Fourth of July Weekend 2008

Ok, my first post on an actual blog. This past weekend was the 4th of July holiday and my Aunt Carol, cousin Clint and Grandma Cochell came to stay with us for a couple of nights. They arrived Friday evening. Matt made dinner (burgers - yum!) and we spent a couple of hours catching up before Carol, Clint and Grandma walked down to the end of the next street over to watch the Grand Rapids fireworks. (Matt and I stayed home since Sylvia was sleeping and truthfully, neither of us get that excited about fireworks.)

In the morning, we woke to find Grandma on the couch instead of the air mattress she had gone to sleep on the night before! Turns out, the air mattress didn't stay filled with air (thanks Clint!), so poor Grandma found herself lying on our living room floor around 4 in the morning. Carol & Clint had to pull her to her feet. Fun times!

On Saturday, we all went to the Omelette Shoppe for brunch, then headed over to John Ball Zoo. It was Sylvie's first trip to the zoo and she was a trooper as usual. No meltdowns, which is always a relief, and really makes for a more enjoyable outing. ;)

That night, we had pizza delivered and FINALLY watched the movie, Charlotte's Web, which was very cute. I'm sure Sylvie will enjoy it one day. :)

On Sunday, Matt and I made breakfast while Clint went to play basketball. Then we packed ourselves into Grandma's car and were on our way to the beach (all of us except Matt -- he was itching to get so many things done around the house, so we left him to do just that). Our original intent was to go to Holland State Park, but when we arrived, it was FULL. Or the parking lot was anyway, and there was no way we were going to drive around aimlessly looking for a parking spot that would be too far of a walk for Grandma anyway, so we decided to head north up the coastline. Not 5 minutes later, we stumbled upon Tunnel Park, and were lucky enough to find the one parking spot available! The park gets it's name from the tunnel that runs through a dune and takes you right out onto the beach on Lake Michigan without ever having to climb. It was very nice and not as crowded as the state park down the road, but the sand was very HOT (just ask Grandma)!

Sylvia had her first glimpse of the lake, but she was not so interested in taking her first dip in the lake -- except for her feet, maybe, but full submersion will have to wait for another day I guess, although I can't really blame her. The water was COLD! She sure did look cute in her suit and shades though...

... and she enjoyed sitting in the cabana with Aunt Carol and Grandma too.

We spent a couple of hours there before deciding it was time to return home. Grandma had a long trek back across the scorching sand ahead of her...

Poor Grandma was pooped!

After we arrived back home, the 3 of them stayed for a little while and then were on their way back home. We miss them already and can't wait to see them again.