A trip to Michigan, in pictures

As we make final preparations for our weekend away, I finally have a chance to share some pictures from our trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan. (We don’t normally travel this much!)

We went to Grand Rapids for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians convention. Christian took point on the kids, and I went back and forth between the convention and seeing the sights with the family–a setup made possible by the proximity of so many attractions to the convention center. It was a wonderful trip and a very doable driving vacation. I highly recommend.

There was a great playground in Champaign, Illinois:
And a fourth-of-July stop at a roadside park/beach near St. Joseph, Michigan (with some nice strangers helping Michael down to the beach, since Mommy was dragging and everyone else was too excited to wait for a little boy).

There were 4th of July fireworks on a rural high school baseball field about fifteen miles from Grand Rapids…

…and a Sunday spent in Holland, Michigan, enjoying Nelis’ Dutch Village and Windmill Island Gardens. (It is just as beautiful as it looks, and it was so much fun. I’ll share reviews later at PitStopsforKids.com.)

There was life-sized chess (and a carousel, and a working printing press, and a tea party, among many other things–again, review forthcoming) at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.

There was dancing with a friend on Rosa Parks Circle while Jaime Cortez & co. played on the stage.

There was a fabulous hotel room, with a view of the city (also soon to be reviewed at PitStopsForKids).

Including an unexpected need for some simpler fare delivered to the room, after I tried to eat cold leftover hamburger for lunch one day and got food poisoning. (Learned my lesson there.)

And there was a lot of music making, of course, especially in the WLP booth.

During which, one morning, the kids sat and listened, and made friends with some of WLP’s staff…
…and got great silly glasses for their patience!

And one morning I stopped playing in the WLP booth, only to hear my own music floating through the air from the GIA booth. Had to go investigate that one. Surreal and very cool experience.

And meanwhile, there were sting rays and kid construction sites at the zoo and the children’s museum (still more forthcoming reviews)

And on the way home, at the beach in St. Joseph, Mich., yet another carousel. (They really like their carousels in Michigan…but who can argue? I will never outgrow a carousel.)

We did a lot on this trip, but we spent the whole time taking notes because of how much more we’d like to do there. We really liked this area of the country. (How can you argue with 71 degrees in July? This is my kind of place.)

And many thanks to the man without whom it would not have been logistically possible:

So that’s what’s kept us busy this summer: preparing for, experiencing, and getting settled back in from this trip. Hope you enjoyed the tour!