Holland State Park

Camping at Holland State Park.  We arrived for our camping in Michigan, and somehow managed to beat the 100 degrees heat with the incredibly cool weather of Lake Michigan. 

After getting camp set up, made our way a mile or so to the lake.  It was incredible to go from such hot sand to the incredibly cool water of Lake Michigan. 

After an evening swim, we came back to a delicious meal and a campfire.  Good for s’mores, but the heat of the fire combined with 100 degree weather keeps you a fair bit away from the flames!

Water Park

Thanks to Julie's keen eyes and discounted tickets, we were able to go to the water park and have a fun time with some of the HUGE slides.  The lazy river, lots of exploration and enough slides to keep you spinning and going crazy.  It was a fun time at Splash Bay.

Grandpa Barrie's Money Jar!

What a privilege for the kids to get a chance at the money jar!  One handful, no scooping.  As much as you can get!  It was pretty exciting to count up what you could get.  Since our kids are away for the birthday tradition, it was quite a treat to get a shot at the famed money jar!

For the record, Gabi did the best with around $22 (?!?), but she may have benefited from going first and having more quarters on top. 

Goodbye Cousins

The cousins definitely had a great time together, but after a couple of days, it was time to head off and back to the DC area.  We sure had a lot of fun, but we had to say goodbye and safe travels.  Between Ann Arbor and Oak Openings, we had two fun days and saw some new sights.  It had been a great vacation. 

Birthday Girl

Since Grandpa Levi's 90th had trumped another birthday, we had a celebration a few days later.  Fun to have everyone together and enjoy some dessert and fun memories. Thanks to Carrie and Julie, gluten free cupcakes were ready for the celebration.

And yes, the girls definitely enjoy being together!

Double Woodward Sighting in Ohio

It was so great to have Mark & Marta and their family come and visit and see our place in Toledo.  The drive back was surprisingly easy, with little traffic on the 4th of July.  The next day we went to Oak Openings.  In addition to showing the other Woodwards one of our favorite places and digging big holes, we also had an Air Force One sighting!  With the presidential election in full swing, President Obama had landed at Toledo Express Airport for a rally in Maumee and the beginning of a bus tour through Ohio, crucial in the upcoming presidential election.   It wasn't until we got back to our house and read the news did we place the type of aircraft with the light blue and white that flew right over us. 

And yes, the holes really were big!  Maybe not Louis Sachar big, but definitely big!

Conrad Pool Video

We had some fun off the diving board at the Conrad Pool.  Flips, dances, dives and fun!

Sunset, Moonrise and Tractors

On the eve of the 4th of July, we had the riding lawn mower - which was a big hit (though we needed some extra books to ensure that Gabi really qualified as a human being), with fun driving around the yard.

We had a sunrise on one side and a moonrise on the other.  Beautiful Iowa evening.

Conrad Pool

We made the drive over to Conrad (en route, Mark did some auto repair on a loose plastic item on their ford - with the help of some name dropping!).  The pool there is quite the scene with miles of corn fields behind.  With a great water slide and diving board, you could not go wrong.