Monday I worked hard to tidy up the house after all the painting and to get it ready from Grams and Poppy. We were also watching some friends so that made cleaning a little more complicated but somehow I did it!
Tuesday my parents were flying in at 5pm and everyone was very excited so we had to find things to entertain ourselves. The first thing we did was try out a new park in West Bloomfield. It had two separate playground areas and Steven was not excited about the first one we went to. It was too "babyish." But the kids enjoyed racing around that playground. The second playground was definitely more geared towards the older kids and they probably would have stayed there longer if they hadn't got hungry.
After we came home and ate we had some TV time and then killed the rest of our time at the library. I love that the kids can spend hours there being entertained. I also love that I can sit in a nice cushy chair in the comfort of an air conditioned place and watch them being entertained. It's one of my favorite places to go.
At last the time came to head to the airport and pick up my parents. We somehow timed things perfectly that we didn't hit too much traffic and we got there just before they got their luggage. After having some dinner at our house, we took Poppy on a tour of our neighborhood since this was his first time at our new house. Of course we had to stop at our neighborhood beach and do some swinging.
Wednesday was my birthday and I had requested a day trip to see a lighthouse and a beach. We ended up going to Holland, Michigan. Overall the trip went really well. The kids survived the 3 hour trip listening to Harry Potter (no electronics). Our first stop was at DeKlomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory. The kids loved trying on the wooden shoes and also getting to see them be made. I loved the Deflt plates and vases- so beautiful but much too expensive for me to own. However, my dad was nice and got me a nice windmill knick knack which is now properly displayed on our bookshelves.
After that we grabbed a quick lunch at Burger King because Lucy started bawling when I told her I had packed sandwiches for lunch. Apparently she hates sandwiches again. I caved easily because I really didn't want them either, ha ha.
Our next stop was the lighthouse but Google led us astray and took us to the shore opposite of it and into Holland State Park. There was a river between us and the lighthouse that we were unable to cross but there was a beach so we stayed and played. The waves were crazy high and Lucy had absolutely no fear and kept swimming further and further out. It was shallow and wouldn't have been that big of a deal if the waves didn't keep washing over her. I was left with two choices- either stay at shore and be totally anxious for her or go out and be pummeled by the waves. This was making me sincerely doubt my birthday wish to go to the beach but thankfully she eventually got tired of being far out and stated playing closer to the shore.
When everyone started tiring out from the lake water we decided to take a little walk to the rivers edge to get some good pics of the light house. Ben and Poppy opted to stay behind though. Ben is big into building sandcastles. After checking out the lighthouse from a distance we walked down a pier. This time Grams opted out because she did not want to go on the pier with us- she is not a fan of being that close to water.
After our walks the kids got to play at a playground for a bit and then we had the adventure of changing in a car (because I was too lazy to walk them all the way down to the restrooms). When we were all cleaned up we made one last stop at the Windmill Gardens. I was unsure about going because it was getting late but I am glad that we did. The tour of the inside of the Windmill was really neat, the grounds were beautiful, we got serenaded by an organ and the kids all got to ride on a classic Merry Go Round.
After this it was time to head home. We stopped at Steak N Shake for dinner and then we had a super uneventful drive home. It was really perfect birthday trip.
When we came home from the trip we had some ice cream cake that Tyler had bought. Then later on my friend Corinne came by and dropped off this hat. It's always a joke that I don't like hugs so it was a fun joke gift. And added bonus- cacti on the brim.
Thursday morning we spent recovering from all our fun the day before and then in the afternoon we took a trip to Ikea because my plastic drawers in the guest room were not cutting it for my mom- she wanted something more classy. We planned to drop off all the kids at the play area there but poor Steven was just a smidgen too tall and couldn't play with the rest. To rub salt in the wound he had to lend out his socks to Ben because you had to wear socks in the play area and Ben didn't have his. Somehow Steven survived hanging out (sockless) with us grown ups and he even found a stopwatch/timer/clock that he just had to have. Made it all better.
Friday we went to go see "Christopher Robin" and it was a hit with everyone. A really sweet movie and very uplifting. Made me love the Winnie the Pooh characters all over again. Then that afternoon Grams and I went shopping because that's our favorite thing to do. After that I had a baby shower to go to- I went early to help Laci set up since it was at her house. There were only about 6 people there which made it enjoyable for me. I really prefer smaller group things. It was a lot of fun but they kept me out too late. I'm getting old.
Saturday I had signed the kids up for a Fishing Tournament at Milford Memories but it did not happen. There were too many kids and not enough volunteers to help. So rather than waiting forever for it to be our kids turn we decided not to do it. It was probably for the best since I found out my kids hadn't actually done real fishing at Scout Day Camp- apparently all they really did was hold the rod. After we abandoned the fishing competition- we played at the playground, put out a fire, did all the fun crafts and activities at the Kid's Tent, shopped the booths (where Capt Ben got his own wooden sword and Steven kept trying to spend his money on frivolous things), ate amazing pretzels, listened to some music (where I apparently made Poppy leave too soon), got some free books from their Principal from Kurtz and had a sweaty, hot time. We had to head back to the car before seeing all the booths because all the kids were dying from the heat and it made me really miss living within walking distance because there would be no coming back after we left. Parking is a fiasco. Milford will always hold a special place in my heart.
Saturday afternoon, when Tyler got back from plumbing, we decided to rush over to the theater to watch Jurassic World 2 with Poppy. Since it had been out forever I figured it would be no problem getting there a few minutes late. I was wrong. It only had 3 seats that were all separate from each other. That was the only showing at that theater for the day so I hopped on my phone and found another showing at another theater and managed to buy 2 seats next to each other and 1 seat in front of those 2- as good as we could get apparently. We made it was time to spare and got to watch the latest Jurassic World. It was exciting but still held a lot of similar elements from all the other Jurassic World. I wasn't super impressed but it's always nice to get out. It's nice having parents here who volunteer to watch kids and take me out shopping. Life is good.
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