Our South Haven Getaway

As most or all of you already know, we took a week+ vacation to South Haven. Here's a run down of what we did.

We left the house close to 8pm on Thurs. night (2 Thurs. ago). We drove through the night, arriving Fri. morning before 7am (Eastern). The ride was mostly uneventful, with just a few stops. At one rest stop, Yosef spoke to a woman who seemed to be Jewish and was hitchhiking from NY to Denver. I think this was near the east end of Ohio that he saw her. We briefly entertained the idea of helping her out since she was Jewish, but decided we really couldn't risk the safety of our kids by taking a complete stranger in the car with us. The only other incident was getting pulled over in Indiana for driving 80 in a 70mph zone. B"H we (read: me, Lisa) only got a warning. The kids slept somewhat fitfully in the car and did not want to go back to bed upon our arrival in SH. Yosef and I, of course, did go back to bed as soon as we could.

Friday's activities: Sand dune rides (with Chaife!) and the pool. Also, Zaidie had a sandbox put up in front of the house, and the kids had fun with that.

Shabbos: We got to spend time with Sruly and Adina before their departure to the Holy Land, and Itchie and Davy came over and ate at the house for Shabbos lunch.

Sunday: Dutch Village (with Savta, Chaife and the Ben Porat kids) and a ride on Zaidie's boat (it was Ari B-P's first ride in the boat!), although we didn't actually make it to the lake.

Monday: Curious Kids Museum and the beach below it, in St. Joseph. Tip: If you ever venture to go by yourself with 5 kids to a beach, find a better way to carry the baby and supplies than a stroller and a cooler! Strollers do not go well over the sand. The beach did not go over well with the kids. It was too hard to actually bring everything to near the water, but the sand was too hot to play in and walk on.

Did I mention that other than Sunday, Yosef did not join me on our outings? So, after our beach experience on Monday, I started leaving Hadassah at the house with Yosef so I only had to contend with 4 kids.

Tuesday: The Ottawa County Fair. It was near Holland, a little farther away. It was a great hit with the kids! We saw exotic animals, rode lots of rides, and looked at the 4-H animals too. We did one booth game and each kid got to choose a small prize.

Wednesday: This was our "slow" day. It was kind of overcast and we had gotten a late start. So, we went to Walmart and bought some craft-type activities in case we were going to be stuck indoors. We got sand art, balloons to twist into shapes, and foam art projects. Later, since it didn't rain, we went blueberry picking (at Degrandchamps) and then swimming.

Thursday: We went to Kalamazoo. We went to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and the Air Zoo. Amazingly, both were free, so I only had to pay for a parking meter near the KVM, and got away with a pretty cheap day!

Friday: I made blueberry cakes with some of the many blueberries that we picked (we mostly being Yanky). The kids spent some time working on their Walmart crafts. I watched the kids at the pool for a little while (the boys' pool was empty, so I watched the 4 older kids there). Then, Zaidie arrived and we went for a boat ride again, this time all the way to the lake. Yay! That was fun. Zaidie and Yosef even jumped into the lake, and Zaidie demonstrated his expertise with a snorkeling mask.

Shabbos: This time there were just us, Savta, Zaidie, Chaife, and Chaife's friend, Yael. Itchie and Davy stopped by, but not for any meals this time. After Shabbos, we packed up and hit the road. Driving through the night again.

Sunday: We arrived in Pittsburgh at the Shmuvitals around 7am. They were gracious hosts, and they wake up early on Sundays. Why were you guys both up by 7:30????? We got to see the Aronins, and take over their room to get a little rest before leaving again. Did we ever figure out if one Hadassah is taller than the other? We left the Shmuvitals around noon (with the possibility of not being invited back ever again due to a certain comment I made about a haircut, or lack thereof), and went to the Pittsburgh pizza shop. From there, we started heading home, with a stop on the way at Seabase, a kiddie place with mazes to climb through, mini golf, and arcades. After that, we started making good time until Sara threw up. B"H, we were near a rest stop, so we took care of that and got gas for the car while we were at it. Unfortunately, I forgot to check Hadassah's diaper at that stop, so she spent the next 30 miles or so crying till we got to the next rest stop and took care of that. Once we got out of that rest stop, we were stuck in stop and go traffic for a lo-o-ong time. Once we got out of that, B"H, the rest of the trip was fine and we got home around 9.

Monday: Back to normal!