Parks and Picnics

We are hitting areas parks each week, and we love to have picnics there too.  This is such a great part of summer vacation.  We're lucky that sometimes Jon joins us for lunch.  

The Backyardigans

"We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore..."

If you don't have kids, you've probably haven't seen The Backyardigans (or heard their catchy theme song).  They're cute little animated creatures that explore the world in their own backyard.  We were kinda like The Backyardigans this weekend.

 We spent lots of time outside, and we added our very own fire pit.  Yahoo!
So, we ended a beautiful day around the Walcott Pit eatin' hot dogs and smores.  
And yes, it for sure tasted like summer. 

 

   

 

Tryin' the Beach

We went to Holland State Park to give the beach a try with two kids.  I of course did not try this by myself the first time around.  I concluded that we had a lot of fun, but both kiddos need lots of attention, and we need lots of gear.  I could've called this post "Good Times with lotsa Gear."  We will of course be returning, but I won't be going by myself...maybe next year.

Walcotts hit WDW

We hit Walt Disney World on a family vacation as soon as school got out. What an absolute blast! It was such a huge joy to experience the magic of Disney World through the eyes of a child. Admittedly, it even choked me up at times (but I wasn't the only one). There is no other place like it. We love WDW!

It's Not a Witch or a Wench

Last night we hung out with a winch. This is my husband getting ready to be pulled by the winch.
Now would be a good time to pause and make sure you are not confusing winch with witch or wench. I am not referring to a Wizard of Oz character or a woman with loose morals here. You see a winch is a revolving machine that in this case has a 600 foot rope and ski handle attached to it. This machine pulled my husband as well as the other young men from the extended Nykamp family across the water and over various aparatus if they so chose all while on a wakeboard.

And here are the rest of us hanging out around the winch choosing not to be pulled by her, but we'll play by her...she's not a wench or a witch.

Pickin' Peaches

I had never picked peaches before until yesterday!
We went to Crane's Orchard in Fennville. It was a short walk from the car, and it was super easy. We had a great time. We even went with 4 generations of peach pickers.
I don't can, but be sure to let me know if you have a peach recipe I need to try.

Today The Dutch Way

Bright and I headed out to Dutch Village today. Yup, that's right...Dutch Village!

If you're from around here, maybe like me you haven't been there since your 2nd grade field trip (or was it 3rd grade?). We basically were tourists in our own town today, and we did the Dutch thing. Why did we do that? Well, we are always looking for fun things to do. I have a good friend who takes her kids there and a graduated student of mine works there too. So this morning when I was trying to figure out what to do, we looked at pics of the place online, and Bright indicated "That" was what we should do today. So this Mama did play time today the Dutch way.

Fun That Fair

Although we'll probably never forget what we saw at last year's fair, we did have a blast last night at the Ottawa County Fair. We went through the barns twice, took in a few rides, ate some fair food, and we even watched the motorcycle racing. Yes we saw a couple crashes, but nothing like last year. If you ask Brighton if he likes something, and he does, he'll say "Fun That" or "Again That." We heard them both from him several times, and I must say outside of a few barn experiences I could avoid, I would whole-heartedly agree.

My Sand Monsters

We have at least one long skinny dead spot in our lawn thanks to the thrills my Grass Monsters have been having lately. Tuesday night we decided to change it up; my Grass Monsters became Sand Monsters. We headed to Holland State Park a vacation spot just a few miles down the road. Following a very brief picnic, we played in the sand and the water for a couple hours. Slip 'n Slides are fun, but we determined we have to do this much more often.

My Grass Monsters

We decided to try a Slip 'n Slide for the first time over here this weekend. Little did I know that we'd have a huge mess on our hands. They called themselves the "Grass Monsters" because Jon recently cut the lawn. Brighton and Jon had grass stuck everywhere! We weren't short on good times though. We'll be slipping and sliding again tomorrow. Maybe I'll even get brave and give it a try.

Art + Mall + Mansion

Doesn't like that sound like a fun way to spend a few days? Well, good company is an important part of the equation, but I certainly had it.

We did a lot on our weekend away with the ladies, and we had a GREAT time. As usual we did the Ann Arbor Art Fair and the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Before we headed home, we toured the Dodge Mansion too. We had a blast. I laughed so hard I cried and couldn't catch my breath. We have my grandma and a piece of gum to thank for that one. Can't wait 'til next year!

The Bean Trees

Yes, I know beans don't grow on trees, but my son doesn't know any different. And interestingly enough I am reading (actually listening to) The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. By the way, blueberries grow on trees too according to Brighton. So as you can see, we picked beans this week. Bright's Grandma Walcott has a very impressive garden, and she helps some other people with their gardens too.

It was quite the set-up. Brighton wasn't as impressed. This two year old was interested for about two minutes. That is a forced smile up there if you can't tell. I'll just say I'd choose a different picking partner next time around.

We've been busy making big batches of pickles and zucchini bread at our house too. I am thinking I would like a small garden of my own next year. A girl can dream :)

Fast Tubing and Slow Tubing

We observe lots of tubing when we're living the cottage life, but I don't tube as you are probably imagining tubing. When one of my swimsuits died when I went skidding across the water, I called it quits. Yes, that was ten years ago already (thanks Dad!), but seriously...finding a great bathing suit is no easy task.
When the water is warm enough though as it has been, we sometimes do what we call "Slow Tubing." And I have to document that at least on this lake, this family invented it and we now have lots of copy-caters. This lake has fast boating stop at 7:30 pm. On these warm nights though we aren't just quite ready to get out of the water, so we tube behind the boat at a crawling pace. This permits us to stand on the tubes, hang off the tubes, trade tubes, and jump off the tubes all while following the no wake rules. It is a blast, and our son certainly thinks so too as of this past weekend. It's the perfect pace and the perfect amount of fun for this two year old.

The Blue Berries

We took Bright blueberry picking last week. He kinda helped, and we didn't have to chase him between rows like we did last year. He loved pouring the picked berries from one bucket to the other. He did eventually eat some off the bush too, but only after trying a green berry and a leaf as well. We had to constantly remind him, "Bright eat the BLUE berries." He's not liking them as much now in his highchair, but I keep trying. He does point to them and tell anyone that will listen that he got them off a tree.