Holland, MI: Visiting Friends

I took the girls over to Holland to visit my good friend, Nicole, and her kids, Brady and Taya.  We met at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.  The kids had a great time there.

 They started with clay.  Keelin made a butterfly out of clay.

 Then there was live music for the kids.

 Keelin, Brady, and Taya took part in this song.  Emmy enjoyed watching.

 They even found a place to get a little wet.

  Puppets.
Keelin...the butterfly, Taya...the frog, and Brady...the beaver.
 Puppet time.

 wow...a pic of all the kids

Keelin and Emmy had a great time visiting with Brady and Taya.  This garden had so much for kids to do.  I would love to go back sometime.  We had to be ushered out of the park because it was closing and we didn't get through everything. 
We spend the night at Nicole's house and then started our trip back to Evansville.  We had a great time in Michigan.

Lighthouses

On Saturday, after we checked out of our cabin, we went to two lighthouses.

 Pointe Betsie Light Station
I ran to this lighthouse from our cabin during the week.

 This lighthouse has an actual house attached to it. 

 Keelin and Emmy were able to take a dip in Lake Michigan at Pointe Betsie.

 We also went to the lighthouse at Frankfort.  We had to walk out to this lighthouse.

 Grandpa pushed Emmy down the narrow path...yikes.

Sleeping Bear Dunes...Again

On Friday (6/17), we went hiking at Sleeping Bear Dunes again.  We hiked the Cottonwood Trail.  The views of Glen Lake were beautiful and the dunes were plentiful...you notice when you are hauling 30 pounds of Emmy and backpack on your back.

We drove to the dunes overlook of Lake Michigan.  I believe the dune goes down 350 feet to Lake Michigan.  Our plan was to climb down the dune and walk the beach back to the city of Empire...but we didn't have an extra car to do a drop off.  The only other option was to climb back up the dune...YEAH RIGHT.  Not with a kid on your back.  So we stayed at the top and enjoyed the view.

 Keelin on top of the world.

 Those little black dots are PEOPLE climbing up and down the dune.  I could not get the top and bottom of the dune all in one frame on my WIDE angle lens...that is a lot of dune.

Keelin and her grandma enjoying the view.
Keelin has been to this lookout 3 times...once in my belly when I was preggo, 6 months old, and now 4.5 years.

We had a wonderful lunch/dinner in the town of Glen Arbor before heading back to our cabin.

Tennis

Keelin will never pass up an opportunity to play tennis with her grandpa.

 By her expressions...do you think she got my competitive nature?

 "Hey...you're in the way."

I think Emmy might like tennis too.

Hiking

On Tuesday, June14th, we did two hikes.

1. Sleeping Bear Dunes:  Little Indian Trail

 Emmy and I enjoying the woods.

 Keelin was a little hiker.  She walked EVERYWHERE.  Grandpa found her the perfect walking stick.

 The trail came out to the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan.

 Emmy and Keelin loved the water and throwing stones into the lake.

 The view was just beautiful.

 Grandpa hiked back with Emmy.  Keelin and my mom are way ahead...look closely.


2. We hiked the trails behind our cabin.  We hiked up the bluff to over look Lake Michigan.  It was breath-taking.

I just love this picture of me and my girls.