mi vacation 10/16/08 - 10/22/08

We had a wonderful vacation to MI. It was kind of split up into 3 parts. Part one was traveling by train from MSP to Holland, MI and staying a few days by my brother M and s.i.l. A. The train was definitely the best form of travel for us with 2 wiggly little kids! We got on at 8 in the morning on Thursday, and would have gotten to Holland by 9:30 that night, but there were some mechanical difficulties with our train and then another one that we came upon on the tracks along the way, so we didn't end up getting in until midnight. LONG DAY, but the kids did great and it was so nice to be able to just focus on them and not having to strap them in and try to drive. It was also neat to see the beautiful colors in the trees the whole way out!

M & A live about 5 blocks from the train station in Holland and came and picked up our luggage with their car and we walked with the kids to their house as to not have to mess with the car seats. Friday we hung out with Uncle M and Auntie A and their bunnies, R & C (more on them later!), and just recoop'd from the trip and had a great time catching up and playing together. We walked downtown Holland and ate at Froggy's (great hamburger and fries joint!) then spent the afternoon at a park and got some fun pictures.

Saturday morning was also just fun hanging out with M&A and also making a trip out to Holland's thrift stores looking for swimsuits for all of us since we left ours at home. (Found ones for all 4 of us for less than $10!) We then headed out on part 2 of the vacation for Hudsonville to S's Uncle D and Aunt S's house. S's whole immediate family had also made the trip out to MI and Uncle D and Aunt S hosted a big Aukeman gathering (S's mom's side of the family) since we were all there. We had Gpa A, all his children, all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren (26 of us) there which was a lot of fun! It was good to catch up with Gpa A, cousins, and aunts and uncles and we had a great time chatting and eating yummy homemade pizza. We of course took big family pictures too, but on someone else's camera so I don't have those to share right now. I did get a 4 generation picture for W (he is named after Gpa A) and a family shot of us though!

All of us B's stayed in our favorite Grand Rapids hotel Saturday night (good prices, pool - hence the need for swimsuits, insanely good hot breakfasts, nice rooms - although we did stay on the 2nd floor rather than the 3rd this time and had a lot more stomping above us...some suspiciously 6'9'' sounding =). We didn't get to enjoy as much time together at the hotel Saturday night as we all stayed longer at Uncle D and Aunt S's so had to get kids down right away. Sunday morning we all went to different churches. We attended Ideal Park CRC where parents of our good friend N K go. It was fun to surprise them and chat with them a little bit! Then off to Gma B's apartment for the B gathering (S's dad's side of the family) where we had a nice lunch and visit with all of us, Gma B, and Uncle S and Aunt B. Once again we took more family pictures on someone else's camera, but I did get another 4 generation shot for W. It was beautiful weather out both Saturday and Sunday so it was nice to be outside to take pictures and let the kids run around and play.

We then all headed back to the hotel and the kids fell asleep on the way back. Gpa A was kind enough to let us borrow his van while we were there so we didn't have to rent a car. Thanks Gpa A!

We swam in the pool back at the hotel. This was by far G's favorite part of the hotel stay! We then went out for supper with J&C and family and hung out the rest of the evening. Funny note, I brought my camera down to the pool and wanted to get a pic of the cousins playing together, which they were very nicely! But when I told them all to just look at me and smile, they proceeded to line themselves up on the top step first - do you think they had been in just a couple of organized pictures in the past 2 days?

The rest of the B's headed back towards MN on Monday, but we stayed a couple of extra days back with M&A for part 3 of our vacation. We took it pretty easy on Monday morning though, swimming in the pool one more time, packing up, then eating at noodles for lunch. We wanted to get one more visit in with Gpa A and Gma B, and also get both kids a nap. So to shorten the process, we went and picked up Gpa A and took him with us over to Gma B's for a visit. It was nice to visit with them without so much chaos of the big gatherings, and I think they had fun visiting with each other as well - they are friends from long back. S's parents actually played together as kids! Our kids had fun too - W wheeled Gma B's walker all over her apartment! Then we headed back to Holland to Uncle M and Auntie A's. We hadn't been there more than 5 minutes when G asked about the bunnies! Oh, the bunnies! I will have to get more pictures of the kids and the bunnies from M&A to share as the kids absolutely adored these 2 french lop fuzzballs. W knows the sign for bunnies and would do it excitedly while running after them. G had fun trying to help take care of the bunnies and get them to do tricks (yep, they know tricks!), although her favorite thing to tell us was that "bunnies don't listen to me very well!" The gray one is Charlie, and the brown one is Rufus.

Strangely enough, Uncle M was not there on Monday when we got there. He actually flew to Minneapolis over the weekend to attend a classis meeting. So Monday evening we had pizza with Auntie A and she introduced us to the best movie for our kids, hands down, The Adventures of Milo and Otis. It is all about a kitten and a puppy born on a farm and their adventures, and our kids just loved all the animals in it! And it wasn't too scary for G either (she is very sensitive about scary stuff in movies or on tv), although she did get nervous in a few parts. And it was so much fun watching W watch the movie - he would get so excited about all the animals and be signing what each one was and making the noises!

Tuesday was our last day of vacation in MI. We soaked up all the time with Uncle M and Auntie A that we could and also got packed and ready to go. Uncle M and Auntie A spent a lot of time reading books to G & W the whole time we were out there. The kids loved it, S & I loved it cuz it gave us a break from reading them (I actually read a real book over vacation!), and I think M & A loved it too. G also got to make Auntie A's favorite cookies with her Tuesday morning! Auntie A does not like chocolate, so these ready to bake sugar cookies are what she likes for a treat! And G thought it was so neat that there were pumpkin faces in them! G & W also had fun playing Auntie A's very nice electric piano and particularly liked the voice setting - they sung with as they played!


Tuesday afternoon Uncle M and Auntie A took us to the Critter Barn! Auntie A works here part time in the office. What a fun outing not only to see where Auntie A works, but to visit and pet all the animals. There is something about our kids and farms and farm animals...


Tuesday night, both kids went down easily and slept really really well as is always the case on vacation - they finally get used to a place and sleep well the night before you have to leave. But it was nice for S & I to be able to sit and have a good chat with M & A without being interrupted by waking kids every 15 minutes! Big big thanks to M & A for their wonderful hospitality while we were visiting. They both are so good with the kids and also make it so easy to stay with them - stocking up on favorite and kid-friendly food, letting us use their bedroom with the kids, and by just being plain fun to visit. We all love you very much! =) Wednesday morning we were up early to catch the train at 7:30 (when actually it left at 8:30) and on our way back home. We had a fairly good trip back - W was dealing with teeth and not happy most of the way, but nothing terribly disturbing to the other passengers. We had a fairly long layover at Union Station in Chicago which we spent most of the time in the Grand Hall letting the kids run around (I am at 28 weeks in the belly shot). Then we actually were home a little ahead of schedule and arrived at our house by 11:00 that night. Yay for vacation and fun, but a big yay for being home too. =)