Momma Day - Little Sable Lighthouse

I have the privilege of having E.V.E.R.Y. Friday off to spend with the girls this summer.  It's informal, but the goal is to make each week an adventure.  The first week was pretty easy, as Grandma & Grandpa Purdy were babysitting a lighthouse at Silver Lake State Park - how could we pass up a visit??

And since we drove *right by* the Country Dairy on the way, we needed to stop for a late morning snack.

We've arrived!  Bring on the ice cream!

Hannah's choice was Super-Moo!

And Megan went with Cookie Dough.  Neither regretted their decision.

 Then it was on to Silver Lake!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch.

Complete with orange pop - this girl's fave

 

Time to explore the lighthouse!

Movin' on up (at a much faster pace than Mom)

We made it!

Checkin' out the scenery 

 

And look who we found at the top!

Grandma is somewhere down there.

It wasn't the warmest day, but we still had some time to play on the beach.

 

Grandpa wrote their names in GIANT letters that were visible from the top of the lighthouse (though we couldn't seem to get a good picture) - here is Hannah standing in her "H"

And Megan - I told you the letters were giant!

Not a bad babysitting gig Grandma & Grandpa had!

Running the dunes

I preferred the part where we went down the hill

 

A great day at the beach!

 On the way home, we stopped at the Lewis Farm Market in New Era (right around the corner from the Country Dairy, where we managed to restrain ourselves from stopping a second time).  This is an interactive petting zoo with lots of farm-ish entertainment.

There were a few goats that were happy to see us!

...and a llama.

...and a camel.

Someone was pretty proud of herself for holding a baby kitten.

They both enjoyed the jumping pillow - imagine the biggest open-air bounce house you've ever seen.

Jump, jump, jump.

More farm-fun

The peacock claimed this bench as her own.  I wasn't about to mess with her.

Cow Train!

Off they go!

Ending the day on the wooden tractor.

We had an A.W.E.S.O.M.E. day!

The Purdys Go West

...well, kind of...at least on summer weekends.  After an intense week-long search (trust me, it felt much, much longer than that), we just bought this cute little house in Grand Haven:

In my mind, this thing was sold as soon as I saw the front porch - ADORABLE!

 

This house came on the market on a Friday (after we tried and failed to put an offer on another home a block south and east of it).  We immediately contacted our realtor to set up a showing the following day, only to find out by mid-afternoon that it was already SOLD!  I'm telling you, this market is C.R.A.Z.Y.  We moved on, and looked at a fresh batch of homes over the weekend.  We were ready to write an offer on a much smaller home (very much the cottage in the city that I was going for, but in need of some major fix-ups) just across the street on Monday, when our agent let us know that the buyer's financing had fallen through on this one, and it was once again back on the market!!  We hustled out there on Tuesday (the soonest the sellers were ready to show it) and beat three other interested parties to the punch with our offer.  Though it was still possible that we could have been outbid, we were excited to hear the news Tuesday night that they had accepted our offer.

Here is a look around our second chance, second home:

Did I mention how much I love the front porch? 
The wood is currently unfinished, but I have plans to stain it - these plans are always so simple in my head...

F.E.N.C.E.D. I.N. B.A.C.K.Y.A.R.D.
We don't even have this at our real house, and I'm so excited to do this for Lacey...because you know, all major real estate decisions should be made around your dog...
Seriously though, it's such a cute little backyard, and I love the giant tree that shades most of the yard all day long.

We love the brick patio area, too!  We will move our portable fire pit from our Grand Rapids house to Grand Haven, where opportunities to enjoy s'mores in the backyard are a bit more plentiful.

Moving inside, here is a look at the living room.

Another view of the living room + dining room

View from living room, looking at the kitchen + snack bar (half bath is through the doorway in the center).  The kids will be thrilled with the snack bar - for whatever reason, they find eating while sitting on a bar stool to be a hundred times more fun.

The kitchen - I will be kiboshing the green approximately 15 minutes after we have the keys (I actually don't hate it, but it doesn't fit the beach house color scheme I'm going for)

Other side of the kitchen.  All appliances stay - yay for us!

We love the exposed beams on the cathedral ceilings, and the two skylights
in the living room give the place tons of natural light.

They didn't include pictures of the bedrooms in the real estate listing, so I will have to follow up with those, but up the stairs (which are currently bare and a total death trap for our danger-prone Hannah) are two bedrooms and a full bathroom.  The girls will be up there (once we've anti-slipped the stairs and/or Hannah's feet).  We've promised Megan pink bunk beds - you can imagine her excitement!


 

Go Tigers!

The girls got to enjoy a Tigers game with Daddy, Grandma & Grandpa Purdy, and Uncle Kent.  Though this is old news to Megan by now (this was her third trip), Hannah was a first-timer.

Rocking their Tiger colors

Daddy has a couple of good-looking dates.  Go Tigers!

Last day of kindergarten!

In what must have been the quickest school year on record, the last day of Megan's kindergarten year is upon us!  She had such a GREAT year.  We couldn't be happier with her elementary experience thus far, but we're excited for summer too!

Officially a first-grader!

This was a Pinterest idea (what idea isn't anymore?) - the goal is to take her picture in this on the last day of school every year until graduation.  We'll see just how many years Mom remembers to do this, but we're 1 for 1 so far!

Megan's Dance Recital

This was Megan's third year of ballet/tap class (and her second year with Dance Dimensions).  Recitals have never been her favorite part of the dance experience, but this year we saw less anxiety than ever.  She was very excited about her pink glittery costume, and the fact that she was dancing to a song she knew well from one of the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies.

Dress rehearsal:  Nailed 

Ready to work the stage at rehearsal

We have a standing agreement that I do not get within ten yards of her with a hot curling iron, so we experimented with foam rollers this year on recital day

Rocking the rollers

Post-recital - she did GREAT!

Mom & Dad were quite proud of our little dancer