Coast Guard City, USA

As I mentioned in the previous blog, the Coast Guard Festival began last weekend and ends this weekend. It has brought a massive amount of people into town! The locals always complain about the tourists, which I think is a little funny, since Grand Haven would be nothing without tourism! But I can kind-of see their point. It isn't the number of tourists that is the problem or that there is no parking anywhere, but they have duck-taped off portions of City-owned grass to reserve their spot for a parade and fireworks on Saturday! It actually started happening LAST weekend . . . for a parade a week away! Last night, we walked downtown and it was absolute madness. People with their duct tape, police "caution" tape, blankets with stakes . . . all trying to claim the best spots for the weekend events. I've never seen anything like it!

Since I am a Coast Guard Festival virgin, we are hoping to brave the craziness and enjoy some of the weekend events. Many Coast Guard ships have come in to port and are giving tours, there is a huge craft show tomorrow, along with the parade and fireworks. And the Carnival . . . ah, how could I forget that? All of dowtown is closed and the carneys have rolled in. It is the County fair, without the admission cost - love it! We went for an elephant ear last night. Yum! Wes and Carey are coming out to stay, as well. I'm sure there will be lots of updates from the weekend on the next post. :)

This is why GH is known as "Coast Guard City, USA."

Pretty amazing!

Some of the ships that have come in for the week.

The Carnival in the streets

How often do you see a sushi bar (The Grand)

in the middle of a carnival??

Visitors and Birthdays

It's so hard to blog when it's nice outside! That's why my updates are for events that have happened a week ago. Oh well. Last weekend my parents came up to check out our house and spend the night. It was so nice to have them here and we had a great time together . . . lots of eating, laughing and cocktails! ;) We even tried the Musical Fountain again . . . I say tried, b/c we left at the third song! That is when we left the last time, too. I am determined to sit through the entire thing before the summer is over! BTW, my dad says it is nothing like Cascades. LOL.

They only stayed Friday night and we spent Saturday at the beach and went out Saturday night. The Coast Guard Festival began last weekend, so there was a lot going on. We went to see an 80's band perform at the waterfront stadium. You know me and the 80's - it was awesome! Plus, we were given free tickets, so it made it that much better. After the concert (wish I had my camera!), we met April, Trent, Nicole (April's sister) and Kam (Nicole's husband) at the Kirby. Kam and Trent drinking = 2 funny guys!

Sunday, we were invited to my cousin's 16th birthday party in Concord. It worked out well, b/c a dear friend of mine was in town from Poland and I wanted him and Brook to meet. We got to know Fr. Pawel (means "Paul" in Polish, pronounced "Pavel") about 15 years ago when he started coming to the US to visit a preist-friend here. After many years of his visits, 2 of my cousins and I decided to visit HIM in Poland. He was our tour guide for 3 weeks as we visited Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and (my favorite) Poland. Poor guy, I think it really drained him! :) Needless to say, I have some great memories with him from my time there. Since he was appointed a pastor at 2 churches in Poland, he hasn't been to the US in a couple years, so it was GREAT to finally see him again!

After the visiting Fr. Pawel, we celebrated Matthew's 16th birthday at Uncle Jeff's. Matthew is a great kid and I'm glad we were able to be there!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Grace wanted to pull Sophie in this wagon. So . . . I put her in it.
Looks safe, huh?

Sisters

We have have had many visitors the last 2 weekends. Veronica and Sophie came up to stay the first weekend and ALL my sisters and their kids last weekend. Both weekends were so much fun! Sophie is such a little squirt and seems to get cuter every time I see her. She has such a vibrant personality for a 6 month old and is full of smiles and her characteristic screech. It was nice to spend some QT with her and my sister. The weather cooperated part of the weekend and we were able to go to the beach for a few hours. We also made a trip to the Grand Haven farmer's market, b/c Veronica wanted to get items to make homemade baby food. She started with green beans and I was really wondering how Sophie would react to them, since she didn't like the cereal. She LOVED them and ate every bite she could without fussing.

At Lake Michigan . . .

Typical Brady - he feels the need to lick babies to death.
Gross, I know.

Sophie in Maria's "Cousin Eddie" hat. Poor baby.
I was pushing the stroller down the boardwalk and she was wearing this! People kept pointing and laughing.
At least she was warm!

Last weekend was the "1st Annual Sisters Weekend" in GH. The husbands (all but mine) went to the races in Ohio, so the girls came up for a visit. They arrived after a 50 mile detour when they missed their exit (sorry, Veronica!) and wouldn't you know, it started to rain! It didn't matter, though; the kids had cabin fever from being in the car so long, so we took a nice long walk downtown to tire them out. That night, we sat around drinking strawberry daiquiris and catching up.

All ready for a walk. What a character!

The babies . . . no they are not twins! It seems that putting 2 babies in a double stroller really confuses people!











Daiquiris anyone? Yum

What a great pic!

Ria reading to Uncle Brook (haha) and Jaime & Hannah relaxing with the babies.

Saturday, we were seriously thinking about braving the cold temps and going to the beach - Maria wanted to go so bad! But it was just too breezy to be able to enjoy ourselves. So, we went to the "Outlet Mall" in Holland instead. This outlet mall has a whopping 3 stores - GAP, Carter's and Reebok - the rest have sadly gone out of business. In front of the mall is a little Dutch farm / park / I don't know what you would call it. There is a big yellow wooden shoe that Maria saw on the ride up and wanted to play on. Actually, she wanted to play on "the big banana." So, Jaime and I sucked it up and paid $12 each to pet a few goats, let the kids play on the "banana" and ride the carousel. Definitely not worth $12, but the kids had fun.

That night was Anna's 6th birthday party and April was kind enough to extend the invitation to my family, as well. So, we all went to Jenison for a wonderful dinner and watched Anna open her gifts. We also managed to get in a quick walk down the boardwalk to the lighthouse that night . . . well, it was kind of quick, considering Connor wanted to stop and watch every boat that went by! Unfortunately, we never made it to the musical fountain (I know Hannah was sad about that) - maybe next time.

Happy Birthday Anna!

The air popcorn maker - quite the novelty for Maria! Do they make Tinkerbell and Dora ones? That is what she wants for Christmas.


Quote of the weekend by Maria: "I don't share good." LOL.

She loves her popcorn and doesn't like to share it!

We all went to church together Sunday morning and then they headed home and . . . I cried! Can't wait for next year!

All the girls, plus Connor (Julia is hiding in her car seat.)
What great sisters I have!

Weekend Travels

We were all over the state this weekend, thanks to Priscilla's wedding and the 4th of July. Priscilla and I met when we were in a mutual friend's wedding just a few years ago. We became fast friends and even lived together for awhile. She recently moved to D.C. and while I am sad that we can't see each other much anymore, I know she is happy with her love. Thank goodness for the phone - we talked for hours about wedding planning over the last year! Anyway, back to the wedding . . . Thursday afternoon, we went to Ann Arbor for the rehearsal and dinner at Connor O'Neils. Friday was the wedding at the chapel on Concordia College's campus - what a pretty place! The bride and groom looked so happy and Priscilla was absolutely stunning! Congratulations you 2, I was so honored that you asked me to be a part of your special day. Hope you're having fun in Hawaii!

We drove up to my parents' cabin on Sand Lake, which is near Tawas, after the reception and arrived a little after midnight. Almost everyone was in bed, so we had to wait til morning to say our "Hello's." We went to the parade in Tawas on the 4th, where I always become 5 years-old again. I don't know who was more excited, Maria or me? They throw MASSIVE amounts of candy, I'm pretty sure that is why I like it so much! :) It was wonderful to have my whole family up there. Like I mentioned before, we haven't been there together in years. I got to spend some QT with my neices and nephew, whom I adore, and relax in the sun. Brook was brave enough to let my dad take him tubing with Carey and Brandon. Brave or crazy, I'm not sure! The next-door neighbors had their annual neighborhood 4th of July party, with a private fireworks show for the lake. How cool to sit on the deck and watch the fireworks! Here are some shots from the weekend . . .

Connor's favorite place to be!

Just getting started . . .

they weren't quite this smiley by the end of the ride!

The girls in their matching 4th of July outfits

The whole group, on the way to the neighbor's 4th of July bash

I am stoked for this weekend - Veronica and Sophie are coming up Friday! Can't wait!