Summer Vacation 2010 - Holland, Michigan

Like last year, we took a trip to the shores of Western Michigan and had a fun time. The weather could not have been more perfect - partly cloudy and in the low 80s, which is great weather for just about anything you might want to do. We arrived in Holland on Friday morning and left on Monday morning and that is plenty of time in Holland/Saugatuck since there aren't any major attractions or sites to see. It was a pretty laid-back vacation were nothing was planned and there really wasn't anything that just HAD to be done. Other than the beach. Jackson was really looking forward to the beach. We ended up going to three beaches over the course of the extended weekend - Oval Beach in Saugatuck, the beach at Holland State Park, and then we also went to Silver Beach in St. Joe on our way home on Monday. Oval Beach wasn't as crowded, but I wouldn't recommend it since there was a wide stretch of pebbles at the water's edge that really made it uncomfortable - and sometimes difficult - getting in and out of the water.

We also went to the Windmill Island Gardens and to Nelis' Dutch Village, saw a bunch of wooden shoes and windmills, and generally got a lifetime's worth of fake Dutch culture. In between all of that we spent our time eating, napping, and swimming in the hotel pool. One evening we went to a pretty great playground at a city park along Lake Michigan in Holland, which was even more enjoyable because there was some sort of park music event going on at the same time that we were able to enjoy. On Saturday night, we also went to dinner at a restaurant on Lake Kalamazoo in Saugatuck and then stayed for their Venetian night festivities.

The one hotel room for the four of us as a bit of a challenge, given nap schedules and Luke still learning to adjust sleeping out of a crib and in new environments. All in all, it was a nice trip. I really only took vacation pictures when we went to the Dutch places because we were either going somewhere that I didn't want to lug the big camera too or we were going to the beach and I was too afraid of getting sand in or on the camera to take it there. Anyway, here's some pictures of the trip that I did take:

Windmill Island Gardens







Nelis' Dutch Village







Holland State Park (The one time I actually took the camera to the beach)