Part 2 of Holland in August

This is my second blog post on our trip to Holland as I couldn't squeeze it all into one post. We had a great trip and I wish we could visit more often as we always have so much fun with family.

Day 9 (Sunday): Micah's flight was at 7:45 a.m., which meant we had to leave the house by 6:00 a.m. Before today we hadn't woken up before 8:00 a.m. because we try to stay on MST when we visit as otherwise it might be difficult to switch the kids back to MST. It was tough to wake up so early, but we did it.

In the morning my parents and I took the kids to Windmill Island and we stopped at Crane's in downtown Holland for lunch.

"Posing" in front of the windmill on Windmill Island

Before nap the kids played in the pool that Grandpa and Grandma found at a garage sale and it was a hit.

F, A, J

Warming up after the pool by helping Grandpa pick up crab apples. The kids helped Grandpa with this task almost every single day, and they were surprisingly helpful as the small apples are the perfect size for them to pick up!

In the evening Kyle and Jodi came over.

The kids enjoyed their first ever suckers, which we bought at the Holland Peanut Store, after dinner

Day 10 (Monday): In the morning we went to the Critter Barn, which was amazing as there were so many animals that the kids could feed and pet.

Feeding a goat

In the cat room at the Critter Barn, which had way too many cats in tight quarters, but the kids enjoyed brushing the cats since they never get to touch our temperamental cat at home

Before dinner I took the kids outside and they played in the large driveway that my parents share with their adjoining condo. This made me wish our driveway in ABQ was more usable as the kids loved riding their "cars" on asphalt.

After dinner we went to a park with Kyle, Jodi, and fam.

Post dinner popsicles

Faith imitating Adelle

Day 11 (Tuesday): I pushed the kids in the stroller while attempting to run. I definitely was able to run more with the stroller than in ABQ as Holland is at sea level and there aren't as many hills. The kids are starting to understand that we go on "runs" and when I stopped for walk breaks they said, "More running?" It does give me a little more motivation to keep running for them.

Jack decided that this ledge is a great place for hanging

"More running?"

We visited my grandma in assisted living in the morning as well. Unfortunately she had a bad fall our second day in town and she has been in a lot of pain, so we hadn't seen her yet as she wasn't up for visitors.

Great Grandma watching Lexi ride on her walker

The girls in Great Grandma's wheelchair with Jack helping Grandpa push

We took the kids to an indoor play structure at my parents' church as it was the first rainy day we had in Michigan, but the kids needed to burn some energy before their nap.

In the evening we went to Kyle and Jodi's for dinner and then headed downtown.

The toys that Aunt Jodi kept are so much fun, and it really helps to have older cousins who enjoy playing with the kids!

Day 12 (Wednesday): In the morning we went to the Farmer's Market and the kids enjoyed the children's activities and musicians.

Jack and Faith dropping money in the musicians' case

Afterwards we went to the local nature center and the kids enjoyed wandering the trails outside and exploring the indoor activities.

Following Grandma down the path

Playing with the sand inside the nature center

In the evening Kent and Emily came over for dinner and then we went to a park near the house I grew up in.

After we played at the park we walked down to the old Fire Dock on Lake Macatawa to look for boats, but sadly their weren't any out as it had been a rainy day. It was still fun to stroll through the neighborhoods that I used to ride my bike in as a kid, though, and we stopped at the small grocery store to pick up a few pieces of candy as I did that a million times growing up!

Day 13 (Thursday): In the morning we met my friend Lyndsey and her four kids at a park. It was our first cold day since we arrived in Michigan, which felt kind of nice after the hot, humid days. It was great to catch up with Lyndsey and see her kids again!

I asked my nephew Brayden to help me at the park so that I could actually have a conversation with Lyndsey, and I was so glad I did as he was extremely helpful! Brayden, our three, and two of Lyndsey's four kids (the youngest and the oldest) are in the picture above.

In the evening we went downtown to watch the street performers.

It was a cool evening and the girls enjoyed putting their hands in their pockets as I think it makes them feel really grown up

Grandma and Grammy pushing the kids down 8th Street

Day 14 (Friday): We had to wake up slightly earlier than usual to leave for the airport to make our 10:00 a.m. flight, mostly because we had to uninstall our car seats and check our bags, and I didn't want to feel rushed. I'm sure glad that we left when we did as it's a lot of work getting through security with three car seats, a stroller, multiple carry on bags, and three toddlers. Plus, we needed a little time to talk to the person at the gate as our seats were not by each other which doesn't work when traveling with three 2-year-olds.

The biggest issue we had while traveling was that the flight from GR to Minneapolis only had two seats on each side of the aisle, which meant that Alexis had to sit by herself across from me. I was thinking that this wouldn't be that big of a deal since I could still reach her and interact with her, but then the flight attendant told me that car seats are not allowed to be on the aisle, so we had to move Alexis to the window seat across from me. We are so fortunate that a kind girl from Singapore was seated next to Alexis and she ended up interacting with and entertaining Alexis for almost the entire flight!

Alexis entertaining herself as she was seated next to a stranger. Luckily Alexis is fairly outgoing and she talked to the other passenger a little bit, which broke the ice and the other passenger ended up drawing pictures for her on a magna doodle and playing with Alexis and her little doggie. She had Alexis laughing!

Jack and Faith watching a show on our second flight. This entertained them for a good 30 minutes.

The rest of our trip went fairly smoothly and the kids were glad to see Daddy again at the airport.

Part 1 of Holland in August

How does one possibly cram a fun-filled 14 day trip in Michigan visiting family into one blog post? We did numerous fun things every single day and I wish I could share every cute photo! I've decided to write a couple of posts covering our trip, but feel free to just look at the photos as I know the details aren't as important to anyone else as they are to me for looking back on in the future.

Day 1 (Saturday): Our flight didn't depart ABQ until 3:00 p.m. so we were able to take the kids to our neighborhood park in ABQ in the morning, and then put the kids down for a short nap (although Faith didn't nap) before leaving for the airport. Micah and I expected the kids to be content on the flights since we loaded iPads with their favorite shows and movies, but unfortunately this did not work out as expected. One problem was that they had to wear headphones and we only tried them on the kids once before leaving on our trip, so they weren't used to them. The other problem was that they were strapped in their car seats and there was so much else they wanted to explore on the plane, but somehow the six of us survived the two flights and a short layover in Minneapolis (Micah's mom flew with us as well). Despite having a hard time keeping the kids entertained and happy, everything else went smoothly.

Dropping off our luggage in ABQ. I found this great car seat cart on Craig's List and we carried the other two car seats on our backs.

Micah walking down the jetway with a car seat on his back and pushing an empty stroller with Faith and Jack's assistance. Everyone was feeling very independent (as usual!).

Alexis watching a few minutes of Daniel Tiger before takeoff.

Day 2 (Sunday): Some of our friends from ABQ moved to Ohio a few months after our babes were born and we hadn't seen them since. By chance they were in Holland, staying at another one of their friend's house on the lake, the weekend that we arrived, so we were able to see each other for a few hours before they drove back to Ohio. It was great to catch up with them, plus we enjoyed meeting their new babe! We are hoping that they will come out to ABQ for a visit soon.

Obviously we talked in advance and color coordinated our outfits. Thanks for the great visit Joneses!

The evening was spent with my family.

Jack was blown away by the balloons that Grandpa shot into the air. Every single time he made a perfect "O" with his mouth, which had the rest of us cracking up.

Adelle and Jack chasing the balloon

The rest of the family on the sidelines watching the balloon chasers

After going out for ice cream we stopped at Kyle and Jodi's to run around in their backyard. This was the first time our kids jumped on a trampoline and they thought it was amazing!

Day 3 (Monday): We visited Micah's grandparents in their nursing home. The kids did a great job entertaining their great grandparents by doing "Ring Around the Rosie" and "Teddy Bear Teddy Bear."

We all fall down! (very gently because the floor is tile...)

Posing with Micah's grandparents

In the evening we had family photos taken with my side of the family.

The kids playing in the sand before the photos. They visited the beach last summer but they were too young to understand it, so it was all new to them this year and they loved it! There was a lot of sand throwing, though, so they still have a lot to learn about the beach.

Micah throwing in the air Lexi before photos. Unfortunately there was a little mix up as to where we were meeting the photographer so the kids were already pretty tired before we got the photos started, but there are some good ones.

Day 4 (Tuesday): We went out to breakfast, visited the Outdoor Discovery Center, and in the evening we went to Kent and Emily's house to see their animals and then played at a park.

Sitting on Grandpa and Grandma's porch swing in the morning before breakfast playing "Where's your....?"

Jack petting Kent and Emily's new kitten Lily

Lexi and Faith looking at Kent and Emily's dog Cooper

Day 5 (Wednesday) and Day 6 (Thursday): My parents took care of the kids while Micah and I were on our anniversary trip. I know the kids did several fun things such as go to the Farmer's Market, hang out with their cousins, go to a Spray Park, go downtown to see Street Performers, and go to Dutch Village, but besides knowing that they were happy and well taken care of I don't know many of the details. I'm hoping my mom will do a blog post with her point of view of taking care of our trio alone for three days.

Day 7 (Friday): We took the kids over to Micah's parents' house in Holland as he had to fix the sprinkler. The kids enjoyed running around the spacious backyard and it made us wish even more that ABQ yards weren't so tiny.

Lexi trying out the tricycle at Grammy's Holland house

The kids exploring the large backyard in the house Micah grew up in

We went to an extended family gathering on my mom's side in the evening.

Swinging at the family picnic. This park had five baby swings, which is amazing as most only have one or two.

Day 8 (Saturday): We spent the morning at the beach.

The girls playing in the wet sand

Jack getting soaked in the waves with Micah standing guard

In the evening we went to Kyle and Jodi's house for dinner and we played outside afterwards.

I think Uncle Kyle is one of Jack's favorite people because he has a guitar! What Jack doesn't know is that this used to be my guitar but I gave it to Kyle when I realized I was never going to learn to play and he was interested learning. Jack was so happy to have a real guitar on his lap, but there were quite a few tears when he had to share it with his sisters.

10 Year Anniversary Getaway

When Micah and I got married 10 years ago we were in college.  I was about to enter my fifth year of school because I was in a 5-year program which included a Master's Degree, and Micah was starting grad school. We were truly broke as we were college students with low paying part-time jobs. We settled on Seattle and the surrounding area for our honeymoon as we could pay for a large part of it with money we received as a gift from Micah's grandmother, and it was an area of the country that we were both interested in yet we hadn't been to before. When planning our honeymoon we agreed that we would go on a larger trip, like Hawaii, another tropical island, or a different country, for our 10 year anniversary. We assumed that we would easily be able to afford that sort of trip in our early 30's, but obviously the thought of having two-year-old triplets in 10 years had not crossed our minds!

Although we would have loved to go someplace a bit more exotic for our anniversary, we were still able to have a great time in Traverse City, Michigan. Northern Michigan is nothing like Albuquerque so it was fun to be someplace different even if it is only three hours from where we grew up, and it was more comfortable for us and my parents knowing that we were only a short drive away if they needed us to come back for any sort of emergency with the kids.

We are so thankful that my parents agreed to watch the kids for two nights as we were truly able to relax and enjoy some much needed time together. It is hard to have much of a conversation when three two-year-olds are constantly demanding our attention, and after the kids are in bed our evenings are often spent doing chores around the house or working (Micah's job is quite demanding right now but we are fortunate that he is able to come home and spend time with the kids before putting in some additional hours from home). We wish we could do this sort of getaway more often, but we were excited to see the kids again after being away for awhile! I agree with Micah's analogy that one's own kids are sort of like a strange drug: sometimes they make you crazy, but at the same time you love them so much that when you are away all you can do is think about them and wish you were with them!

Heading north...the silence in the backseat was amazing!

After a quick stop for lunch, we went to a couple of wineries on Old Mission Peninsula (Peninsula Cellars and Chateau Grand Traverse) and then we drove all of the way north to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. The lighthouse itself was overrun with tourists, but the view from the beach was nice.

We then stopped at Two Lads winery as our friends in ABQ had a friend from South Africa visiting them, and his brother works at this winery. The view was amazing.

The view from Two Lads

Comparison pic from our Honeymoon in August 2005...have we changed?

Outside our fourth and final winery, Chateau Chantal

We rented a studio condo through VRBO that was about 15 minutes outside of Traverse City on the East Bay. There was a pool, hot tub, and beach access.

Our room had a great sunset view

One of my only requests for this trip was that I have a mimosa with a late breakfast as this seems like a true luxury to me. It was everything I imagined.

Our breakfast at Patisserie Amie was absolutely wonderful and we split the salmon eggs benedict and french toast. The french toast reminded me of an elephant ear as it was delightfully crispy and it was covered in powdered sugar, in addition to having whipped cream and bananas. I would go back to Traverse City just for this breakfast! 

Our original plan for our only full day away was to lounge by the pool and rent a kayak, but unfortunately the weather wasn't perfect (too cloudy for these New Mexicans) and we decided that having a relaxing day inside would be more enjoyable. In all honesty there were many people in the pool, but this included a million kids and we were trying to avoid kids when possible during our trip. There was quite a wind coming off the bay which meant the water was choppy, so we didn't think a kayak would be much fun. In the past I would have felt like we were wasting time by sitting around our condo, but it actually felt great as this is something we never get to do together at home. We enjoyed the set up of the room with the hightop table attached to the headboard as it meant we could sit next to each other at our computers while enjoying the view of the pool and bay.

Although we were having a lazy day, we did convince ourselves to go on a 30 minute run, which felt appropriate considering that we first met when we were both on the high school cross country team and we got engaged on a run.

The landscape in northern Michigan is extremely different from ABQ. I literally felt like we were running through a tunnel as I'm used to wide vistas.

The weather on the second morning was gorgeous and we briefly considered renting a kayak, but it felt like it would be too rushed since we had to checkout of our room by 11:00. Instead we enjoyed breakfast in downtown Traverse City, and we visited a few of the stores, before driving back to Holland.

Just for fun, another comparison shot from our honeymoon. I really don't see much difference so somehow getting his PhD, working for five years, having triplets, and being married for 10 years didn't age Micah! Maybe the thrill of climbing mountains and pursuing other dreams helps keep him young.

The only true downer during our trip was the HOT car ride home. We borrowed my parents car (for which we are very thankful!), but unfortunately the air conditioning isn't working well and it was a super hot and humid day. We spent some of the time driving down the highway with the windows rolled down, which had us cracking up as it reminded us of the "old days" when we were broke and drove across the country during the summer in a van without air conditioning. Ah, memories.