Although enjoying Pentwater sunsets can also translate into getting-soaking-wet-in-your-clothes if you're not careful.
But I do believe that Michigan sunsets might just be one of my favorite things ever.
With the kids able to stay up later and our house this year being a short walk from the lake, we enjoyed Michigan sunsets most of our nights of vacation.
We stayed in a new house this year with my brothers and their families. It was the nicest place we've ever stayed. There was a main house and a carriage house above the garage, so my family stayed in the carriage house with my brother Ethan while Erik's family and Evan's family stayed in the main house. It was so nice to be able to stay all together, yet still have a little separation to lessen the chaos for all involved.
We still ate dinner together every night at the main house.
The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and riding together to the beach.
There was plenty of family time together even with the separate living spaces.
We had beautiful weather all week long. We spent all day, every day (except one) on the beach with the extended family.
Our whole group would generally congregate at the beach during the day. The beach we go to is rarely crowded and is right on Lake Michigan, but also right on the outlet from Bass Lake to Lake Michigan. The outlet water is calmer and warmer, which is more agreeable to the younger kids than the cold, wavy water of Lake Michigan. When everyone was there, we had over 40 people, including 19 kids ages 2 months to 13 years old. There was always someone to play with.
The older kids loved going on dune adventures, building sand creations, catching tad poles, playing wiffle ball, and swimming in Lake Michigan.
I have less pictures of Staley on the beach than my other kids because she was always off playing. But she LOVED swimming in the waves of Lake Michigan.
Adelie was a little mermaid. She loved being in the water, although generally preferred the water in the outlet than that of the "big lake." She also enjoyed spending time playing restaurant on the beach. She really did not like stopping beach fun for bathroom breaks, especially when she had to walk through burning hot afternoon sand to get to the bathroom.
Adelie loved playing mermaids in the water with Caroline. She also spent lots of time playing with Gabby (another of my cousin's kids) and Reese. Guess what?? They were also pretending to be mermaids.
So it only makes sense that she needed a mermaid tail made out of sand.
Adelie still has a special bond with my mom's sister, Aunt Maggie. Adelie loved playing with Aunt Maggie on the beach every day.
The kids worked hard on various sand creations all week long.
There were always plenty of cousins and "beach cousins" (my cousins' kids) to play with.
Although Briggs enjoyed wading into the still water of the Bass Lake outlet, he wasn't keen on going into the wavy water of Lake Michigan.
He was generally more interested in playing in the sand and eating snacks than playing in the water.
He spent a few days playing for long periods of time with Reese, one of my cousin's kids who is 4. They had a great time collecting rocks and chasing seagulls together.
He also LOVED playing with Uncle Ethan. Since we stayed with Uncle Ethan, Briggs was always knocking on his bedroom door, asking to listen to Uncle Ethan's music, and asking Uncle Ethan to read with him. Luckily, Uncle Ethan was generally agreeable to all those things.
On our one cooler, overcast day, we took advantage of the less-than-ideal weather to go out to breakfast, shop in town, and then enjoy the farm market/petting zoo we found last year.
We joined Evan's family for the afternoon of fun.
Staley loved the big spinning barrel. The older kids also loved playing "robbers" on the wooden train set, jumping on the jumping pillow, and riding the pedal tractors.
Everything is always more fun with cousins.
Briggs loved seeing the animals, riding in the barrel train, the sand box, and playing on the wooden playsets.
Adelie was pretty happy to be doing whatever Liam and Staley wanted to do. She liked the duck races, jumping pillow, and barrel train ride.
And, of course, there are certain Pentwater traditions that we hold sacred.
S'mores night.
All my kids enjoyed roasting their own marshmallows this year. Staley LOVED it and went around offering to roast everyone else's marshmallows too.
Spaghetti night.
Walking into town for ice cream.
Dressing alike with my sisters-in-law might not be a tradition, but maybe it should be??
We also had a great time playing games after the kids were in bed. Euchre and Taboo were the preferred games this year.
And a cousin picture seems to be a tradition that gets a little easier each year.
Pentwater holds so many memories for me. I loved it as a kid and I love that my kids are growing to love it just as much as I do.
They love the beach.
They love the traditions.
They love the time with family.
We love you, Pentwater!!
See you next year!!
