Vacation Part I: South Haven & St. Joseph

We recently returned from our beach vacation to Michigan--and it was fantastic! Last year we went, sight unseen, to South Haven on a whim and stayed just about 24 hours total. We had a wonderful time and knew we wanted to come back again when we could spend more time here, as well as visit other beach towns nearby. So this year we planned a five day trip the week between Memorial Day and Charlotte's birthday. It's an excellent time to go, since it's the very last week in this area that's still considered "low season." From what we've heard, once "high season" hits it can get pretty crazy.

It's about a 4.5 hour drive from our house and we made it in 5--just two quick stops! Unbelievable. Last year that drive took close to 9 hours since we had to stop so much to let Charlotte out to blow off steam. A year made a world of difference in how tolerant and patient she is with road trips.

We stayed at a little old cottage two blocks from the beach in South Haven. The place was really cute and clean--and old. It stands out since so many of the older homes in the area have been renovated or knocked down with new homes rebuilt. Charlotte had her own little room with bunk beds, plus there was a large eat-in kitchen so we didn't have to eat every single meal out. That did not stop us from getting donuts at The Golden Brown Bakery every single morning, however.

South Haven is a really charming town that is completely walkable. The beach is in easy walking distance to the downtown area, which is large enough to have plenty of shops and restaurants but still small enough to get around the whole place by foot without a problem. The beach is large, super clean, and (since we went in low season) mostly empty.

Just south of South Haven (about 10 miles?) is a town called St. Joseph. They have a gorgeous beach called Silver Beach, which is home to a carousel, giant splash pad, and a children's museum. We skipped the museum but spent time at the beach and splash pad, both of which got an A+ rating in Charlotte's book.

The joy coming from that little girl when the fountains came on was just about the best thing to witness. She was so excited, until she got so cold (it was kind of a chilly day) that she finally gave up and came over to me, shivering, asking if I'd "hold me like a tiny baby in my towel, please mama?"

And since there are about 3,000 photos in this post alone, I'll be back with Part II soon...

~Stacy

Memorial Day Weekend

Lovely :)

Next, we vacation.

Until then...

~Stacy

Camping and Not Camping

This past weekend Chad and Charlotte went camping for the first time this season. They went to Punderson State Park (about an hour away from us) and loved it--they had perfect weather (though a little chilly) and, since they stayed over on a Sunday, there were hardly any other campers there.

Charlotte was SO excited to go. She skipped to the car with her backpack on yelling "buh bye, Mommy, I'm going camping!" She was a great sleeper in the tent--even sleeping through the middle of the night rustling near the campfire of raccoons having a midnight snack.

I stayed behind and did yard work, which was a remarkably less fun way to spend the time. But it was also a quiet and peaceful way to spend the time...which was nice. But after a long day of doing manual labor I treated myself to a hard earned sundae from Mitchell's Ice Cream, so there's that. 

The day began with two huge piles of dirt and mulch. With the help of my good friend Mike (who only required beer and food as payment, which is a pretty sweet deal) we laid new dirt where the groundhog tunnels had been collapsed, then covered everything with mulch. It was a lot of work and I am very, very glad it is done.

Before:

And after:

Now we can enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day weekend without involving any big yard projects. And it's supposed to be beautiful outside, so that makes it even better. Enjoy your week!

~Stacy

Summer Sewing

I've had some fun summery fabric hanging around since Christmas that was waiting for the right project, so after seeing a sea of pink and yellow in Charlotte's summer wardrobe I found the the right one: summer outfits.

I used a basic shorts pattern for both pairs--nothing fancy at all, and each only took 1/3 yard of fabric and about fifteen minutes!

The blue floral top is McCall's pattern 5835 and the white top is Butterick 3477. Both are size 2T but cut on a 3T length; the white one was still too short, which is why I added the eyelet trim. And, as per usual for these patterns, they still ended up being way too wide and needed to be taken in on the sides about 1.5". The blue top actually isn't finished yet--the yoke lining still needs to be hand sewn but you can't tell in the photos :) The construction of that top was a little odd...but the end result is cute.

Happy Sewing!

~Stacy

Outside Stuff

It feels like we've turned a definite corner with the seasons. I no longer worry that there might be a random day with snow or freezing temperatures. It's a nice feeling. Also nice is the burst of green that happened last week--the buds on the trees just blew up all of a sudden and now there's beautiful color everywhere. It is the best. 

It was a week of seasonal firsts, as in summer, which I know it isn't technically summer yet. But it feels more like it every day so I'm just going to pretend that it is.

We mowed the lawn, went to garage sales, bought a few hanging baskets, went on a wagon ride/walk and ran around outside without shoes on--all firsts for this pre-summer season.

The photo on the lower right is from Thursday, when we spent the morning at garage sales. I love doing that, and I'm happy that Charlotte loves it too. My mom and I gave her some random items to put in her purse and she was thrilled. She bought a Snow White nightlight at one sale and scored a free baby doll at another (photo in the top left shows the doll). When we were done she announced "I'm ready for the next garage sale!" so she'll be happy to find out we're doing it over again this week.

Today Chad and Charlotte spent some time setting up the tent and organizing their supplies for their camping trip next weekend. Charlotte asked all winter long when she could go camping again, so she can't wait to go (and neither can he). I think she was more excited preparing for her camping trip today than she was on Christmas morning.

I hope you're enjoying the weekend!

~Stacy