The week before we were due to leave on vacation the owners of the cottage called us and offered that we could come a day early (for no charge). Um . . . .yeah! That was a no brainer, especially as Jana and I sat down on Friday evening after putting the kids to bed and looked out to this:
The next day we went into the "big city," Ludington, to get groceries and check out one of the kids' favorite playgrounds. They especially loved this "bumpy slide," as they called it, which consisted of rollers that formed the slide. You can tell it was early in the trip because Kate was allowing someone to hold her hand. Our independent little girl didn't want or need that help for long.
Tons of cool things to climb up and slide on and run over and yet these simple toys that go back and forth remain highly popular. I think they should have these for adults and you could have fun and get a workout on it! :)
We did a lot of messing around enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the cottage. While we were having lunch Drew and Kate got a little silly.
Kate started to show off her muscles. She flexes like this and says, "Muscles! Muscles!" 
The next day Grandma Lynn and Grandpa John visited. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the greatest, so we spent some time in Pentwater and indoors. We finally got to the beach in the afternoon. Kate was quite hesitant about the sand at first. It's fascinating how that texture takes a little getting used to. After some coaxing and patience from grandma though, she started to venture out.
After a little while, Kate was having great fun in the sand!
The next day was beautiful in the morning and that morning Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill arrived for a visit. We walked along the channel in Pentwater and Drew helped point out the incoming boats to grandma.
A rare Aupperlee family photo! We have all together too few of these, so we used my parents to get a picture where we're all looking at the camera and look reasonably sane.
At the end of the pier Grandma Sue made sure to hang on tight to Kate. It was a tough job to hold her, but someone had to do it.
Drew pointed Grandpa Bill back toward the shore and gulls flying around.
Another rare photo . . . just me and Jana. Who even cares about the parents?
Back to Drew and Kate now (I promise). Drew and Kate loved this slide in Charles Mears State Park in Pentwater. It's one of those old metal slides that used to be in playgrounds. I camped here when I was little, so I may gone on this slide when I was Drew's age. The slide was super-fast and both kids could hardly get enough of it.
The three Aupperlee women walking along the channel in Pentwater.
Kate also enjoyed the swings. She's looking pretty sweet in those sunglasses, isn't she?
Drew started walking on the wall next to the channel walk and had great fun on the "balance beam." 
What big brother does, Kate must do also, so she also got in on the act. 
Again, we were able to make it to the beach in the afternoon and despite it being a little cool (as evidenced by the hooded sweatshirts), it was still a nice afternoon at the beach. Drew and Kate were very busy with their buckets. Grandma Sue filled them with water, then Drew and Kate filled the watery bucket with sand.
For some reason we got lots of pictures of Grandma Sue and Kate. I think they were the only ones looking at the camera and smiling! :) 
The next day we went back to Ludington again for lunch. While driving through town we saw this fire truck, which was incredibly exciting. It was parked in front of the firehouse with the ladder fully extended. We parked across the street from it and the kids gawked from the backseat for several minutes. 
That's it for this post. We're about halfway through the vacation. When I get a chance, I'll get more photos and stories up. 
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