Labor Day Weekend 2015

As one of my favorite Jimmy Buffet song say “They’re closin’ down the hangout The air is turning cool they’re shuttin’ off the super slide The kids are back in school.”

The end of summer was here with Labor Day weekend approaching.  Jame was already in Kindergarten and Hope would soon be starting her first year of preschool.  Rock is constantly growing and moving more and more.  

Jame was moving up in soccer from the U6 to the U8 division and even though I was the President of the club I still did not know a lot about soccer.  Mom and I also thought it might be good to see how he would do with another coach.  Sometimes it’s hard to be a coach and a Dad.  I caught myself letting other players getting away with something and yelling at Jame for doing the same.  I still loved coaching and still loved working with some of the kids so I decided to coach U6 again.  At the time it sounded like a good idea but it was a mistake.  I wound up coaching when Jame was playing.  At the end of the season I had only seen two of Jame’s games and one I had to fill in as coach.   Jame did okay when he put his mind to the game but that was rare and we don’t really think he is enjoying soccer as much as he once had.

At the park it was hard having both kids and coaching at the same time.  Hope would come by my U6 team a lot and she loved hanging out with the girls on the team.  It wasn’t long before I noticed how well she was playing and enjoying the game and I was still feeling really bad about not coaching Jame.  I called the equipment manager and asked that she order another jersey for her.  I know she was only 3 and needed to be 4 but she was doing really well and it would help with my guilt.  She loved it and I would put her in for maybe a minute of the game just so she felt like part of the team.  She got knocked around the one game as she played I was a bit scared but she got up and went right after the ball again. 

Hope did great and so did the entire team; it was a fun season. The last practice of the season was the parents vs. kids and it’s always a great time.  I had the giant soccer ball for the kids to play with but this season I also introduced a mini ball and that turned out to be a lot of fun as well.  At the end of the season we had our team party at the house.  This year we had our favorite restaurant Chips and Salsa cater the party and as always it was delicious.  One of our players mom not only was the past President of Dyer Kickers but also a regular at Chips, also another player was recommended to my team by Reuben the owner of Chips to play.  The kids had a great time at the party and I had funny super hero awards for all the kids along with their trophies.  They had the bounce house and the train we ran down the trail.    

Hope started preschool, the same preschool Jame went to and she was excited to be going to Jame’s old school.  She was only going two days a week Tuesday and Thursday’s and as we would drive her passed Jame’s new school we would say hi to Jame.  So far she is doing well in school and we hear a lot about the baby dolls they have there something we did not hear from Jame when he went there.  She is writing with her left hand and it looks like she is a lefty.  The teachers have been working with her writing and coloring and we have noticed a big improvement.  The only thing that has us baffled is that the teachers say she doesn’t talk much in school.

For the Labor Day Weekend we headed to Ludington, MI to Grandpa Mike and Grandma Vicki’s place.  Once again we loaded up the new van including Rock this time and headed north.  Labor Day weekend used to be the end of summer but with Jame already in school it was the last three day weekend for a while.  Hopefully the weather would allow us to get in some final beach time for the year.

After our drive up we got unpacked ate some lunch while Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Mike enjoyed time with the kids and the kids enjoyed some time with them.  Afterwards we decided it was nice enough to head to the beach.  This would be Rock’s first time at the beach and it was going to interesting to see how he would react to the sand and the water.  After a short drive and a bit of a hike over some sand dunes we staked our claim on a piece of the beach.  Rock was a bit unsure at first of the sand but soon got used to the feel of it.  Jame took off running up and down the shore letting the waves hit his legs and even went in a bit deeper but still trying hard not to get his head wet.  Hope stayed close to the shore and played in the waves.  

Jame was running and playing while he was carrying a small green shovel we had brought.  The shovel gave me the idea to bury him in the sand.  He wasn’t too keen on the idea at first and it took a bit of convincing for him to let us bury him in the sand.  He was okay as long as we did not get his face with any sand so, I guess it’s water and sand he doesn’t like on his face but peanut butter and jelly around the mouth is okay.  Hope had a blast just sitting and letting the waves rush up on her.  Rock had no problem taking a nap on the beach after he filled his sand curiosity.

We had a great day on the beach but soon it was time to hike back to the cars and head back to the house.  We got back to the house and showered grabbed a bite and headed into town to watch the Badger leave Ludington but the Badger was not going out that night but rather spending the night in Ludington.  We had a good evening walking along the water and looking out at the lighthouse.  The evening may not have turned out the way Grandpa Mike and Grandma Vicki had hoped but we had a great and memorable time on a beautiful evening.

Grandma and Grandpa had gotten the kids some gifts, Rock got a ball pit that he loves.  We had no idea he was such a ball kid, he was picking up throwing and chasing the balls all over.  Rock was truly living up to his namesake Grampy Rock and loving playing with the balls.

The next day we spent some more time at the beach.  We found a beach ball walking over the dunes to the beach and of course Rock loved playing with it all day.  I also decided to bring a kite and thought we could try flying it at the beach; I had no idea how easy it would take to the sky.  As soon as I pulled out the kite I could hardly hold it down.  We let a bunch of line out and tied off the kite as it simply few itself.  We did have some fun with the kite, Jame held it for a bit and I tried to do a few tricks with it and only crashed a few times.  We spent a good part of the day at the beach but it was time to go and enjoy the downtown area of Ludington.

We headed to the park so the kids could play a bit.  The park was nice with the lake breeze blowing in and cooling things down a bit.  Jame and Hope always love playing at the park Rock was still a bit unsure and wasn’t too sure about the baby swing, he tolerated for only so long, maybe just to amuse us until he wanted out.  Hope and Jame also were curious about the coin operated binoculars on the shore so we put some coins in and they had fun for a bit looking but their interest only lasted a short while and they were heading back to the park.  We played and then headed for some lunch in town but ate outside on such a beautiful day.  There was a game of bags outside so I played with the kids a bit who just liked to throw the bags to try and get them in the hole.  At one point Jame throws the bag at the hole as Hope runs passed nearly missing the bag in mid air I was amazed at the timing. 

After lunch we walked down to the famous House of Flavors for some ice cream.  They have a Superman flavor that Jame loves; the colors are red, yellow and blue.  The line was a bit long for ice cream so Rock and I took a walk down to a nearby park and found a picnic table in the shade.  I did my best to keep him entertained until they joined us with the ice cream and soon enough he discovered how much he loves Superman ice cream as well.  Rock had Superman colors all over his face at the end.
 Hope and Jame after they finished their ice cream found a stage nearby where they had a great time playing; they ran back and forth on the stage.  It wasn’t long before Hope was on the stage belting out “Let it go!”  Jame was not interested in singing Frozen but running around the stage.

That evening we went to the lakefront again to watch the Badger head out onto the lake.  We had a pleasant walk along the shore to the pier.  At the end of the pier we could see the lighthouse and I did my best to take some pictures but with the low light and the kids not willing to sit still it was difficult.  The kids had fun playing near the end of the pier while we waited for the Badger to leave.  After a bit the loud whistle sounded and the Badger made her way out towards the lake.  As she passed by us the kids had fun waving at the people on the ship and you could hear the music and parties onboard.  The Badger was just going out for a few hours to celebrate the end of the season.  When the Badger passed we heard the sound of a bagpipe being played by a man standing on the stern of the boat.  We watched the ship head out into the night.  We spent some more time on the pier letting the kids play before the nice walk back to the car on a beautiful evening. 

The next day we had to head back to reality our Kindergartner and Preschooler had to get back.  The kids enjoyed the time they got to spend with Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Mike and the beach and park time they got.  We truly built some memories in Ludington this Labor Day weekend.    Before we headed out of town we thought it might be nice to get some pictures with the kids and the Ludington lighthouse.  Rock was not in agreement with our thought he was a bit freaked out by the grass for some reason and refused to sit on the grass.  We then tried the kids on the bench but they had to face backwards since all the benches faced the lake.  Getting the picture of all three of them was not easy but we eventually got something close.  We packed the kids up and headed home.