Town & Country Days

Every year the town of Sparta is all a buzz for Town & Country Days. There are all kinds of festivities from 3-on-3 basketball tournaments to craft shows, a local 5k to tractor pulls. We decided to strap on our townie hats and participate as best we could in the 95 degree heat. We took Finley to the Boy Scout games booth where she played Plinko, dug for treasure and picked a floating duck. Then we walked all around the carnival, allowing her to pick out one ride that she could go on.

After touring the lay of the land. Finley decided she wanted to go on the Dizzy Dragons (kind of like the teacups in Disney). But as soon as we approached the Dizzy Dragons, she saw a little girl going around and around on the train and she changed her mind. So train it was.

Day trip to Ludington

Last week, we planned a day trip to Ludington, which is a town on the coast of Lake Michigan about an hour and a half northwest of Sparta, where we live. Our desire to explore Michigan has us reaching into new territory for us. It reminded me of a news segment that was on the local news when I grew up in Ohio - "One Tank Trips" where the TV personality highlighted fun things that you can do with only one tank of gas.

Anyway, we had our plan for the day and hit the ground running. Our first stop was SandCastles Children's Museum. It was a cute, small childrens museum with mostly pretend play exhibits (vs. science exhibits which are geared toward older kids). Finley LOVED sitting in the real airplane and buckling and un-buckling her seatbelt. "Safety First" she kept saying ;)

Fisher is still a little young for the Children's Museum...



Finley enjoyed pretending to pick vegetables. She only picked the carrots and told me that she didn't like onions or beets.



She was a pro at going through the grocery store. She put her food up on the belt and paid some random girl who was pretending to be the cashier.




Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this Children's Museum! It was affordable (I think it was $4.50 per person), just the right size and had plenty of fun for Finley.



Next we hit up the beach. We knew that the beach would not be an all day thing for us so we opted to use the free city beach park vs. the state park, which you have to pay to enter. First we had a picnic lunch which we had packed. Then we changed in to suits and got ready for the beach!



Fisher and I mostly hung out on our beach blanket. I am paranoid of him getting in the sun since he isn't old enough for sunscreen yet so he stayed shaded in the comfort of his carseat.


Meanwhile, Paul and Finley played in the cold water and sand for a couple of hours.




After the beach, we cleaned up and put both kids in strollers to walk around the antique shops in town. Not all of the shops were very stroller friendly but we managed to get in and out. At our last shop of the day, Paul may have found a diamond in the rough.... but that is TBD as we're waiting to see what he can get for it. I'll keep you posted!

Mystery Trip

Yesterday we met up with Paul's family for a "Mystery Trip". They planned to take everyone to a surprise fun location so we were on board!

After loading all the family up into three different cars, we drove through the country roads and arrived at Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park. It is kind of like a zoo but it is privately owned. Even though it is smaller, as in area (not as much walking!), I'm pretty sure it had just as many animals as a big zoo! There were zebras, giraffes, crocodiles, peacocks, wildebeasts, monkeys, snakes, lizards, etc.

The kids (and adults) loved it!

Finley petting a waloby when we first arrived:

The animals were so close for petting!

Finley is NOT ready for a pet chick, we're pretty sure she almost squeezed it to death.

The giraffes were hungry!

They had several crocodiles, I couldn't believe how big and close they were!

Fisher enjoyed it all too :)

Pure Michigan Summer

In Michigan, the tourism industry has advertisements titled "Pure Michigan" which highlight the fun, outdoorsy, cultural things you can do throughout Michigan. In addition to being surrounded by the Great Lakes, this state is also known for it's thousands of tiny lakes which range from ponds to all-sports vacation mecas. One of my goals for this summer is to take advantage of some of the natural recreation areas that we have practically in our backyard.

During the school year, Paul's schedule dictates much of what we do as a family. But during the summer, Paul doesn't go into school much at all and has an ABUNDANCE of family time. Now that I'm working part-time, I was really looking forward to this summer to have the opportunity to take little day trips as a family.

After Finley's nap on Friday, we told her we were going on a surprise trip. Unfortunately it started thunderstorming during her nap. I kept my eyes on the radar and thought that maybe the lake that we were planning to go to may have missed this cell of storms. So we decided to take our chances and drive about 12 miles to Grose Park at Crockery Lake.

IT. WAS. AWESOME!

I think the weather scared the people off because we were literally the only people at the beach.

Finley braved her way into the water and played around with Paul.

Fisher and I hung out on the sidewalk that surrounded the tiny beach.

Afterwards, Finley and Paul played on the playground (which they have both big equipment AND preschool friendly equipment) while Fisher and I observed their fun.

We definitely will be returning to this park. There were also hiking trails that had mileage marked off in case Paul and I want to go for a run and then dip in the lake to cool off.

So, who wants to come visit?