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.