Places to Go (Vacation) - South Haven, MI - Kids' Corner & The Beach - The First Stop On Our Michigan Roadtrip

As I mentioned on Monday, during our trip to visit my mom we spent a few days at my aunt and uncle's cottage in South Haven, MI. For most people, this sort of family gathering probably happens everyday. But for us, it was sort of a big deal, as my mom and her sister had been estranged for the past 30-some years.

The reconciliation occurred when my aunt and her daughters attended my father's funeral in February. I met my cousins for the first time that day (Yay! I have cousins! Smart, beautiful, funny cousins!!). I'm not really sure why my mom and my aunt stopped talking, my mom has never said anything bad about her sister, just that their relationship didn't work (a large age gap, a mom who died when they were young, an evil stepmother - that sort of stuff).

Now my aunt and uncle are back in our lives. And the kids and I had a blast hanging out with them and getting to know them (odd that last time I saw my uncle I was the same age as F is now). As we pulled into the driveway, we immediately spotted a large homemade sign welcoming the kids. F squealed "look mom, there's my name! It says my name!" Across from the sign, a large baby pool with floaties waited for the kids to dive in. Plus my aunt prepared hot dogs, mac and cheese, graham crackers, tons of fruit and all the other delicacies that children (especially my children) love. At night we went to a HUGE maze-like playground called Kids' Corner where the kids explored for hours. Then the next day we blueberry picked and visited the beach. So much fun.

Odd, how as I get older every moment seems so precious as life seems so short. 30 years go by and all of a sudden you have cousins and an aunt and uncle - who welcome you into the family with hand-made signs.


Kids' Corner playground had all these maze-like, kid-sized entries and exists. At first I worried that T would get lost or scared in all the little passageways, but he seemed to love having a toddler-sized space to explore. Often ten or so minutes would go by when I couldn't see him at all, until, finally I'd spot a little hand peaking over the wood and waving, "Hi mama!"


And, of course, lots of mazes = lots of shadows = really fun picture taking for me.



South Haven has a beautiful beach, with a playground and everything, which was nice because T DOES NOT like sand (hence the swing picture). The waves were pretty high, with a bunch of kite surfers in the water, who we couldn't stop watching jump through through the waves. We walked all the way to the lighthouse, but T kept saying "mama, I don't like this" every time a wave crashed into the pier.

Things to Make - Blueberry Snack Cake

We picked a lot of blueberries. As a reward for our hard work, we made blueberry snack cake for dessert. And it was quite yummy, if I do say so myself.

We used this recipe from Taste of Home magazine (which can also work with frozen blueberries).

Any other suggestions for great blueberry recipes? I'd love to hear them!!

Things to Do - Blueberry Picking

While visiting my mom in Chicago, we spent a few days in South Haven, MI at my aunt and uncle's cottage (more on this on Wednesday) where we picked blueberries at Stephenson Farms. T seemed to love the blueberries most of everyone and, despite the fact that he ate a TON off the vine, he still put a lot in his pail. Some days he really does work hard, I think the Elmo shirt inspires him (or "Melmo irt!" "my Melmo irt!").

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!!

RANDOM LINKS:

*3 minutes inside the head of a two year old. Funny and probably true.

*Gorgeous family photos.

*I love this house.

Places to Go (Vacation) - Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in the Summer (Willow Springs, IL)

I've written about Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center previously, when we visited my parents over Thanksgiving (click here for the post), but this place really shines in the summer, with wildflowers surrounding all the trails and lily pads blossoming in the lakes.

During our visit, we saw a huge bullfrog just chilling on a rock, he sat so still that F insisted he must be a statue until he finally budged a little. We also witnessed a water snake slithering through the shallow rocks (check out the picture in black and white above).

The girls could have spent hours running through the trails, but T was not in the best of moods so we couldn't explore as much as we would have liked. Luckily, we know we'll be back, Grandma wouldn't let us miss it.

Things to Make - From the Garden - Cucumber and Tomato Quinoa Salad & Grandma's Zucchini Bread

My mom maintains a pretty extensive garden. As a kid, I didn't exactly love it (more food from the garden = less macaroni and cheese) but as an adult it's WONDERFUL. We didn't even need to grocery shop.

My mom waited until our arrival to pick a lot of the veggies, assuming that the kids would enjoy helping out. But the girls were so busy with the Cabbage Patch Kids they chose not to participate. Luckily T loved helping grandma.



Regarding summer recipes, during the summer I basically live on Cucumber & Tomato Quinoa Salad, which I make similar to tabule but without the parsley. Here's the recipe:

*2 big tomatos
*1 large cucumber
*1 medium onion
*2 cups cooked quinoa (you can also use bulgar wheat or cous cous)
*1 tablespoon garlic salt
*1/3 cup lemon juice
*2 tablespoons olive oil

-Mix everything together and serve. Easy.



And Grandma's Zucchini Bread continues to be the best summer snack ever. Here's the recipe:

*3 eggs
*2 cups sugar
*1 cup vegetable oil
*3 cups flour
*1 teaspoon salt
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1/4 teaspoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon vanilla
*1 cup chopped walnuts
*2 1/2 cups grated zucchini unpeeled
*1 teaspoon cinnamon
*1/2 teaspoon allspice

Beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, then oil. Add flour gradually. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients up to zucchini, mix well. Combine zucchini and spices and fold into batter. Spoon into two greased bread pans. Bake at 350 for one hour to one and a quarter hours til done.


For another seasonal recipe (healthy eggplant parm), click here for my past post.
What about everyone else? Any good seasonal recipes to share?

Things to Do - Toy Story (Our Own Version)

A few weeks ago, the kids and I visited my mom in the Chicago suburbs. My mom is sort of a packrat (to put it mildly, click here to see pics of her house) and often I question her need to keep so much stuff around. Sometimes, however, my mom's inability to throw anything away makes me very happy. Years ago she packed up my Cabbage Patch kids (Cybil Lily, Sabrina, and Sam) and Barbies (with various clothes and accessories) and stored them in the attic (sort of like our own, alternate version of Toy Story 3). We finally brought them down and it felt like old friends were back in my life. But more importantly, the girls quickly decided to love Cybil Lily and Sabrina as much as I used to love them. For the rest of our vacation, the dolls traveled everywhere with us (with a huge suitcase full of doll clothes, I kid you not). T took longer to warm up to Sam but finally bonded with him (probably because Sam was the only other male around). How odd that I had two girl and one boy Cabbage Patch Kids and that's also how my adult life worked out.



Okay, so there were A LOT of Barbies in the attic (in case you're wondering, fake "Barbie" leather does not age well), yet I remember each and every one. Every one. Which made me feel guilty because whenever the girls want a new doll I always say "but she looks JUST like all your other dolls." Yet I can still see a HUGE difference between aerobics Barbie and roller-skating Barbie. The hard part involved actually letting the girls play how they wanted to play - I kept saying things like "those outfits don't go together! You're making Barbie sad! Stop making Barbie sad!" Adulthood is hard.

RANDOM LINKS:

*Philip Kalantziscope - LOVE!!!

*Yay Danielle Evans won the PEN award, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks she rocks (click here for my post about her short story collection).

*KidFriendly DC has a great post on starting your own kids' cooking camp with friends (next summer, is anyone up for doing this with me?)

*Krakow.

*Where Children Sleep Around the World. Wow this is depressing.