Jellystone 2022

This year, we tried out a new Jellystone for our summer glamping trip, this one is in South Haven.  It is smaller than the one in Indiana, which worked out perfectly, as our kids could attend whatever events they chose!

We had Leon with us this year, which made packing the car slightly trickier, but setting up camp slightly easier, with his two extra hands helping unload.

The set-up of this Jellystone was so well done.  The cabins had entrances all on the same side, so that each cabin had its own garden area!  They also had posted signs so that you knew exactly which parking spaces were yours!

The whole crew with Yogi!

We set up camp fast enough, that we were able to attend the smore event that same evening!  Leon and Boo Boo Bear played rock, paper, scissor!

We spent an hour at the pool each day, except for leaving day.  And when Avia drove out, to spend a little bonus time with Leon, they got even more time!

A favorite was for sure the arcade (and prize store that went along with it!)

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, Alice is always at my favorite age!  This year she was an explorer and was so excited to meet and greet all of the costumed characters*! 

More swimming!

The twins were playing horseshoes with the camp sign. = )

They had candy bar bingo!  This is my all-time favorite camp game, and it just wouldn't be the same without it!  Juliet was the only winner in our group, but we still had fun. = )

The Hey, Hey, Hey Ride!

We went to camp during slime week, so each night they made a different type of slime.  The slime was not allowed in the cabin or car though.

We went to watch cartoons one night.  I was slightly disappointed it wasn't Yogi.

Despite the temperatures being perfect to a little warm for most of us, William favored his hoodie.

On our last full day, Billy took the kids to play laser tag.  Alice wasn't a big fan, but did at least try it.

On the final day, Alice wanted to go meet up with Ranger Smith at the breakfast event. 

Emily and Juliet walked over and joined her when they woke up.

The final event was a scavenger hunt.  Since I knew that I would be frantically packing (despite my mom taking a load of things we had already used or could do without) I preemptively made note of every letter sign I could find.  Emily was the one who finally cracked the code, and so everyone got to enjoy the spoils of her (and my) labor.

[Emily] the code was "Light up the sky on fourth of July."

We had to check out of our cabin by 11, which is early enough that we went over to explore South Haven!

The first view of the water never ever becomes less thrilling.

The red flags were up, so no swimming, even if I had allowed it, but they had a nice time on the beach.  Alice opted to sit in the car, since the sky was overcast.

Grace's rainbow rock collection.

I wanted a picture in front of the state park sign. All of them came together in a rare show of solidarity, but their timing was less than ideal.

They did let me get a few unobstructed ones.

Being near the water, Billy and I were both craving seafood, and we found the perfect place.  It was right off of the water, made out of wood timbers and named "Captain (something)'s."  Obviously, it was packed on such a beautiful day.  So, we added South Haven to our adult vacation list, and went to McDonald's.

From there we headed East and the kids let us know that they didn't like that it was a longer trip back than there.  That was the cost of seeing Lake Michigan though, and I don't regret it. = )

At home we finished the tye-dye process (rinse, air dry, machine wash, air dry, machine wash, machine dry.)  The instructions were overwhelming, but the colors stayed so vibrant, it was kind of worth it.  

I made a shirt too (but Alice declined.)  She did paint a tiny cat though.

When we left, I noticed that the registration desk had use my Supernatural vanity plate on our tag. lol.  It should read "KAZ 2Y5" but either way it was awesome.

We had a wonderful trip, and I think William, in particular, enjoyed having Leon there!  Hopefully he will remember his trip to Michigan fondly for a long time.

later days

*This always strikes me as weird.  The thought is that little kids would love the characters, but it's really more teenage girls.  At least that was true of myself and is also true of Alice.

Edited 7/18/2023: This post is now a part of my project: 78 State Parks! #73

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Tahquamenon Falls #15

Muskegon State Park #50*

PJ Hoffmaster State Park #52
Grand Haven State Park #53
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a

*this post marks the start of the project, and as such, has information about what I hope to accomplish!

Rustic Camping at Waterloo

It's been a long time since we've been on a family vacation.  A long long time.  So, I decided it would be fun (during a spell of 70-80 degree weather) to go camping, rustic camping, without electricity or running water.

I copied the directions incorrectly from my email, so we drove past our exit and ended up back tracking.  It worked out in our favor though, because we found a roadside firewood stand as we were winding back through the woods.

When we arrived, everyone unloaded and we used disinfecting wipes on every surface!  While there was no electricity, they did have solar powered lights, which was a pleasant surprise.

Once everyone was settled in, we started reading Little House in the Big Woods the first book in the Little House on the Prairie series.  We read about half the book during our stay!  We were all huddled around the propane stove, because it was cold!

We had all eaten a dinner of sandwiches during the one hour drive, so none of us were particularly hungry upon arrival.

Outside, Billy set up a nice fire in the firepit and got a table covered in anticipation of rain on Saturday.

The marshmallows were quickly pulled out for roasting.

The big girls are learning about the sun, moon, and stars, and Emily was excited to spy the waxing moon.

Snuggled up by the fire.

The cabin had warmed up surprisingly well while we were outside.  The night was tough for the adults.  I instructed everyone to bring extra blankets (picturing a cold night) but we were actually too warm.  The beds were so hard, the old wooden floor might have had more give.  And poor Billy, without his cpap, was very noisily snoring every time he managed to succumb to sleep. We cracked the windows near our beds, and moved on top of the extra blankets, but whenever Billy managed sleep, I woke up to the noise.

My children did not seem to be bothered by any of those things, and were up early the next morning.  With the looming rain, I trudged out of bed, so that we could hike the nearby trail.

Billy was so poorly rested, he opted to stay a the cabin and nap.  When Alice was given the opportunity to not hike, she also stayed behind.

Before searching out the trail, we explored the area in between our cabin and the water pump/picnic/sign in area.

Since this massive park is full of horse trails, there were many built in horse mounting areas and poles to tie them.

Grace found a heart shaped rock for her collection before we even got to the trail.

The trail we took is an equine/hiking trail.  The sign said that it was about 2 miles, but there were no markers along the way, and the map was very unhelpful.  At the bottom it displayed the "you are here" marker, which was nowhere to be found on the map?!

We stopped and took pictures and looked at everything.

Horse prints!

The forest was definitely in transition mode.  With all leaves everywhere, this could just as easily be fall as spring.

Nifty umbrella trees.  These were all along our path!

Earthworm.

Grace with her heart rock collection.

William found a stone shaped like a car.

Getting a closer look.

About half way through, everyone was tired.  Emily changed the purpose of her hat to be a bag for her rainbow rock collection. 

We saw a very cool hallow tree with a built in door, skylight and window!

All four took turns checking it out.

From this point on, it was a very long walk.  They were tired, I ended up carrying all the rock collections, and the rain caught up with us.

It was not a heavy rain, but the kids kept asking if we were lost.  Since there were only 2 options that we encountered (that both lead to a paved road) I knew that we were still on the right path, but could not give them a time estimate.  As we rounded a corner (only about 20 minutes before I told them we would turn around and go back) we saw the back end of our car! We had made it!  

Emily and Grace were both anxious to wash their rock collections, but they had to pump their own water.

Billy was awake when we returned, and apparently Alice missed us.  Billy got the grill going, to cook up all of our food, just in case the rain came too strong to cook later in the day. The kids cleaned up their bunks and snacked while we waited for grilled food.

Emily's rainbow rock collection.  We spent a long time trying to unearth the large one in the center.  It was much bigger than we could tell from the surface.  And sadly, it turned out not even to be the most vibrant green in her collection.

It lightly rained for the remainder of the afternoon, but never a downpour, so Billy was still able to cook out.

The restroom facilities. It wasn't the worst outhouse I've used.  It was spacious and maintenance did a better job than most of clearing out cobwebs.  There were skylights in the day, but you had to bring your own illumination at night.  Since the weather was still on the cool side, the smell was kept at bay.  I don't think I'd want to use it in the middle of summer though. 

Cooking up the last of the marshmallows.

Log tea party. = )

They will not be sharing a chair much longer!

Not long after this, the rain subsided, and facing another night on the indescribably hard bed, we took a vote.  Who wanted to stay and who wanted to go home early.

So, at 730 on Saturday, we packed up camp and returned home.  Grace was the only one who voted to stay, so she was excused from general packing, and only responsible for her own personal belongings.  Alice was ridiculously helpful and we were packed up within an hour.

At home this is the reality of 7 people on a single night campout:

If we return, which it was not so awful that we couldn't, we would have to bring extra padding for our beds and find a way to power Billy's cpap.  In fact, I do hope we return, because we would have a much better idea of what to bring and what to expect!

later days

Edited 7/18/2023: This post is now a part of my project: 78 State Parks! #70a

Tahquamenon Falls #15
Muskegon State Park #50*
Grand Haven State Park #53

*this post marks the start of the project, and as such, has information about what I hope to accomplish!