Just got back from a 7-day jaunt up in Pentwater, Michigan with the Orr family. This is the second year in a row our friends have been gracious enough to lend us the use of their family vacation home, and we are so grateful.
The house is situated right at the edge of Lake Michigan, which allows for many days of beach fun, boat spotting and spectacular sunsets.
We had lots of warm, sunny weather this year, which was a welcome change from last year, which was unusually rainy and cool. On Thursday, it actually got hot – 87 and humid. We couldn’t complain too much, though; Mom said it was about 10 degrees hotter in Indiana!
Most days were spent at least in part at the water’s edge, but we did do a little sightseeing in Pentwater. We had dinner at a local pizza place on Saturday night and then wandered around the village, which reminded me of Zionsville somewhat. There was a great children’s bookstore called “The Story Book” which we had to stop in. The shop owners, a 60-ish looking couple, positively fell over with excitement when we wandered in with all 15 kids. The wife immediately suggested a read-aloud and produced 3 storybooks and sitting mats for most of the kids. We ended up buying a book called “Shakespeare’s Stories” which retells many of the famous Shakespeare works for kids.
On Sunday, we worshipped at a tiny church in nearby New Era. We arrived 15 minutes early and spotted several members standing at the entrance to the church. As soon as they saw our large, kid-filled vans pulling up, several of them disappeared back inside the church (did I mention it was tiny?). Later, one of the ladies told us that when they heard there were two large vans pulling up, they thought it was a joke. But they ended up being very welcoming and accommodating; the disappearing men had gone to get more chairs set up for us. Ironically, one of the families had relatives in Lebanon. When they told us the family’s name I knew it sounded familiar, but couldn’t place it. I mentioned the name to Kelly when we got back to the house and she recognized it right away as one of her former neighbors!
Unfortunately, this vacation will also be remembered for the virus that hit 3 of the kids. Between Monday and Wednesday, Claire, Sarah and Rachel fell victim to a 24-hour bug of the fever/upset stomach variety. We were bracing ourselves for the worst, but they were the only ones who came down with it … while we were there. Courtney ended up getting a fever a day after we got back and Sophia, Noah and Luke have all gotten it in the last 24 hours.
But we all agree that it was a great vacation; the kids all got along famously and we had lots of good food and family time. We ended up finishing the last ten chapters of Sense and Sensibility, so we were finally able to watch the 1995 film. We also watched “Singing in the Rain” and “Meet Me in St. Louis” (yes, we were all walking around singing the songs. :-D). Glenn and Kelly read aloud to the kids from their new book “The Dragon’s Tooth” by N.D. Wilson.
We dearly love our Virginia Beach vacations, but these last two trips to the Beach Haus in Pentwater have been so fun, too. :-)
Great pictures! Love the water in the one of Trent.
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