South Haven

We couldn't wait to take Julian to South Haven at some point this summer. Of course, the day we packed up and headed out, we pulled up to a completely empty beach and a sign from the Health Department saying not to touch the water because of the high levels of E. coli. Yum.

Luckily, only one beach was closed (kind of creepy since really, it's all the same water) and we were able to go to a different one. I will say though, we didn't put our thinking caps on when we parked as far away as possible from the bathrooms with a toddler and an 8-month-pregnant girl. (I immediately started a mental list of ways to improve upon beach trips with kids in the future!)

Not sure about this...

Waving "hi" to his shadow

We had a great time. J liked stepping in the sand barefoot (like learning to walk all over again!) and chasing the seagulls. The water was freezing, but of course, he didn't care. It was pretty hot, so we didn't stay on the beach for very long (plus I didn't think to bring more than one sippy of water -- add it to the list!), but J got to help Daddy make a sandcastle and walk up and down the beach in the sand and water enough to tire himself out.

Sneaking a drink of Daddy's grape slush...

Sour!

We had lunch on The Idler, (a boat that's converted into a restaurant) in nice, shady seats on the deck where we could watch boats go by. Our little people-person waved and grinned at everyone around us and even got into singing along to "Uptown Girl". (He did the oooooo's.)

It was a pretty quick trip...in fact, we got J home in time for an afternoon nap. Luckily, between his age and my stage of pregnancy this summer, we have about the same tolerance for heat and walking before we need naps -- it works out perfectly!