staycation | The Rumley Family

Sweet Staycation, Day Two

There is just something so relaxing and wonderful about spending a sunny day at a Lake Michigan beach. We had planned to visit Pier Cove beach near Saugatuck, but it only has about 8 parking spots, and all were full. Bummer! (We were able to visit that beach last year, and it was wonderful!)

So, we went about a mile down the road to a state park. The pro? Restrooms on site. The con? The entire shoreline was rocks and shells. And I mean ALL of it! Even once you got into the water, it was still all rocks. It was insane. Wanna see?

Okay, so it was still awfully beautiful…

Anyway, we had a great couple of hours there, playing in the water and sand.

After a great beach time, and lunch at a picnic area, we headed home. Naps happened in the car. Had a little stop at the store for s’mores ingredients. And then…

The First (and possibly last) Annual Rumley Camp-at-home Extravaganza!

We had a campfire, complete with hot dogs and s’mores.

We put up a tent (thanks to Melissa and Karl for letting us borrow it).

We roughed it, oh yes we did. Well, kind of…Actually, the air mattress Luke and I were sleeping on was probably the least comfortable sleeping situation EVER. By 3am, my hips and legs hurt so bad that I couldn’t sleep another wink. Luke wasn’t feeling much better. So we high-tailed it into our own not-usually-that-comfortable-but-oh-so-luxurious-in-comparison bed and left a baby monitor out there with the kiddies. It was actually kind of funny to hear them wake up five hours later, speculating about where we’d gone.

I’ve never been a huge fan of camping, but now I am going to fully embrace an old mantra of mine: the only “camping” I enjoy involves a Marriott. They have the best beds. I have never had to wake up in the middle of the night to take ibuprofen when I’m staying at the JW. Sorry if all you awesome camping fans out there are disappointed in me. I really admire your pain tolerance.

Anywho, it was a fun way to end the summer and the perfect way to jump back into a school schedule! Bet you can’t wait to hear about our first day of school!!!

Sweet Staycation, Day One

In anticipation of our school year beginning, Luke took Thursday and Friday (August 18 and 19) off work. We didn’t schedule much for our time together, but just had a really great time relaxing and doing some special things with the kiddos before we get back to the grind.

On Thursday, we slept in and had big ol’ breakfast (pancakes, bacon, sausages, blueberries/whipped cream, cantaloupe, apple juice…YUM). We hung out here, and then after naps, we headed to town. We had dinner at Qdoba (thanks, KDL, for your awesome summer reading program prizes!), and then went to see some friends at the hospital who just had their first baby.

Afterward, we visited East Grand Rapids for their “Taste of East Grand Rapids” event…Really, the kids just enjoyed getting inside a real firetruck and playing in an inflatable.