Holland, MI-Holland State Park

We spent a week in Holland, Michigan at Holland State Park and had a good time.

The beach which was less than a mile away. The water was quite cold and the kids mostly played on the beach in the sand.

Holland has a lot of paved bike paths which made it nice to ride our bikes to the beach, to get ice cream and to check out Tunnel Park a couple of miles away. Being able to ride so much really hastened our attempt to get Jordan a new bike. I searched around a little and found her a great used bike at a local bike shop. It's pink and has a basket, which is just what she wanted!

So it was great for our ride to Tunnel Park. She rode on her own and kept up at a very good pace. Now we just have to try to get her on the trails!

The beach at Tunnel Park was very pretty.

They had a very nice playscape and a fun sand dune (which you can see behind the playscape but it's hard to appreciate the incline) for the kids to run up and down. So many kids had a blast on this. They would try to run down as fast as they could. And yes, many of them ended up rolling and flipping down. Fortunately, I didn't see any injuries!

One of the kids' most favorite places on our trip would be discovered in Zeeland, a small town next to Holland. It is called Critter Barn and I must say that it is a very cool place for kids who love animals. 

They have all the animals you would expect to see on a farm and you can get up close and personal with them. The Critter Barn was opened 20 years ago and aims at "promoting an understanding of agriculture, food sources, animal care, animal science, plus volunteer initiatives, and the farmer’s role in feeding the world".  They offer classes for children age 18 mos. and up where they learn and participate in taking care of the animals. And if they take a special care class, they can begin volunteering at age 8. The children there for classes and volunteering just beamed with pride. I could tell they were so happy to be contributing to something so important. And I was amazed as I watched a group of 4 from about age 10 and up shovel and haul away the bedding and poo from a pen clean for a couple hours without whining or giving up.

So, yes, I was there for more than a couple of hours to witness this. In fact, we went there not once, not twice but THREE times! The kids loved it so much and had to make sure that we took Daddy to see as well.

And guess what! It is FREE. They do, of course, take donations and we were happy to oblige considering the joy that my kids experienced here. They were truly in heaven. 

They held cats and rabbits

and ducks

and baby chicks.

We walked among sheep, fed goats, and watched a goat being milked. 

We saw chickens laying eggs, rabbits getting tagged and had a pony ride. 

And at nearly every step there were child volunteers and students learning and helping out.

We even saw a pot-bellied pig doing tricks

and the running of the goats! 

It truly was a great place and would love to have such a place in Austin for my kids.

We were also in town at just the right time for Maranda's Park Party. It was a fun gathering at beautiful Kollen Park in Holland on Lake Macatawa. Everything was free! They had a free lunch for the kids and then they had numerous activites and a couple of rides for the kids.

The fire dog taught them to Get Low and Go!

They tackled the rock wall, which was a first for both of them.

And guess who was there? Critter Barn! Woo hoo!

Lastly, we decided to go to Nelis' Dutch Vilage. It was a cute little amusement park and there was hardly anyone there. That made it a little depressing to Greg and I but the kids had a blast!

There were swings,

a zip line,

Dutch dancing,

and a few animals to visit.  You could even take a goat for a walk!

The kids had a lot of fun on these Pedal Pumper cars. It looked like a lot of work to me but they went around the track many times. 

There were also some educational opportunities. They had some demonstrations like cheese making, wooden shoe making and other things but we only made it to the cheese making demo. It was a bit disappointing since really she only talked about how to make cheese and gave very little actual demonstration. As you can see, there is no cheese anywhere!

And they showed a typical dutch home. It was divided into two sides. The grandparents on one side and the parents on the other. Look at the cabinets that housed their beds! The grandparents had the same on the other side of the wall. And one child would sleep with the parents, another would sleep on the shelf above the parents head and the eldest son would sleep out in the barn to protect the family. Yikes!

A friend of Greg's was supposed to come out on Saturday for a visit and couldn't make it. So that combined with rain that was headed our way and that on Saturday we would have to change sites, we decided to head out a day early and take our chances on getting a spot in a cool place closer to our next destination.

Next we will head to Paradise, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. But to find out if we got a spot in that other cool place, you will have to wait until my next entry! ;)

Howell/Brighton, Michigan (State #9)-Brighton Recreation Area, Bishop Lake Campground

This week we stayed at Brighton Recreation Area in Howell, Michigan and we had a blast. The park was very pretty and Explorer Bob, that led the activities, was great with the kids.

We visited the beach and played in the sand. The kids and Greg went into the water a little but it was a little too chilly to stay in for long.

The kids went to programs on owls, bugs, dinosaurs and turkeys. They also went on a night walk and Jacob went to a fishing class.

Here, the kids are digging for bones in an owl pellet.

And Jacob is catching bugs.

Jordan spent some time playing with Amelia and Ally from nearby Pinckney. They loved playing My Little Pony and riding bikes together.

The town of Brighton was nearby. Here, I discovered Meijer's and fell in love. After months of Walmart shopping, this place was wonderful. It's like a classier, more relaxed Walmart. There weren't masses of people there shopping, there was a great selection, good prices and they had the non-food items that I needed to shop for too. And Jordan finally got to ride a grocery store horse since it was only 1 cent!

Downtown Brighton was a cute area. They had a great wooden playscape for the kids and a pond next to it. There were many little shops.

There were several little shops around and we ventured into Oh My Lolli! They make all natural lollipops by hand in many, many flavors and the awesome part was that we got there just in time to see them make some. It was really interesting and the woman working there did a gr eat job of explaining the process. We took a few lollipops home with us and they were VERY good.

And since it was the Fourth of July week, we went to Hudson Mills Park to watch fireworks. Just by luck, we had the best seats! That was confirmed by the flock of people who came to where we were when the show began. The fireworks were great and it may have been the best grand finale I have ever seen.

So on the Fourth, we decided to stroll through the downtown area of Brighton. The kids took Greg to see the lollipop store and the pond.

We did a little window browsing but that's all we could do because nearly every place was CLOSED! Oh well, we didn't need buy anything anyways. 

There were a couple of restaurants open so we had lunch at Holy Crepe! A new experience for all of us and we were able to watch the owner make them for us. 

Then we headed back to the campground.

Around the campground, which is quite big and has several divisions, there are a number of beautiful wood carvings like this one:

It was a treat to learn that the chainsaw carver who made them, would be doing a demonstration in the park. Beginning at 9:00 in the morning, he took this piece of wood:

And worked on it until a little after lunch and turned in into this

I just love it! It is so cute!

I looked through his portfolio and he has done some really great pieces. He was first contacted by the park a number of years ago when one of their historic willow trees died. To keep the “tree” in the park, he was able to carve it into a turtle. For years, children came and stood by the turtle to have their picture taken. And some came year after year marking their growth. Unfortunately, the turtle was stolen. By some weird coincidence, it ended up in the yard of a man who had worked for the park 20 years prior. The turtle had a tag and he contacted the park so they could retrieve it. The other unfortunate part though is that whoever stole it also broke it apart. It was joined back together with rods and glue and held for a couple years before succumbing to the harsh weather. I believe this bear is to be the replacement. Hopefully, it will not suffer the same fate.

And FINALLY, Jacob was able to do some real fishing. He caught 25-30 fish and enjoyed himself thoroughly. I loved seeing the smile on his face! Jordan, being younger, still doesn't quite have the patience, but she did catch a couple.

And the kids and Greg went kayaking. Jacob and Greg stayed out for a good while. And Jacob loved it so much that he is already talking about plans to meet the Brass family in Tennessee to go on a kayak and camping trip with them after our “big trip” is over. :)

Next stop is Holland, Michigan.

Yellow Springs, OH (State #8)-John Bryan State Park

We stayed two weeks at John Bryan State Park. Yellow Springs is 14 miles from Beavercreek and 20 miles from Dayton. It is also about halfway between Columbus and Cincinatti, with both of them being about an hour away.

The park was beautiful. So lush and green! Probably due to the fact that it rains EVERY OTHER DAY! So it was also very humid and felt like it was a hundred degrees even though it was in the mid to upper 80s.

And the town of Yellow Springs was just so quaint and adorable! It is a very artsy place. Strolling through the streets you will see several small shops and teens and adults playing their music on the sidewalks. It's just too cute!  Too bad I didn't get any pictures!

Many years ago, before Greg and I were married, Greg traveled for his job. And for a couple of months, he worked in Columbus. One of his fondest memories was eating at Max and Erma's (on the company ticket, of course). So since it was Father's Day when we arrived, we immediately found one for dinner. It was good! We even went back two days later since we found out that kids eat free! ;)

We spent most of our time though at the park. There was much to explore there and in the immediate surrounding areas.

The kids enjoyed laying in the grass listening to music,

dancing together,

playing under the trees,

and catching fireflies.

We also started something new. A neighbor in Kentucky suggested that we go geocaching. I had thought about it before but not really looked into it much. So I said let's try it! The kids love it! It gets them out and gives them something to look forward to on a hike. We hear complaints when we say "Lets go on a hike" but if we say "Lets go geocaching", they are all for it. They can't wait to see what there will be in the box and if they will want to trade. It does require me to be braver though because many of them are off the path and I can only think about the bugs, spiders and snakes! Ick! By the time we left, we had found 5 geocaches.

We went fishing. No luck on catching anything though. River fishing is a little tough.

And we began a digital fungus collection since there were so many beautiful and unique ones:

For more, click here.

One of our weekend journeys was a trip to the Columbus COSI museum (free with our pass). It was very awesome!

Upon arrival, they had their Big Machines exhibit at the front. What kid doesn't like climbing up into these things and exploring?

Inside, Greg rode the highwire.

Jacob made a movie using stop action

And they both participated in a special exhibit where they and one other kid assessed a “patient' who was having an allergic reaction to peanut butter.

They checked vitals

Jacob bagged him

Jordan administered medication,

and they all instructed the patient on how to use his Epipen.  It was really cool.

There was also a cool section of the museum called Progress where you could see how items and businesses have changed over the years. They even had rotary phones you could dial and hear a dial tone (my kids have never heard one)!

It was a definite must see if you are in the area. (more pics)

The next day we rode our bikes from the park into town which was tougher than we expected due to some very steep hills but we made it. We strolled through the town, went to a farmer's market then played at a park.

Then we decided what fun it would be to ride our bikes to the next town! Greene county has over 60 miles of bike paths leading out to different towns and cities. We made the trip from Yellow Springs to Xenia which is 10 miles each way. It was pretty easy going paved path with some mild inclines and the path was mostly shaded.

We (Greg, Jacob and myself) made it in about an hour. We stopped for chinese food in Xenia and then played at a park for about half an hour before heading back. It was so fun but I did learn two things: 1. My seat is not soft enough AND 2. Jordan is tooooooo heavy to be on my bike any more! She is getting the boot! ;) Unfortunately that means there are some trails that we won't be able to do until she can keep up with the rest of us.

We made it back to Yellow Springs about 4 hours after we left. And we celebrated having some ice cream at a cute little ice cream stand in town.

One of our hike's in the area was in the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve that can be accessed through the state park. With all of the rain, the Little Miami River was flowing fast!

It also made for this beautiful waterfall.

And check out this huge rock in the middle of the river. Rightfully named, Steamboat Rock.

The next day, we visited Glen Helen Nature Preserve. It was a very nice area as well and entrance to the preserve is a very short walk from the downtown area.

There were many small waterfalls,

this cool rock formation,

and some fun river crossings.

On Friday evening we visited Young's Jersey Dairy. It was heaven on earth! First, we stopped to feed the goats.

Then we dined on fried cheese curds. DELICIOUS!

Next was miniature golf at Udders and Putters

Then some more play time: down the big slide,

making corn angels

and racing tractors.

Our last stop was the dairy where we had some fantastic ice cream in waffle cones that were the best I have ever tasted.

And just when we thought the evening was over, we walked outside, looked across a field and saw the most amazing display of fireflies. There were untold thousands twinkling in the night sky. I will never forget that sight! (more Young's pics, here)

Then to finish off our stay in Ohio, we went to the Dayton airshow. We saw some really cool planes on display.

We were able to look up into a couple planes and see in some helicopters like this lifeflight helicopter

but I was shocked to learn that to go inside a plane they charge $5 per person for EACH plane! Needless to say, we did not go into any planes. :(

It was a nice day; a little sunny but not too hot under our umbrella.

The AeroShell Formation Aerobatic Team were my favorite, but the Blue Angels were pretty amazing too.

We really enjoyed our stay in Ohio!

Next stop:  Brighton, Michigan.