President Ford and Lighthouses

We headed to Grand Rapids after breakfast this morning.  We decided yesterday that we would like to visit the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.  It had a lot of information and we were able to spend a couple of hours walking through the exhibits.  We plan to bring Brett back her one day.  He would like all of the memorabilia.  We picked him up a "Jerry in 76" shirt.

After the library we once again headed to New Holland Brewing Company for lunch.  We stuck with the same appetizer, but Doug tried a sampler of beers this time.  While we were there I got a text from my principal, Cindy Kaiser.  She was in Holland picking up a dress for a wedding and was eating lunch across the street when she spotted me. After lunch we started heading to the shops.  Low and behold we ran into the Bokharts.  What a small world!  They gave us a lot of great ideas of things to do while in Holland, so we thought we'd try a couple out.

My favorite was the lighthouses.  It took us awhile to find the one in Grand Haven.  It was a long walk out to it, but it was a lot of fun.  Next we went to the Holland beach to check out its lighthouse.  The lighthouse wasn't reachable by foot, but we were able to walk the long pier parallel to it.  We liked their beach better than the Grand Haven one, but their lighthouse was better.  Both afforded us the opportunity to take a very nice walk.

We drove back to Holland for dinner.  We tried the restaurant that we saw Cindy at earlier in the day.  Their mozzarella sticks were delicious.  We walked into Saugatuck once again for dessert.  Our first movie choice was a Russell Crowe, Leonardo diCaprio war movie that was too involved for late night.  Therefore we switched to an old standby - North by Northwest.

Holland

After breakfast this morning we decided to head to a couple of Michigan wineries.  I didn't try much of anything, but Doug did.  The first one had wines made of fruits other than grapes.  I did try a couple of sips and was surprised at how good they were.  The ones we tried in New York like these last year were way too sweet.  The next one on our stop was Fenn Valley.  It had the most advertisement for the area, but was pretty disappointing.  Doug didn't buy anything and the guy beside me said, "Oh, this is terrible" after one of his tastes.

We had some time before the Felt Mansion opened, so we decided to head to Holland, Michigan.  We were both glad that we did.  I kept seeing signs for Windmill Island.  Doug offered to check it out.  I loved it.  On the island they had a working Dutch windmill sent from the Netherlands.  We were able to climb to the fifth floor.  The terrace made me a little nervous, but other than that it was awesome.  We also saw a dance in which all of the girls wore wooden shoes.

After Windmill Island we headed to downtown Holland and stumbled upon New Holland Brewing Company.  Doug was excited to see that as they brew one of his favorite beers, Fat Tire.  We had an appetizer and dessert there and Doug tried a couple of their beers.  The food was delicious.

After lunch we went to the Felt Mansion.  It was the one place that I really wanted to visit while in Michigan and I hate to say it, but it was pretty disappointing.  It was a nice home from the 1920s, but nothing like the one we visited last summer in New York.  That was alright, however.  It was worth a try.  Once we left the Mansion we headed to the Dunes state park.  It was about a mile hike to the beach through the woods.  It was nice even though the temperature was close to 85.  We walked along the beach for awhile before hiking back to the van.

Next one our stop was the Saugatuck Brewing Co.  They had a beer sampler for Doug to try and an appetizer for me.  Doug really like it, but all we kept talking about was the horrible music the bar was playing.  It sounded like 1970s Soul Train.  It definitely was funny.

We spent the evening walking around Saugatuck once more.  It is a quaint little town.  Tonight we watched High Crimes, a Morgan Freeman thriller.  We had seen it several years ago, but didn't remember much about it.  We both liked it as it had a twist ending.

And We're Off . . .

I believe that this may be the best week of the summer for the Heinisch family or at least one that everyone really looks forward to.  The fun all started when we dropped Cameron and Meg off at Camp Crosley this afternoon.  Cam has now been to camp four years in a row and Meg is there for her sixth year.  Meg moved up to teen village this year which is in a different section of camp.  Gabby and Alisa were in the same cabin as Meg this year and the three of them were chatting away as we said goodbye.  I never worry about Meg at camp as she loves it, is extremely social, and talks non-stop about it when she returns.  I am always a little apprehensive when we leave Cam, however, as he does not have a friend from Milford that goes with him.  This year it was a little easier to say goodbye.  First, he is one year older; second, he has really enjoyed it the last couple of years and third, this year he had a returning cabinmate waiting for him when he arrived.  They both remembered each other from years past and right away selected top bunks beside one another.  That was awesome to see.

Brett and Cal are going to stay at Mom's for the next three days.  Brett has to work and Cal has several other golf tournaments, but they also have plans to go to the fair and spend a night bowling.  My parents are looking forward to it as much as they are.  

For the fourth year in a row Doug and I decided to get away while everyone else had plans.  This year we tried a new place and headed to Saugatuck, Michigan.  We had heard a lot of positive comments and figured we might as well see what it has to offer.  

Just from our first night experience I think that we may have hit a homerun.  We are staying in a bed and breakfast that is about a half mile from downtown Saugatuck.  There are shops a plenty and several restaurants to try.  We were pleased to find that most places are open late.  Once we toured the town we decided on a waterfront restaurant.  The atmosphere was very nice as our table overlooked the river connecting Saugatuck to Lake Michigan.  The boats are a lot bigger than those on Wawasee and we enjoyed watching the water traffic.  There are more ice cream shops than any other type of store.  We walked through several of them before settling on one.  

Our bed and breakfast had DVDs for us to watch in our room, so we chose The Pelican Brief.  Doug fell asleep, so it was a good thing we have seen it multiple times.  I enjoyed watching it again.  I hope all of the days that we are here are as pleasant as this one!

VBS

Cameron and Meg finished their week long adventure in Vacation Bible School last night.  Cameron was a participant and Meg was a volunteer.  Both had an awesome time.  They were the first ones there and always came out with a lot of great stories to share.

For a Catholic church our parish is considered small.  Thus the Heinisch children know all of the children who attend religion classes or Bible school from the youngest to the oldest.  They have shared the same teachers and lessons throughout the years.  I had a lot of fun listening to them talk on the way home.  Meg's friend Aaron also helped.  He and Meg were in charge of the crafts.  I believe that their skits were the most entertaining, however.  Our favorite night of picking them up was when Meg jumped in the car and exclaimed, "Those little kids just love me!"  I love her confidence.

Next year there will be a new leader as our religious education director retired.  Meg said that she still plans on volunteering.  I hope it is as fun for them next July as it was this year.  Even if it isn't I know that they will look back on this experience with fond memories.

Elkhart County 4-H Fair

 

Today was education day at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, so teachers and students all got in free.  Cam, Meg and I decided to take advantage of it and spent the afternoon riding rides, trying the food and looking at the 4-H animals.  It had been several years since we had taken them to the fair.  They started out using their wristbands and rode the Crazy Mouse and several other rides.  I enjoyed watching them in the fun houses as they had to navigate the moving stairs, sliding floor and rolling barrels.  

We also tried some fair favorite foods - foot long corn dogs, elephant ears, snow cones and ice cream.  Meg and I got a kick out of Cameron's experience with the powdered sugar.  His elephant ear was extremely large and he was covered all over with the white powder.  Meg and Cam also tried a "fool the guesser" game.  They both told him to guess their weight.  Meg won, but the guesser was pretty close.  He completely blew Cam's weight, so both came home with new stuffed animals.

My favorite part of the fair is walking through the animal barns.  All of the animals are cute, but I think this year the best were the bunnies and pigs.  They decided that bunny fur is a lot softer than guinea pig fur.  We were home in time for vacation bible school.  Cal, Brett and my parents are going on Tuesday.  I hope they enjoy it as much as we did.

Brett's Summer

Brett was in such a great mood after work last night.  I thought he would be exhausted as he had worked late the evening before and had to be up early for a meeting with the political team he has been helping.   He also had several articles to finish writing this week as well.  Doug and I both enjoyed listening to him talk about all of the activity he has been involved in since he has been home from IU.  Brett definitely has had a great summer so far.  He kept telling me that he could not believe that all of this really came to fruition from his farm bill article being published in the Warsaw Times Union last Spring leading to an invitation from a local businessman for breakfast and eventually an internship working with the Curt Nisley campaign.

In addition to his internship Brett earned an A in the political science class he took online this summer.  He has also had a large amount of success in his job at Camp Mack as well.  Today was their health inspection and his area passed with flying colors.  Brett worked an extra three hours the night before to help make that happen.  All of this and he has been able to meet up with several of his friends and still spend time with his family.

When the summer began we did not know where it would take Brett.  It has been awesome to see it unfold knowing he still has a month left before school starts.  He actually said to me earlier this week that he might have to go back to Bloomington just to slow down a little. I know he was joking, but there may be some truth in that statement.

Friends, Friends and More Friends

It was Cal's night to have his friends over.  Cameron, Jayce and Alex met him at tennis and then regrouped at our house.  When I left to pick up Cam and Meg from VBS the boys were all walking into town to get some food.  Alex decided to ride Meg's bike which made all of us laugh.  Once we left church Cam, Meg and I thought we would drive through town and see if we could find them.  Sure enough they were all at DQ with Meg's bike sitting outside.  We thought we'd prank them by hiding it at my parents.  We didn't hear from the boys for a little bit so Doug finally texted them with "missing something?"  By the time they read their text they had been looking for the bike and thought that they would walk up to the police station to report it.  Cam, Meg and I got a good laugh out of it and I think they did once they knew the bike was safe and sound.

The boys stayed up until 1 a.m. playing poker, making Vine videos, trash talking each other and playing ping pong.  Cameron Heinisch even got in on the action by setting up his own Twitter account and being a part of their escapades.  It was awesome to hear the laughter coming out of the basement.  Cal hasn't had friends over for awhile and I know they had a great time.  All of the Heinisch children have done a lot with their friends this summer.  I am glad that they are enjoying it.