We Went to a Dutch Village in Holland!

The Dutch Village in Holland, MI, that is. I'd totally love to go to a real Dutch village, though. Maybe on our next crazy year of nomadic living.

Who Went With Us: My college friend, Becky, her husband, Walter (who happens to be from the real, honest-to-goodness country of Holland), and their adorable kiddos. They live in Michigan.

Who Didn't Go With Us: My beloved camera, which has been missing for ten days now. (Weep.) The camera bag is the size of a newborn baby, so it's not like something that could be hiding in the couch cushions or under a chair or something. There's a possibility it was stolen, which would break my heart (both because it's gone and because I like to pretend that all people are awesome and wouldn't do something like that).

So these photos are all from my phone. I drop my phone with embarrassing frequency, so it takes kind of crappy quality pictures. Sucko.

The Dutch Village was fun, though! We got to see how they make wooden shoes. Walter said that some people still wear them when they farm. The ground in Holland is very moist, and the wood keeps their feet warm and dry. Neato.

In the "kinder" area, we learned to play this fun game called Skepergburgenwaajraafensen. I totally just made that up. I don't remember what it was called. It was a bit like Skee-ball, only with little discs.

BoyWonder totally got into it. He had his own personal party every time he scored.

There were a ton of fun attractions there. A swing ride, which almost made me puke. No photos of that one. An animal petting area, with cute little bunnies and the funniest fuzzy chickens I've ever seen. No photos of that, either. A llama even just wandered through the place, but again, no photos. I kind of suck at photo-taking with my phone.

This train ride was awesome. When they said "train ride," I expected the typical American train ride, where kids sit there and ride around, and you sit there and watch them. But the Dutch make those kids work for it, man.

They had to push and pull the lever the whole way around the track. It was even harder around corners. I'm pretty sure this is why Europeans are thinner than Americans.

Kicking your leg above your head while wearing wooden clogs probably helps, too.

Speaking of weight, I got weighed on this old-fashioned scale to see if I was a witch. Apparently, they had witch trials in Holland similar to the Salem witch trials here. If the weighmaster determined that you weighed less than he thought you should, you could be declared a witch. Totally makes sense, what with the flying on a broomstick thing and whatnot.

 I was declared innocent. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed.

I thought The Muse would for sure be declared a witch. But no, she was innocent, too.

How fun is this game? Like a three-legged race. Sort of. Not really. Same concept, though.

Oh yeah, I also snuck over to The Gap and bought my summer flip-flops for next year. $3, baby!

Walter wasn't around when I snapped this, so I have no idea what this sign means, but I love it. I'm going to start using it as an expletive when I get frustrated. BURGEMEESTERLAAN!! I'll have to ask our Dutch friend about this and about the Skerepenbrugenjaaferjensen game and get back to you.

That was really just a fraction of The Dutch Village. It's a very cool attraction. Always nice to feel like you're getting your admission's worth when you go someplace like that. Highly recommended.

We also did some apple picking at a local orchard. Michigan, if you didn't know, is known for its apples. Not as known as Washington, but in the Midwest, Michigan is where the good apples are.

It was a gorgeous morning in South Haven, but when we got to the orchard 20 miles away, it was cloudy and windy.

But that didn't stop the kids from riding the fastest ferris wheel I've ever seen. That sucker booked. Seriously, it was a little scary. Who knew a ferris wheel could be a thrill ride?

Becky chatted with the goats a bit. She's normal, I promise. She'll probably kill me for posting this picture, but it makes me laugh.

 

We got lost briefly in the corn maze. I actually kind of hate corn mazes. I'm terrified of getting lost in a corn field. The whole time, I try to think "Field of Dreams," but all I can think is "Children of the Corn." This one wasn't too bad, though. We made it out before the horror movie music kicked in.

And Becky found an adorable little turtle, like two inches long, right in the middle of the maze path. It was super cute! No photos of that, either. Man, I suck.

Oh yeah, and we really did pick some apples. The actual picking part took all of five minutes. We had to force the kids to stop, though, or we would have had apples coming out our ears.

On the way back to South Haven, we stopped at this place called The Chocolate Garden. Supposedly, they're the #1 chocolatier in America, according to something-or-other organization. Blah blah blah. They make handmade fancy-schmancy truffles. They were alright. I wasn't blown away. I think they were named #1 because it's kind of snooty, which makes people think the chocolate tastes better.

I did appreciate their sign, though.

And when we walked in the door, this was the first thing I saw and I just had to laugh. These are two of my favorite sayings, and the fact that they were right there in the supposedly best chocolate shop in the country was just too fitting.

We did actually end up with apples coming out our ears. And some peaches coming out our nose. Even splitting them with our friends, we still have been eating apples all week. But, It's All Good! :) More apple crisp for me. 

Our Funky Life on the Sunset Side

We've been in Michigan for almost two weeks now. South Haven is a lovely little tourist town, right on the shores of Lake Michigan.

If you aren't from the northern Midwest or haven't travelled here, you might not know much about Lake Michigan, other than it's one of the Great Lakes. I'm originally from Washington, and that's all I used to know about it. We had some nice lakes in WA. I thought we had some big lakes, even. I had no clue what Lake Michigan was like until we moved to Chicago. (Truth be told, I didn't even know Chicago was ON Lake Michigan.)

So basically, Lake Michigan is huge. I mean, you can tell that from looking at the map, but really, it's HUGE. It looks like the ocean. Not sort of. Exactly. On certain days when the winds are blowing just right, it even has waves that rival ocean waves. The beaches are soft sandy beaches like Southern California. The only major differences for the average beachgoer are the fishy/saltwater smell and the sharks. The ocean has both; Lake Michigan has neither.

So our place in South Haven is easy walking distance to the beach on this massive body of water. The big difference between here and Chicagoland (besides the 4000 vs. 4,000,000 people thing) is that South Haven is on the east side of Lake Michigan, while Chicago's on the west. So in Chicago you see the sun rise over the water. In South Haven, we see it set. Just like we're on the Pacific again. :)

You know what I love about sunsets? Every one is different. Same sun, same sky, different sunsets. Every day. It blows me away every time.

Know what else I love about sunsets? The light. I really should get the kids out to take more photos of them at sunset. BoyWonder was with me on a walk one evening, which resulted in this fun little collage:

That red spot between his eyes? That's where his sister whacked him with the iPad a few weeks ago. It was an accident. (She was making a video, swirled around quickly just as BoyWonder was walking by, and clipped him with the corner of it.) But boy, those head wounds can bleed. She felt horrible.

So, back to South Haven. Being a summer tourist town, it's a little sleepy in September. Not dead, just not as hopping as I imagine it would be in the summer. The neighborhood we're in is filled with lovely, tree-lined streets and old, well-kept homes. I've been surprised to see how many of them are vacation rentals. Vacation rentals in the off-season are an awesome deal, by the way.

We really haven't done much in the way of adventure since we got here, though. Since our routine fell apart so gruesomely at the end of our Western stint, I was determined to get into one once we got here. So we've been spending most of our days doing schoolwork, working, taking leisurely walks, playing at the park and the beach, grocery shopping, going to the library book sale (LOVE!), and doing all of those normal life things.

I'm trying to decide how I feel about that. I was really enjoying our exciting explorations out west, and here there just doesn't seem to be as much to easily explore. We could drive an hour and see all kinds of things, but then we'd, you know, have to drive an hour and see all kinds of things. It's kind of nice to just breathe for a bit.

It helps that our house here is much more spacious than our "homes" the past four months. So spacious, in fact, that we are able to have people visit us and stay the night. Last weekend, we had some friends from Chicago come stay with us.

We went to the beach. It was a bit chilly in the water, but the kids still had fun. One kid did lose an arm, though.

Another lost his ankles and feet.

And the third lost everything but his head. 

They taught us how to play a popular Midwest game called "Baggo." (Or, apparently, in some circles, "corn-hole." I am Cornholio!).

Havarti is a Baggo savant. Seriously. He kicked some major cornhole booty.

So that's what we're up to in South Haven. We have other friends and family visiting this weekend, and still more the next two weekends. Then we're back to Chicago for two weeks, then Cape Cod for a few months.

What a funky, funky life we're living. :) 

How We're Doing With the Traveling

A quick catch-up for those of you who are new here:

We moved out of our house in the suburbs of Chicago in April, put the contents of our life (other than what fits in our car) into storage, and set off for a year living as nomads around the U.S. We left at the end of April for southern California, and spent May, June, and July living in CA, OR, and WA. You can read more about the trip and where we've been so far here.

We just spent the last three weeks in August back "home" in Chicagoland (staying at Havarti's parents' house, which is the closest thing to a home that we have right now), and tomorrow we leave for Michigan.

The big burning question people have at this point is "How are you all doing?" I think people picture how fun but exhausting a two-week-long family vacation can be, and wonder how we're all staying sane traveling for months. People also wonder how we're handling not having our own home, the frequent major changes in living situations, and the constant togetherness.

All totally legit questions. I'll try to take each one individually:

How are you all doing?
Generally speaking, we're doing great. Like all families, we have our better and worse moments, but overall, everyone is happy about the trip. Even the girls, who were more reticent in the beginning, have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and say they're really glad we're doing it.

Are you exhausted?
Surprisingly, not really. The hardest days are the packing days. Those are exhausting. I'm a little wiped out right now, since we leave tomorrow.

As far as travel weariness, the roughest patch I personally had was in Seattle. That had nothing to do with Seattle itself, which was awesome and gorgeous. It was because our schedule thus far had looked like this:

Driving to CA - 3 days
Dana Point, CA - 4 weeks
Bakersfield, CA - 2 days
San Francisco, CA - 5 days
Oregon Coast - 3 weeks
Baha'i Camp - 1 week

Then Seattle. By that point, I was just done with the packing and unpacking and repacking and reorganizing. Packing to go stay someplace for a month is pretty easy. The short trips in between the longer stays were what got to me. By the time we got to Seattle, I had no motivation left to set up a "home." Our routine went to pot, everyone seemed crankier than usual (not helped by the fact that two kids got sick during that time), and I was just in a not-great head space.

All things considered, it wasn't that bad. I'm generally a very even-keel person, so my not-great is probably not that big of a deal to everyone else. It was more internal than anything. But the kids tend to reflect where I am emotionally, and the fact that I let any semblance of routine we'd had fall by the wayside resulted in a whole lot of whining (and way too much screen time).

For the rest of the family, the roughest patch was probably the Oregon Coast. We'd been visiting a lot of family in CA, and Oregon was the first place where we didn't know anyone. Not only that, but there really wasn't anyone around to even get to know. It was pretty lonely, and the girls started getting homesick. I was surprised it actually took that long (about six weeks after we left). They got past it pretty quickly, though.

BoyWonder's rough patch was Seattle. Holy whiny four-year-old, Batman. He's been ALL ABOUT this trip, and has handled the changing landscape beautifully, but Seattle was rough. I was trying to figure out if he was just out of sorts or growing or what, but then I remembered our kids' pattern. Our kids don't have the terrible twos. And the threes are generally delightful as well. All of our kids' fit-throwing, mega-whining, etc. hits at four years old. They're all so different, but that they have all had in common. Four is rough for us.

Thankfully, these three weeks back at Grandma and Grandpa's seems to have helped quell some of that. I'm hoping we're leaving the phase. It ain't pretty.

How are you handling not having a home?
Surprisingly well, actually. Our kitchen in the Seattle condo was missing a lot of basics, so I had some daydreams about our own kitchen while we were there, but otherwise, it's been alright. And the kids have transitioned beautifully from place to place. Much better than I anticipated.

I know a lot of people have said they'd like to do a trip like this, but they'd want to have a home base. I think there are some advantages to doing that, but for us, knowing we don't have a home to go home to has made it easier to make a home on the road. I don't know if that makes sense.

Think of it this way: If we still had our house in Grayslake, the girls would have been missing their room, their bed, their stuff, etc. But since all that stuff is in storage, and they don't have a room, they don't miss it. I mean, they might miss it in a past-tense kind of way, as always happens when you move, but they don't miss it in the present. I feel the same way.

It's also very freeing to not have a house to think about. We go into these vacation condos that are already clean and organized, and all we have to do is insert ourselves there with our limited amount of "stuff." It's quite liberating, actually. I mean, I'll love having a house again when the time comes, but it's nice to have a break from that responsibility.

How about the frequent changes?
I'm personally a big fan of change, so for the most part it's been fine for me. It's a little harder for Havarti, who is not as much of a fan of change. He does fine once we arrive someplace, but the packing up days really bug him. The kids have done well. The younger two in particular seem to not mind the frequent changes. Our eldest goes back and forth between liking the changes and not liking it. She's got a little of both of her parents in her, I think. :)

I thought there would actually be more issues with this aspect of the trip, but it's turned out to be kind of an exciting element for the most part. We're all looking forward to our eastern places, so that's a good sign.

And the constant togetherness?
Yeah, that's been tough sometimes. Especially for the kids, when we were places without other kids to play with. Luckily, we had family and friends in most of the areas we went, but the Oregon Coast was hard. That's also why Seattle was hard.

Thankfully, the places we're renting for the next few months are much larger than where we stayed on the west coast, so being able to get some physical space from one another when needed will be helpful. We're also staying for longer stretches, so we can get in touch with the local homeschooling communities to meet some other kids. We won't know as many people on the eastern stretch, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

How about the long drives?
The long drives aren't much fun. Especially with a whiny four-year-old. But who likes to drive for ten hours with three children, anyway? It's like a slow and evil torture, no matter how many tricks you have to keep everyone happy. That's part of the price we pay for these amazing experiences. :)

Really, one of the hardest things for me on the long drives is passing by all the cool things I want to do. We've come within an hour or two's driving distance of at least a dozen major historical and natural wonders (Zion National Park! Bryce Canyon! Yosemite! Little Bighorn!) that we just couldn't squeeze into the itinerary. That's one disadvantage to the working-while-traveling thing. We have to coordinate the timing of the actual travel itself such that we can keep up our work schedules, which means we can't do everything.

But it's also so clear to me now that you can't do everything anyway. Just California alone would take months and months to explore and do all the amazing things it offers. So we're happy with what we've gotten to see and do. The other stuff will have to wait.

What's cool is that our drive to Michigan tomorrow is only two hours. We're not even going to know what to do with ourselves with that short of a drive!

So that's how we're doing. If you have any other questions about our travels thus far or forthcoming (or about anything at all, really), I'll be happy to answer them in the comments. And thanks for being here, truly. It's fun for me to think of you all traveling along with us.

9 Family Road Trip "Must Haves"

I'm here. My brain, much like our life, is scattered all over the place. So rather than fight the tide and try to formulate a coherent post, I'm just going to just let my thoughts fly where they may. Maybe it'll help to get some of them out of the way.

1) How come in the movies, when parents are putting kids to bed, the kids lay there peacefully and have some sort of heartfelt conversation with their parents, followed by a sweet parental "Okay, time for sleep now, Sport," after which the kids smile sweetly, roll over, and close their eyes? How come the kids aren't whining, begging, crying, pouting, stalling, dawdling, negotiating, bickering, freaking out, or bouncing off the walls?

2) The Midwest is very green.

3) Chicago traffic sucks. I'd gotten quite used to it, to the point where it had become normal to me, but coming back here I realize how much it sucks.

4) I need a secretary to organize all of our kids' social engagements during the three weeks we're back here. So much for the idea of the unsocialized homeschooler. Sheesh.

5) I get to go on a writing retreat with my friend, P-Diddles, this weekend. We've been wanting to do it since we met eight years ago. So excited.

6) I've been reading a lot about race lately, partially because of this post I wrote recently, and partially because of a piece I'm working on for Brilliant Star. Man, race is a tricky subject.

7) Speaking of which, want to hear something interesting? Which three states would you guess have the highest numbers of interracial marriages between blacks and whites?

8) You'll never guess.

9) Virginia, North Carolina, and Kansas. Told you you'd never guess. Interesting, no?

10) Speaking of states, we may end up skipping Florida and spend March and April in South Carolina instead. Long story, but the gist is that if we end up moving long distance after our trip, we're going to need the money we'd spend at Disney World for the rental truck. Rental trucks to move cross-country cost the equivalent of a family of five going to Disney World for a week. I'm not sure which side of that is more shocking.

11) I've not taken a single photo since we got to Chicagoland. I must need a break.

12) I forgot how much I love "Family Fun" magazine. I got one in the mail and was so excited. I already found a couple of ideas I want to implement when we actually have a home.

Seriously, about #1. Bedtime has been extra special here lately. I think we need to try something new. What are your bedtime secrets?

(By the way, we had long stretch when bedtime was a breeze, when the girls were about 3 and 7. Like, crazy easy. People were amazed. I was even amazed. My "secrets" then weren't that different than what we do now, except they went to bed at 7:00. Oh, how I wish they could still go to bed at 7:00! Just looking for some new ideas, so hit me with what you've got.)

Seattle Catch-Up

Sorry for the delay! We've been visiting with lots of friends and family, which has been awesome, but hasn't left much time for blogging.

Here's a run-down of our final days in Seattle.

Mariners Game

One of the things Havarti really wanted to do in Seattle was go to a Mariners Game. I think the last time we went to one, The Muse was a toddler. So it's been a while.

I know it's sacreligious to the die-hard baseball fans, but I actually prefer watching baseball on TV to watching it in real life. But there is a fun energy to being at a stadium, and Safeco Field - if it's not too feminine to say about a baseball venue - is really lovely. 

No, BoyWonder's not picking his nose. Really.

They also have awesome food. You can get almost anything at Safeco, including really good sushi and gluten-free hot dog buns. I even bought an organic orange. Gotta love those Seattlites and their hippie dippy ways. :) 

It was Kids Day at the field, so the kids got a free t-shirt and got to run around the bases after the game was over. I would love to say that this whole experience was idyllic and whatnot, but we had walked around downtown for two hours before the game, so the kids were a little wiped and gripey. It got really hot in the sun, BoyWonder got bored, and we climbed a jillion stairs to move to seats way up in the stadium for shade during the sixth inning, only to stay there for ten minutes before being told that we should get in line for running the bases if we wanted a good spot in line.

So we spent the last two innings in line to run the bases, with only about a dozen people in front of us. That was awesome, except that we misjudged how quickly the ninth inning was going to go, and Havarti was gone looking at some souvenir stuff and the girls were gone to the bathroom when the line started to move down to the field. Luckily, the attendants let BoyWonder and I duck over to the side and reinsert ourselves after the family came back, albeit much further back in the line. 

Then when it came time to run the bases, the girls jumped right up there when their turn came, but BoyWonder hesitated. It was loud and a bit chaotic, so the girls couldn't hear us calling them to come back to get him, and they wouldn't let parents run with the kids. BoyWonder kept vacillating, wanting to go, but not wanting to go by himself. Thankfully, after the girls hit home base we were able to send them again, this time with BoyWonder in tow. 

Then everyone was happy for about five minutes before we had to walk back to the car, which prompted further whining. 

It wasn't our best moment. But I'm sure the good memories will win out over the gritchy ones in the long run. They always do. 

Bainbridge Island Ferry

After the game, we decided to take the Bainbridge Island Ferry, just for kicks (and to get a good view of Mount Rainier). That was fun, but freezing on the way back. I wore a skirt, and trying to keep myself warm and keep my skirt from flying up over my head in the wind proved tricky. I'm amazed that these shots came out as clear as they did. 

I love taking the ferry, though. Seattle really is a sparklingly gorgeous city in the summer, and it's fun to look at it from the water. We missed the ferry we wanted to take back, but ended up on the one with the sunset. So that was good. The sun setting behind the islands is just beautiful. 

Apple iMovie Camp

The girls had a cool time learning how to use iMovie at Apple Camp. They do these camps at most (or all?) Apple stores, and they're FREE! You just have to sign up. It's three days, for an hour and a half each day. They made storyboards and learned a bit about how to use Garage Band on the iPad, too. They made some pretty silly two-minute movies. And hey, free t-shirt. :)

Pike Place Market

Going to Pike Place Market is one of our very favorite Seattle activities. It's just an experience in and of itself. Colorful, lively, funky - and always crowded - it's just a unique Seattle attraction that never gets old for us. We like to buy a bin of organic berries and eat it as we walk along. They have crazy cheap flower arrangements, and of course, the famous fish-throwing fishmongers. They really do throw the fish every few minutes. It's oddly entertaining.

I loved that the silver man was ordering coffee, so I took a photo of him.

This is where they throw the fish. Couldn't get a photo of it, though. They don't really throw them at random - they have the fish on display on ice in front of the store, and when someone picks one, the guy up front throws it to the guy in the back to be packaged. I'm pretty sure they just throw them for fun sometimes, though. I would.

BoyWonder got a new stuffie cuz Mommy's a sucker.

We still use the Ergo for BoyWonder. That thing has been the best parenting investment we've ever made. 

There are also some great street musicians down there. These guys were our favorites. They sounded like a real old-fashioned band, singing in four-part harmony along with playing their instruments. I wish I'd gotten their name.

The Muse was actually going to try some busking (that's the technical term for playing on the street for tips) with her violin to make some money towards her own i-Pod. Apparently, you can busk almost anywhere without a permit. Very cool. Unfortunately, she came down with some sort of virus and was sick in bed with a fever for four days - right through the weekend she had planned to busk. Bummer. She might try again in Chicago. 

Red Grammer Concert

Speaking of musicians, we got to see our favorite children's musician, Red Grammer, perform while we were in Seattle. If you're not familiar with his music, you should be, especially if you have young kids. His songs are positive, fun, sweet, and catchy, and not annoying at all. He's won Grammys and stuff. And Red himself is just pure joy. Our kids have always loved his music and his concerts.

He had the kids (and some adults) come up to help act out a song. The girls had a blast, as you can see.

You can find Red's music here: www.redgrammer.com. "Teaching Peace" is a fantastic album. They're all good, but that one's my favorite.

Mt. Rainier Camping

I'm not a camper. If we had an RV, I'd probably be more amenable, but I'm just not that big on dirt. I love nature, love the outdoors, but I love to be out in it for the day and then tuck into my cozy bed in a house with a shower and a kitchen sink.

However, our one night of camping at Mount Rainier National Park was pretty cool.

The first two hours kind of sucked because it was a bit hot and muggy, and we stupidly decided to take a hike. The kids complained. I tried to be a good example by not complaining, but I wanted to. My people really don't do heat.

This tree section shows what year each of its rings was formed.

Saw this little fellow on our hike. I promptly shoved this photo out of my mind after taking it. Not a fan of snakes. 

This was a natural hot spring. Kind of gunky looking now, but many years ago they used to have this section of the park as a hot springs bathing spot.

The water in general up there is crazy clear. Straight off the mountain.

After that, though, it got a lot more fun. We literally brought nothing to do and very basic foodstuffs. Our campsite was right above a really pretty river lined with rocks, so we spent a lot of time tossing rocks in the river. It's amazing how long kids can spend throwing rocks (probably because most of their life they've been told not to throw rocks).

We also spent a lot of time around the fire just hanging out. BoyWonder tossed little bark pieces into the fire, The Muse played with my and Dolittle's hair, and Dolittle made up silly stories to entertain us. It was the most basic fun, but really great. We'd been spending more time on electronics than I feel comfortable with lately, so some unplugged time where we literally had nothing but nature and our imaginations for a day was very therapeutic.

If you sat at the picnic table, this is what you saw.

We took a drive to get a good view of Mt. Rainier.

Sleeping in the tent wasn't bad. We have these Wenzel self-inflating mats we bought off of Amazon, which work really well. I was really surprised at how comfortable they are to sleep on. I didn't feel any ground beneath me at all - like sleeping on a firm mattress. I would actually prefer a cot, but the mats are cheaper.

The coolest part of our camping trip was on the way home, though. We wanted some good views of Mount Rainier, and Havarti had heard that Crystal Mountain ski resort had a gondola you could ride up in the summer for a great view. So we went there and splurged on the gondola ride. It was worth it. Mount Rainier right there in your face! And you could see Mount Baker well, too. And even a bit of the top of Mount St. Helens. Just an amazing vista. And apparently we were there on the best day they've had all season long.

Right there in the middle in the back is the top of Mt. St. Helens.

Hard to capture this view in a photo, but it was incredible.

And there were some very friendly chipmunks there, too. I think the kids liked them more than the mountains.

Mt. Baker, I believe. (There's a small chance it's Mt. Adams, but I'm pretty sure this was Baker.)

Seattle Skyline

We just love Seattle. Lots of interesting things to do, absolutely gorgeous parks (I didn't even include any photos of those, but the arboretum is just lovely - and free!). And so so SO much to see and do within a day's drive. We didn't even get to the Olympic Peninsula, which was a bummer. The whole area is filled with natural beauty. Definitely worth a visit, if you ever get a chance.

Just make sure you go in July. :)