Father's Day Weekend

Dan and I headed up to Michigan to spend some quality time with my Dad for Father's Day as well as quality time at Lake Michigan. For me summer is the same as being by the water. Growing up we always were camping at the Lake, going down for walks, or watching the sunset off the pier. The Lake is only about 30 mins from my parents house which means we can go out there quite a bit :)


nice and sunny :)

On Saturday morning we got up and went over to see my grandparents, both recently where moved into a nursing home at ages 94 and 95. This has been a really hard transition because less than a month ago they were still living at their own house. We ate lunch back at my parents and then headed out to the beach. It was sunny and in the 80's which is perfect because there is always a strong breeze by the water. As we went out onto the pier we realized a storm was coming in, which makes the following pictures look a little dark. The storm was heading farther north but we got to see the lightning over the water which was really cool.



At the end of the pier




The beach

  People are always fishing and jumping off the pier to go swimming. There were lots of people out walking the boardwalk and it is a great place to go it you like to people watch :) Usually we see someone we know when we go out to the Lake but this time we didn't. Once we finished up on the pier and everyone had seen the lightening we walked into town to a great corn dog stand. This place has been open since 1947! We always get corn dogs from them and they are yummy! I was excited to have one since it has been a couple years since my last one and for Dan to get a chance to try them.

 After eating our corn dogs we headed back to our car and saw a huge freighter ship from Cleveland coming in. It is always fun watching them come in and maneuver through the channel. Dan and I even got to see it leaving after it dropped off it's cargo in the evening when we came back for the evening show.

 We did a little bit of driving around the town as we were waiting for the pizza place to open (Fricano's) and enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza at one of our families favorite places. Dan and I had ridden out with my parents so after dinner we grabbed some ice cream from another favorite place in Grand Haven and then headed home. I had been telling Dan about the Musical Fountain in Grand Haven and so after getting back to my parents, changing, watching some baseball, and eating homemade strawberry shortcake we went back out to the lake.

They set the fountain to lights and music and it is only about 30 mins but a fun way to send the evening. We got seats in the bleachers they provide and enjoyed the show. We then walked for a little bit on the boardwalk before heading back.

 On Sunday we went to church with my parents and enjoyed seeing their new church. They have been working on renovations for the last few months and had finished it all up since the last time Dan and I had been there. They bought my old school (which included K-12 at the time) and it is weird and fun to walk the halls knowing what use to be in certain area's and loving the changes they have made. After lunch we headed up to my sister's to celebrate my nephew's Birthday, which happened to fall on Father's Day this year.


Cake made by my sister and brother-in-law



The birthday boy!

 I can't believe he is 7 already! We had fun eating cake and watching him open gifts before leaving to have dinner with my parents before we drove home. It was a full weekend but very fun and a good time with family.