good bye, michigan

every october, we visit michigan for the big annual good bye to nana and papa staple before they depart for their winter home in florida.
it's always a bittersweet visit, both because we know we won't see nana and papa for the holidays, and probably not for a while after the start of the new year. but it is also a bittersweet good bye to a place we love to visit: grand haven, michigan. in early october, the signs of fall are everywhere; the changing leaves, the choppy water, the deserted beaches all herald a coming change, but it's not the sort of change i dread. i love the ice cream shops when they're open in the summer sun with lines around the block on a 90 degree day, but i equally love the calm quiet of a deserted downtown and boards over the ice cream shop windows. i love a hot day at the beach, but i also love a very cold and lonely day snowshoeing on the beach, climbing the windswept snow banks, and creaking my way out onto the frozen water.
of course, we get plenty of our own bone chilling lake winds and snow bank climbing opportunities and deserted downtown winter quiet here in  madison, so don't feel too badly for me.

last weekend, we spent time in grand rapids and grand haven, and the kids were great, and the drives were smooth, and the weather was perfect, and the company was fabulous.

 the kids spent a fun friday with aunt libby, banging on drums and having great merriment

while david and i strolled around downtown grand rapids and visiting many art installations for art prize, including these floating mannequin men in bunny suits. it was all very happy-making. 

the next day, james had an early birthday celebration, during which he got a t-ball stand with whiffle balls and a bat (with an unwrapping assist from nana).

you can believe he spent the rest of the day smacking balls off that stand. he has an undeniable power in his swing (we've known that forEVER, what with all the punching and hitting and smacking and whacking us with blunt and sharp objects...he is WELL practiced).

later, these two took the road less traveled to get to the beach.

once there, they engaged in a brief and heated frisbee toss....

while david got cocky with the t-ball and started calling his shots.

nana and ramona got a new kite up into the sky,

and james took full opportunity of the 50 degree air temp/50 degree water temp to take all his clothes off and explore the effects of beach erosion by leaping off the "cliff" into the water. he is CRAZY.

and an official pizza parlor birthday celebration for sweet cousin lilly, who is now officially a teenager (but has been smart and kind and mature beyond her years for a long time).

i guess this is just my long way of saying good bye to grand haven for 2014. see you in may.

nana and papa, we will see you well before may. lilly, bob and libby, the same goes for you.