonderful hike. The trail started at the campground and went up to the top of Mount Pisgah where it wound through the woods for bit and then joined up with a huge boardwalk which provided us with an absolutely awesome view of the beach from a high vantage point. We then had to go down over 200 stairs to the road level. (Glad we went down them and not up them!) Soon after that - We made our first ever stop at Smitty's Pronto Pups for some Pronto Pups and Deep Fried Pickles. MmMm good!
We also took a walk down to Ottawa Beach General Store for some Ice Cream. Needless to say - we didn't have a very nutritious lunch that day, but it sure was good!

It may be September and school may be back in session - but the weather on Saturday evening was beautiful and the Lake Michigan water temperature was warmer than it had been the entire week before while we were at Pioneer. The kids had a great time splashing around in the wonderful waves and enjoying the warm water.

I was trying to take a group picture of Paul and the kids like I usually do - and a kind young woman offered to take my camera so I could get in on the picture. An actual family picture was nice to have for a change.

On our way to the park, we had passed a sign that said "Stu Visser Trails" so we took a drive down there before heading home on Sunday morning. It was a wonderful neighborhood nature area with a nice trail running through it. There was a pond and creek and made for an enjoyable morning seeing where the trails would lead.

September 8 and 9, 2009
Nicholas and Gabrielle start school

The carefree days of summer have come to an end and the days of schedule, routine and homework have once again returned to our household.

Nicholas started 2nd grade this year and will have Mrs Kantola for his teacher. He seems very excited to get back into the swing of things and see his friends again.

Gabrielle is very excited to start Kindergarten this year. She will attend school all day, every day and get to ride the bus in the morning and afternoon (unlike last year where she only got to ride the bus home). She is excited to have Ms. Doane as her teacher, just like Nicholas did and was glad to hear that some of her friends from Young 5s last year will also be in her class again this year.

First day of 2nd Grade for Nicholas

Gabrielle had Orientation on the first day of school -
so she didn't get to take the bus until the next day.

August 30 - September 6, 2009
Pioneer County Park
Muskegon MI

It has become sort of a tradition of sorts to spend Labor Day weekend at one of our long standing favorite campgrounds on 'The Big Lake' - Pioneer County Park. My family began camping there in 1978 (I believe). My Uncle Gerry loves to camp near the Lake Michigan, given the fact that he lives in Ohio now. So - whenever they can make it they try to join us over Labor Day, for lots of fun and fellowship and great food (Uncle Gerry loves to cook). As in her usual fashion, Aunt Nancy is one of the family and brought her tent to spend the week. Why is it that when we had tenters along - it was the coldest nights of the entire summer? Aunt Nancy was well prepared however, and had an assortment of coats and sweatshirts, which she appropriately hung on the coat rack she had brought from home and placed in it's new home inside her canvas home away from home (sorry - had to put that in because we teased her about it all week).

We had a great week - with visits from my brothers and several cousins. The kids loved getting to play with everyone and really grew attached to cousin Kelly's dog, Bailey. As a matter of fact, when we returned home Nicholas went to bed the first night in tears because he was missing Bailey and afraid he wouldn't see Bailey again.

We headed home on Sunday, so we could use Labor Day to get the kids ready for school. What a great week we had.

August 28 - 30, 2009
Yankee Springs Recreation Area (Gun Lake)

We only got one opportunity this year to actually camp with both of my brothers and their families, due to the fact that both of them had young infants and found that a lot of camping just wasn't in the cards for them this year. We planned this one weekend together, and unfortunately it was wet and cold, and wetter and colder. We had a great time anyway, and our kids really had a great time getting to spend time with their cousins camping. We are looking forward to getting to spend a little more time camping together next year.

July 25, 2009 Jack A Dekkinga, MD PC Family Company Picnic
We had the opportunity to attend my company picnic as a family as one of my co-workers cottage near Croton Dam. The kids had so much fun. The cottage was way up on top of a large hill with many steps so they set-up a small kiddie pool for the kids to play in up near the cottage. There is no beach at all, at the bottom of the stairs, there is a deck and water - no place to play. Once we did go down to the water they had a riot. They had the Sea Doo going, the boat, tubing, skiing, and kayaking. The kids were able to try to the Sea Doo with Paul and then I went with them for a boat ride. After our boat ride, we headed into the shore to pick up a tube for the kids and I left Sam with Paul on-shore. Minutes after we left to go back out to the lake Sam fell off the deck into the water. It was shallow, but he got all wet and wanted new clothes.

On this trip out in the boat the kids wanted to try tubing, I really thought they would not like going fast, but they LOVED it. As a matter of fact, they went more than once. They still talk about the experience.

They found lots of fun things to play with while supper was prepared. All the kids decided that the great big hammock was their pirate ship and played together on it for a long time. We ended up eating quite late, so soon after dinner we headed home - exhausted but had experienced a great day!

July 16-19, 2009 Ionia State Park

We had another great weekend of camping, of course, even when there is bad weather - the weekend usually turns out great in one way or the other. This weekend we had anticipated for quite some time - as we were able to reserve Paul's favorite campsite of the campground.

One of the things we enjoy about using Michigan's State Parks is that many of them offer Young Explorer activities. We able to participate in several of these activities during the time we were there. We went down to the beach house and planted some seeds in decomposable toilet paper rolls. We were the only ones attending that particular session - so after planting our seeds the Young Explorer Ranger got out the rubber stamps and markers and the kids all made pictures to decorate the wall of the Activity Center.

We also attended an Astronomy Session at night. It was a cloudy night, so they were not able to view any stars so she had some other activities planned. She did a quiz time, in which Nicholas got many answers correct that the Young Explorer Ranger didn't even know and Gabrielle received a prize for listing all of the planets in order. They created flip books for the phases of the moon as well as turning Oreo Cookies into a Moon Phases demonstration.

On Saturday afternoon, we attended another Young Explorer session only to find the Ranger had a special guest. Wow, did we luck out on that one. Someone camping in the campground as a guest happened to see that she was doing a class on "Life in the Lake" and volunteered to help her with the class - she had taught that subject in the school system for 20 or 30 years. She was really good and full of knowledge. She had the kids all in the water with their nets collecting and learning to identify so much life. We caught Water Striders, DragonFly Nymphs in various stages and other nymph forms that I can't recall. Gabrielle and a few others found some baby snails, and every one had a great time.

We went hiking and collected wild flowers, and also walked through the Equestrian section of the campground. Grandma had met someone during registration that was camping there and told her to bring the kids up to see the horses and so we did.

It was cloudy every day, but then by late evening the clouds cleared off for beautiful sunsets over the lake and a sky full of stars. It was a great weekend and we can't wait to return to Ionia again next year (if not before).

July 15, 2009 A Run In with a Door

Thankfully, this happened after her birthday. I wasn't in the room - but Allison somehow managed to connect her face with the side of the door in her bedroom. I just heard her start crying (which isn't all that unusual - because any little disagreement or fight leads to Allison screaming bloody murder). However, by the time she made her way downstairs I was very surprised to find a big scratch on her face and her cheek already quite swollen. We immediately started icing it hoping to get the swelling down.

The swelling was still there several days later and she ended up with a black and blue cheek and a matching black and blue eye which lasted about a week.

July 14, 2009 Allison Turns 4!

I can't believe that Allison is 4 already. She is going to start preschool this year and is so excited. We anticipate she will do well based upon how well she adjusted to her first experience at Vacation Bible School this year. I can't believe how old she is getting.

Allison loves to pretend, and does very well playing with others as well as playing by herself. She can play with her dolls, stuffed animals, etc for long periods of time all alone. In fact, when we are camping she often requests to just go in the trailer and play with her toys up in her bunk. She loves to wear dresses, pick out "pretties" to wear in her hair. Like the other kids she loves to draw and also loves to read books.

Allison's birthday this year was spread out over several days. Her party with extended family was on Saturday - it was a great day so we invited them to come early so the kids could enjoy the pool. She also received a brand new bike from her aunts, uncles, and cousins - so there was some fun bike riding too. They all got the opportunity to play outside, and loved it when Uncle Cory and Papa started taking turns spinning the kids around in circles.

On Sunday, we took a day trip. Knowing we would be in the car for quite some time - we gave her another one of her gifts - a new leapster, which she loves.

Her birthday was Tuesday, and she had already opened most of her gifts. After a birthday meal at McDonald's we returned home and she opened her last gift - which was doll clothes for her "kids".

On Wednesday, I took her shopping with the birthday money she had received from Paul's Uncle Bob and her gift card from Geoffrey the Giraffe of Toys R Us and she picked a new baby doll and a baby bathtub - complete with shampoo, soap and a rubber ducky.

July 12, 2009 A Day Trip

If you haven't realized already - our family can't seem to stay put in the summer. We were not camping this particular weekend so we took off for another day trip. We had been wanting to check out the campground at Van Buren State Park so we decided to head down to the South Haven area.

We stopped at Saugatuck State Park for lunch. There is not a campground there but there are hiking trails and beach access.

We decided to take the trail to check out the beach. However, we did not realize how long the hike to the beach actually was. We were definately not prepared and would not have liked to carry all of our beach gear that far - there were lots of people doing so though.

After we checked out Van Buren State Park (which is a campground we would like to visit in the future) we headed back our direction in search of access to the Kal Haven Bike Trail. We found a great access point where the trail is paved and was quite beautiful. There was the beautiful covered bridge on the portion that we were able to ride. Because Nicholas and Gabrielle were both riding their own bikes, we probably only covered about 2 miles out and then back again but it was very nice riding and we would love to head back there some time.

July 9, 2009 Enjoying the Pool

I posted before of our setting up the new pool - but realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the kids actually playing in the pool after it's completion. They are having a lot of fun in the pool - and are getting quite comfortable in the water.

July 9, 2009
A Visit with Baby Aiden

Shawn and Erin welcomed baby Aiden into their family and ours on July 4th. Erin predicted this date for quite some time - and I'll be jiggered if she wasn't right. She got her 4th of July baby as she had hoped.

We were camping when he was born, so upon our return and allowing a few days for them to settle in at home - we made a trek over to their house for the kids to meet their new cousin.

Nicholas had picked out a special gift for new big brother Owen.

Super cute!

Gabrielle holding Aiden

Allison taking her turn. Allison LOVES babies!

Sam can't be left out.

Sam fell asleep in the car on the way home. I took him out of the truck and brought him into the house and layed him in the chair. Apparently, he decided to get up - but pooped out mid stand!

August 13-16, 2009
Cran Hill Ranch

A trip to Cran Hill Ranch seems to have become a yearly tradition. We have so much fun there with all of their activities. They have an activity package for the kids that includes a tye-dye shirt, a pony ride, 2 ice cream cones and unlimited boat rentals. They love to swim and there are 2 different playgrounds and lots of open spaces to run around. I have a feeling Cran Hill will be on the camping agenda for many years to come.

Click to Play

July 1 - 6, 2009
Pioneer County Park

Another great LONG weekend of camping. Because Pioneer Park doesn't take reservations, we knew we would have to be there early to get a site for the holiday weekend. Grandma and Grandpa decided to go up the weekend before and Aunt Nancy had a lot with her tent. So, on Sunday afternoon we brought the trailer up to the campground, taking over Aunt Nancy's site. We left the trailer there and I was able to head back up with the kids on Wednesday and Paul joined us Thursday night after work.

It wasn't really warm, but we kept busy playing games and met some really nice people next door with triplets. The kids next door were eager to share popsicles, tattoos and other things with our kids through the weekend.

We spent very little time at the beach due to the temperature, but did spend an evening down there for their traditional swim in their clothes. We also headed to Duck Lake for an afternoon as the inlet there allowed for warmer water.

Paul and I also took the kids up to the White River Lighthouse and museum. We had an interesting time looking at all of the ship memorabilia and climbing to the top of the lighthouse tower. Another wonderful weekend.

August 10, 2009
Swimming Fun

As mentioned in an earlier post - the swimming pool we bought when Nicholas was 18 months old finally gave up the ghost the summer. With the kids getting older - we opted to replace it with a slightly larger pool to give them more room. The purchase was worth every penny. The kids got so much more comfortable in the water this year. Gabrielle even taught herself how to swim underwater and is practicing the doggy paddle.

Click to Play

Pentwater 2009 July 31 - August 4, 2009

I may be behind on my blog but I hope to get to everything eventually. There was so many things going on this summer and with working from home there just isn't a lot of time to work on the things I enjoy. Now that cold weather is here I am going to spend the winter remembering our past adventures and looking forward to future ones.

We had so much fun in Pentwater again this year - and this time we actually made it there with out tow vehicle in tact, unlike last year where it ended up alongside the road never to be driven by us again. The kids had lots of fun at the campground: playing in the sand, swinging, fishing, hiking, and floating & kayaking in the river.

We spent some time in downtown Pentwater and took a walk down the pier by the beach. We also took a day trip down to Silver Lake to watch the excitement on the dunes and visit Little Sable Point Lighthouse. We also took a day trip up to Ludington where we took a bike ride to Big Sable Point Lighthouse and climbed to the top. We did a little hiking too before heading back to the campground.

While in Pentwater we also met an interesting family at the campground. There were 2 little blonde girls who were looking for some playmates. Turns out that they are from the Netherlands. Their father recently sold his business there and they decided to spend a year traveling America (both North, South and Central). They had quite the set up with a Land Rover type vehicle that included a tent set up that involved using the top of the vehicle for bunks and then dropped to the ground. I am sorry I didn't get any pictures. They will be travelling and living in this vehicle/tent for an entire year and had quite the itinerary. This was only a week or two into their trip and the one girls didn't speak much english at all - the other did quite well. It was interesting to talk to this family and talk about it with the kids.

June 29, 2009
First Lost Tooth

Nicholas finally lost his first tooth. He turned 7 years old in May and successfully completed both Kindergarten and First Grade without losing a tooth. He was so excited to finally have one come out. It was getting looser and looser throughout the day, and shortly before dinner I didn't know where he was. I yelled upstairs to see where he was and he said he was in his room, I asked him why and he said : "I'm playing with my tooth"! A few minutes later he came down to the kitchen full of smiles because it finally came out.
(We'll see what happens now - he has 3 others that are loose)

June 25, 2009
A Day at the Beach

The kids were attending VBS this week - so it was a week that we had not planned to do any camping. Fortunately for us, however, my parents were staying at Pioneer Park for the weekend. Being beautiful weather, after picking the kids up at VBS on Thursday I surprised them by heading out to the campground for the afternoon and evening. It was a perfect day for swimming as the water was one of the warmest I have ever felt Lake Michigan.

June 22, 2009
A New Pool

As mentioned a few posts ago - our faithful pool of 6 full summers finally decided it wasn't going to hold air anymore. We started looking and decided that for the cost of another inflatable pool we could get one of the new expandable pools for not much more money. The kids are getting a little older and the bigger pool would encourage them to do get more comfortable trying to do some actual swimming. Of course, the kids couldn't wait for the pool to be filled before they had to have some fun.

June 18-21, 2009
Sleepy Hollow State Park
(near Lansing, MI)

As is our custom, we love trying new campgrounds. This weekend, we enjoyed some time at Sleepy Hollow State Park on beautiful Lake Ovid. We had a campsite right along the woods, and with the way they have their sites organized we couldn't really see our neighbors on either side because of trees and bushes. We loved the privacy. There were several loops of campsites, which lead to several walks through the campground picking out possible sites for future visits.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice, fairly new playground for the kids to play on, and the beach was a wonderful place for them to play. The beach was far enough away that we chose to drive there, but is definately within walking distance as the kids get older.

Unfortunately, we received a lot of rain while we were there (it was the weekend that the Ionia Fair Grounds were flooded) but at least it all came at night. Therefore, the 16 miles of hiking and biking trails we had looked forward to trying out were also flooded out. Given the fact that biking and hiking were taken out of the picture we took the opportunity to make a small day trip into Lansing to visit the Potter Park Zoo. Believe it or not - the last time we went to the zoo Nicholas was 2 and Gabrielle was 6 months old. The kids loved seeing all the different animals. Allison loved the monkeys - as they have been her favorite animal for quite some time. One of the most memorable sections was the birdcage that we could walk right into. Parakeets and Parrots were everywhere - it was really neat.